ROY NOVICK , DDS

It all starts with screening .

Successful dental sleep practices are all proficient at screening . It makes sense . After all , you need to screen patients in order to test those at risk for respiratory sleep disorders . Without accurate screening , the whole cycle breaks down before it begins .

But many practices struggle to implement a successful screening regimen . It ’ s not for lack of effort , but sometimes the effort is misguided . Think about it like this : who interacts with the most patients , new and returning , in your office every week ? It ’ s the hygienists . To effectively screen your patient base , you need to get your hygienists onboard .

But hygienists are often reluctant to screen patients for sleep-related breathing disorders . Why is this ? Two reasons : time constraints and fear of patient questions they can ’ t answer . But , as you will soon see , with the right process in place , these are not really sticking points at all .

Let ’ s address each of these concerns :

TIME CONSTRAINTS

Hygienists are under a lot of pressure time-wise . They have many patients to see each day , with multiple tasks to complete with each one . Understandably , they are not eager to add to their workload . Anything that extends patient appointments will throw

off their whole schedule . The key is to streamline , simplify and build the process into their normal routine . Hygienists already need to review a patient ’ s medical history for changes during each visit . This provides a perfect opportunity to segue into a sleep screening . A few short questions , instead of an open-ended conversation will keep the screening short and concise , adding only a minute or so to each visit allowing the hygienists to get on with their job . The right phrasing , with a compassionate delivery , will keep the screening short and to the point , while also leaving the tough questions for the dentist . This brings us to the next point :

FEAR OF QUESTIONS

Screening at the right time with the right phrasing can take all the pressure off the situation . Right after the medical history review , the hygienist just needs to say something like this : “ We are screening for an epidemic . Would you mind answering a few more questions for our records ?” This makes it easy for the hygienist to screen and easy for the patient to answer . The hygienist makes notes in the file . This allows the dentist , who is more than capable to answer patient questions , to begin the conversation about dental sleep medicine during the patient examination later , i . e . “ I see here that you have been experiencing daytime sleepiness …”

Sincerity is key to this whole

ROY NOVICK , DDS

Roy Novick is the National Clinical Trainer and Advisor for N3Sleep . After 35 years practicing dentistry , Dr . Novick helps dental practices across the country implement effective , successful dental sleep medicine programs .

process . In fact , we find that a face-to-face approach works best . As dental sleep medicine practitioners , we care about the patient ’ s general health , not just their teeth and gums . These are patients who are silently suffering from a serious condition , which if left untreated could have terrible consequences . These simple questions could be the questions that save their life :

DO YOU WAKE UP DURING THE NIGHT FREQUENTLY ? DO YOU FEEL TIRED DURING THE DAY ? HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD YOU SNORE ?