I recently had the distinct honor and privilege of hosting four true pioneers of what is variously termed the integrative dentistry, oral systemic health, holistic, biocompatible dentistry, and whole person health movement.
The webcast offered attendees the opportunity to hear from four of the top implementers of the Integrative Dental Practice Model:
Peter Evans, DDS MAGD is a practitioner, author, speaker, national dental coach and a fellow founding member of The American Academy for Oral Systemic Health. He is the president of The BioCompatible Dentist, a company that provides education and resources for dentists about whole body dentistry.
James Hyland, DDS is founder and president of Oravital and BioFIlmDNA He is a graduate of the Univ. of Toronto, and held memberships in the Ontario Dental Association and the Canada Dental Assoc. since 1976, served as president of his local society, and was active on their boards and committees for over 30 years. In 2007 Jim became the first dentist to open an Oravital® clinic utilizing antibiotic rinses and bacterial testing to treat periodontal disease and breath odor.
Roger Price is a Respiratory Physiologist, Integrative Health Consultant, and the creator of the Breathing Well Ortho-postural Program, designed to address below-the-line issues involved in dental and sleep disorders. He serves as Coach to dental professionals worldwide, teaching and training dental teams to deliver stable patient outcomes.
and
Doug Thompson, DDS is a leader in using the latest developments in dentistry to provide whole body wellness. His Integrative Oral Medicine practice is a team of professionals with a keen awareness about how oral conditions affect the lives and overall health of their patients. This knowledge is the backbone of their progressive disease prevention and management approach, and led in 2016 to the launch of the Wellness Dentistry Network, a community of dentists delivering wellness based dentistry worldwide. He a clinical instructor at the Kois Center in Seattle, Washington.
I hosted each of these distinguished professionals on previous installments of PracticePerfection™. Based on the turnout of this first-ever PracticePerfection™ panel discussion, we anticipate many more presentations utilizing this format.
The panelists shared observations and fielded questions concerning topics ranging from biocompatible materials to breathing disordered sleep (that new twist on an old term courtesy of Roger Price)
In keeping with the framework we employ to evaluate the Integrative practice model along three dimensions we term the Three Cs, I first asked our Panel to share what’s new on the Clinical front. What had they learned, what theories have been validated empirically, and what case studies could be shared in support of treatment efficacy.
Next, we asked the panel to elaborate on how their approaches helped grow their adherents’ professional Collaboration network. What specific skills, tools, and techniques could the panel recommend to help attendees grow their network of referring health professionals. Finally, the panel told us how their respective offerings and approaches facilitate effective Communication with current and prospective patients, and the media.
As we neared the end of the webcast, I realized that financial success is the driver behind a practice’s ability to remain independent and successful with Dentistry for Whole Body Health,, I proffered a fourth ‘C’: Cashflow. The panel dutifully helped me expound upon this point to the benefit of those in attendance.
Just a few of the questions posed by the audience to the panel included:
- My hygienist sees our new patients first for a prophy and an exam. Am I losing money?
- What alternative is there to systemic antibiotics if antibiotics are
indicated/recommended? - We know sugar topically feeds biofilm. What is your position on the systemic impact of sugar on inflammation and gingival bleeding?
- I believe that communications are critical, too. Where do you have these types of conversations with the new patient, in the consult room or the treatment room?
- I heard some discussion of the recurring public perception that dentists are more technical in nature, and not so much doctors. I’m a doctor in prevention. I’d like to see more teamwork between docs and dentists. Could I hear more about vision in this area? What are the key next steps in terms of training docs for this teamwork? how about the next steps in training the dentists? How do we get our patients comfortable with these team approaches?
- The ADA holds patents on amalgams and they can’t turn back on their position after all of these (170+) years. The ADA changes presidents every year … there is no way they can get any real change made in 12 months (it takes 4 years for the POTUS).
- Can one ride on the coattails of Mercury-Free Dentistry Month (August) by, for instance, promoting safe amalgam removal?
- Which comes first infection or inflammation? Which do you tackle first to control the other? Why and how?
- How do you engage patients to ask “How do I stop the bleeding and predictably do that guaranteed without flossing?”
- What role does bacterial testing have in periodontal and breath care?
As with all PracticePerfection© productions, attendees were offered the opportunity to receive PACE Approved C.E. credit.
View and Hear the entire presentation at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=-MytRuASvZo