5 Strategies to Encourage Dental Hygienists to Diagnose Periodontal Disease

Episode #574 with Miranda Beeson

Hygienists are more than mouth janitors. They have the power to improve and potentially save your patients’ lives. So, why is your perio percentage still at zero? To help you improve that number, Kirk Behrendt brings back Miranda Beeson, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, to share five strategies that will empower and elevate your hygienists to diagnose more perio in your practice. Half the population has this disease! Let's give patients the optimal care they deserve. To learn how, listen to Episode 574 of The Best Practices Show! 

Episode Resources:

• Miranda’s email: [email protected] 
• Miranda’s social media: @actdental
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Best Practices Show Episode 573 with Jaime Taets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W-sAG9LtXg

Other Best Practices Show episodes with Miranda: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/search?query=miranda%20beeson%20

Best Practices Show episodes with Robyn Theisen: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/search?query=robyn%20theisen

Pearl: https://www.hellopearl.com

5 Strategies to Encourage Dental Hygienists to Diagnose Periodontal Disease: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0jm5gywzaquobuu/5%20Strategies%20to%20Encourage%20Dental%20Hygienists%20to%20Diagnose%20Periodontal%20Disease.pdf?dl=0

Beat the Heart Attack Gene by Dr. Bradley Bale and Amy Doneen: https://bookshop.org/p/books/beat-the-heart-attack-gene-the-revolutionary-plan-to-prevent-heart-disease-stroke-and-diabetes-bradley-bale/16685772

Books by Patrick Lencioni: https://www.tablegroup.com/books

Main Takeaways:

Establish what periodontal health looks like in your practice.

Provide hygienists opportunities for education and training.

Foster a culture of collaboration and communication.

Implement a periodontal disease screening program.

Use all the technology you can to your advantage. 

Quotes:

“We all know how prevalent periodontal disease is and how impactful periodontal disease is on overall health and systemic health. And if we’re not navigating our patients through that process and helping them to understand what the risks are, if they have the disease how can we manage it, are we truly helping them to the fullest potential?” (2:42—3:01)

“When we look at the prevalence of periodontal disease in our culture, we know that over half of the population, depending on the data around people’s age, has some form of periodontal disease. And as patients get older, 65 and up, we know that goes up into the 60s, and based on some research, even to the 70th percentile of people who have periodontal disease. And with the correlation we know now to so many systemic health risks — heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and I think prostate cancer is in the mix now. There are so many things — patients are starting to become aware of that too. And so, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to support our hygienists to make sure that they're comfortable and confident in helping patients navigate that disease process.” (3:02—3:46)

“If you're not diagnosing and treating periodontal disease in your practice consistently, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year are walking out the door. And periodontal treatment itself, as well as building value, when people start to get more inquisitive about their health and their oral health and they start to look for more answers and, ‘How can I be healthier and better?’ that feeds into restorative as well. So, we’re leaving money on the table, for sure. So, from a business and profitability standpoint, if we’re not doing this, the profitability isn't where it could be, significantly. But then, on the other side of that is, we’re decreasing more and more risk for patients. And so, that's where we have to balance. Because as business owners, if you tell me I'm going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars more profitable — hygienists, you'd better get out there and start diagnosing perio. But the hygienists, they're not receiving that same impact that you are as a practice owner. Where it’s really going to impact the hygienist is knowing the impact that you're having on your patients, who a lot of these hygienists consider friends after years and years of taking care of them.” (5:05—6:10)

“When I first graduated, I graduated top of my hygiene class. I was so excited to go out into the world, and be this hygienist, and share all the knowledge that I had. And on day one, I remember having a patient, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is more than I can do in one visit.’ Like, ‘This is perio. I'm pretty sure this is perio, but I don't know what to do here.’ And I remember the dentist who was so sweet. He took me in the hallway, and he was like, ‘So, are you finished with this patient?’ after the exam. And I'm like, ‘I don't think I am.’ He’s like, ‘I don't think you are either. There's a lot more going on here.’ And so, some of [the hesitancy] is a lack of knowledge, a lack of awareness of, how do we navigate treatment planning, diagnosing, talking about this with our patients? And then, there's also a lack of confidence. So, it stems from confidence and knowledge.” (6:33—7:21) 

“For those hygienists that are a bit more seasoned, it can sometimes be a level of complacency. Like, we as a practice have never really made this a priority. We have never really talked about our philosophy around perio in this practice. I'm doing a good job. And a lot of times, they're doing perio and not actually treatment planning perio. They're just working really, really hard . . . They're breaking their bodies, honestly, over delivering care that is more than what they're coding or presenting to their patients. A lot of hygienists are doing perio in a prophy visit when the impact should be focused and deliberate so that also the patient is aware of the disease state and the risks that it has to them in their overall health.” (7:21—8:17) 

“When [my client and I] talked today about creating a hygiene priority and working through some of these ways to encourage them to align, I said, ‘Do you feel like this is going to be valuable to you?’ And [one of the hygienists] said, ‘Yes. Even just having time for all of us to sit and talk about hygiene. Like, we do hygiene all day, but we don't ever talk to each other about what you do, or what I do, or what works well for you.’ So, the time dedicated to having that alignment time, she was like, ‘That in itself is so valuable.’” (9:24—9:57) 

“You said something last week when we were at our To The Top study club about alignment, ‘Alignment and agreement are not always the same thing,’ which I thought was so cool to say out loud. You can align with someone even if you don't fully agree. It’s a compromise that you're making so that you're all on the same page. You don't have to be in full agreement to be aligned. I thought that was really cool.” (10:31—10:54) 

“The first [strategy] is providing opportunity for education and training. So, like we just talked about, a lot of times, the hesitancy isn't because they don't want to do a good job, or they don't believe in perio, or maybe they [don't] recognize they're seeing perio. They just aren't exactly confident or have the knowledge to really move forward with diagnosing and treatment planning. So, creating that awareness and knowledge through providing opportunities. So, bringing in continuing education into the office, doing things as a team, internally, or seeking out and encouraging your team members to look externally for opportunities to learn about periodontal disease and where it’s going currently in our research.” (12:04—12:47) 

“Having the opportunities there for the team to grow and learn together, it’s team building, and it’s alignment driven, and it’s going to help for them to have the knowledge and the confidence that they need to feel comfortable bringing that up with patients, and being able to answer the patients’ questions when they ask them.” (12:57—13:15)

“There are experts that are out there like Katrina Sanders who are going internationally to learn this information. You can't do that as a practicing hygienist working four or five days a week, chairside. You can't go to all of the best symposiums throughout the country, internationally, to learn all of these new processes. But you can find an expert or a couple of experts or mentors who are doing that and learn from them. They are teaching you through their learning. The whole community needs to come together to start to see that we can impact, starting very small, and go as big as we want to go. But it’s how much time do you have. And sometimes, the teams don't have that time. That's why it can be helpful to carve time out, where you're bringing someone into the office, or playing some webinars in the office together as a team.” (14:14—15:04) 

“There are so many books in the world that we can learn from. There are so many people with a plethora of information. They're out there. We have to seek them out and then carve that time intentionally to make sure that every year, we’re not just going online and getting our 15 free CEs, clicking through the videos as fast as possible and just answering the quiz because we already know this information. Seek out new information that might take you into a more mindful growth place in...