Are you struggling with case acceptance for oral appliance therapy? Any time a new type of treatment is incorporated into a dental practice, you not only have to consider how patients will react to the treatment but also the cost. Presenting sleep treatment is no different than presenting any other type of dental treatment. Whether it’s a sleep appliance that costs $2,500, an implant case that costs $3,000, an ortho case at $5,000, or a quadrant of restorative dentistry for $1,800, case presentation is the same. When an office that has excellent case acceptance for “normal” dentistry struggles with case acceptance for oral appliance therapy, it is hard to understand why. Dental teams understand the value of replacing a missing

Dentists complete comprehensive education and earn a degree in either DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) — and, like their medical counterparts, are called doctors. However, there appears to be a shift in the mind frame of consumers,  that dental treatment is now considered a retail commodity instead of a medical treatment.  Yet, when we ask dental professionals what they most want to be known for, they unanimously say that providing top-of-the-line health care is their number one goal. So why are dentists not considered healthcare providers? There are several factors why dentists aren’t considered health care providers like their medical doctor counterparts by the general public. First, because dental offices have crossed into retail

2018 was a rough year for me and my family, but one that confirmed that I am on the right professional path. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am moved to share this story as it is very close to my heart and my work. It brought great inspiration and reflection to what I do daily in the dental industry. Early in the year my father, at the age of 68, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. A stage four diagnosis, unfortunately, because it was in his spine and already metastasized to the bone. He had surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation over the course of 10 months. About halfway through his treatment, my mom, age 66, went in for a

By: Crystal May Have you incorporated sleep screening and treatment into your practice? Are you considering adding this service but have some reservations? Regardless of where you are in the process, chances are high that you have wondered how you will get paid for these services. Unfortunately, dental insurance doesn’t cover sleep appliances, and patients don’t want to pay out of pocket. On average, mandibular advancement devices (MDA) cost between $1800-$2000 on the low end and can reach upwards of $5000 on the high end. These costs do not generally include sleep testing, imaging, airway evaluation tools, or time spent with the doctor. Adding all these up, the patient could be looking at a treatment cost of over $3000-$6000, which

Author: Crystal May, COO and co-founder of Devdent and Imagn Billing Car crashes. Falls. Botched home improvement projects. Misguided baseballs. Any dentist with more than a few years of experience has seen patients with damaged teeth from an accidental injury. Repairing that damage can be expensive, but few dental insurance plans come close to covering the cost — and that isn’t an accident. Dental insurers know that the high costs of dental care from accidents will usually be covered by medical insurance. Unfortunately, many dentists still hesitate to bill medical insurance for dental work because they don’t know how. As an educator on medical billing for dentistry, I see that one of the hardest things for dental offices to do