Many Dental Specialists May Be Missing a $100k Per Year Opportunity

According to Debbie Bittke, a well-respected expert on dental hygiene, many dental specialists may be missing a $100,000 per year opportunity. She contends that too few dental specialists are effectively using dental hygienists in their practices and thus are billing too soon.

By using caries management by risk assessment (CAMBRA), many dentists could bring patients back to their offices an additional four or more times per year to see a hygienist. How much you charge per visit varies, but you can do the arithmetic and determine what it might mean for your practice.

Bittke estimates only 10% of pediatric practices employ the services of a hygienist. Pediatric dentists have the opportunity to spot early forms of periodontic disease. By bringing in a hygienist who can spend time educating patients and their parents, the dentist is free to see other patients and thus generate more revenue. Orthodontists also underutilize hygienists. Bittke estimates that no more than 5% employ a hygienist.

Debbie Bittke has 34 years of experience as a dental assistant, hygienist, teacher and now as a consultant to dental practices across the country. She finds that close to 80% of patients older than 21 years have some form of gum disease, and too many dental practices are missing the opportunity to generate revenue from oral hygiene.

Bittke often recommends an assisted hygiene model where a hygienist has two chairs, along with an assistant who can seat the patient and take a current history. In her experience, this model helps increase case acceptance and allows for a more effective presentation of adjunct services such as tobacco cessation and treatment of dry mouth.

Bittke also recommends a morning team huddle of no more than 15 to 20 minutes to help the dentist and staff better coordinate patient treatment throughout the day. Coupled with the assisted hygiene model, some practices have increased production 30% to 50% by better utilizing the doctor’s time. Just recently, she reported that she was able to increase collections by 20% for one practice after working with them for only three months.

She does warn that when dental specialists provide hygiene services—especially orthodontists and prosthodontists—some referring dentists feel threatened and fear that their patients will not return to the general dentist’s practice. Bittke recommends that dental specialists spend at least two hours every week meeting with referring dentists to build a good open relationship.

Bittke consults with dental practices throughout North America and is willing to travel just about anywhere. Her Web site is located at http://www.dentalpracticesolutions.com/. Her e-mail address is debrabittke@comcast.net, and her telephone is 503-970-1122.

Talking to Debbie, we found her to be not only very passionate about her work but also very pleasant and easy to speak with. If you think you may not be maximizing your revenue, it is worth a call to Debbie Bittke to determine whether she might be able to help your practice be more profitable.