The MEDQOR Podcast Network

In this episode, sponsored by ClearCorrect, Orthodontic Products Chief Editor Alison Werner talks to Mark Lowe, DDS, an orthodontist in private practice in Fresno, Calif. A frequent lecturer on aligner therapy, he joins the podcast to talk about aligner treatment, why he’s opted to use ClearCorrect aligners in his practice, and the features the brand brings to the table.

In practice since 1991, Lowe is an early adopter of clear aligners, and has watched the treatment modality evolve over the last 25 years. Digital technology has been a key driver of the evolution in aligner treatment, he says, even more so in the last 5 years. But it’s not just intraoral scanning, treatment planning, remote monitoring, and AI technology that have moved the treatment modality forward; the thermal plastics have increased the range and predictability of movement. As Lowe puts it, there has been “tremendous change” in the last 5 years.

Lowe has been a ClearCorrect user for much of his career. He shares how he initially came to the brand with the intention of treating mild malocclusions with aligners, but after using it for some time, he saw how the ClearCorrect aligners could be effective with moderate and then more complex malocclusions. What’s more, he talks about patient response to the aligners. At times, Lowe has used other aligner brands in his practice—and has even used multiple aligner brands with the same patient, which allowed him to receive some unique patient feedback. One point they made, they preferred ClearCorrect’s high trimline over the scalloped trimline found on other brands. That increased comfort translates into better retention and more predictable movement, according to Lowe.

As Lowe talks about the more predictable movement that comes with better retention, he makes the point that more predictable movement allows him to avoid using a lot of attachments. Lowe believes much of aligner therapy today is over engineered, with an over reliance on attachments. From a clinical standpoint, for him, ClearCorrect’s high trimline allows him to treat the way he wants to treat.

In this episode, Lowe also talks about ClearPilot 6.0, ClearCorrect’s latest treatment planning platform and its global footprint. ClearCorrect accepts scans from multiple intraoral scanners when planning aligner treatment. In addition, the company has the ClearCorrect Clinic app which the team can use to communicate with and educate patients. He also shares how he appreciates his relationship to ClearCorrect and the fact that they listen to experienced clinicians as they seek to improve the product. As he says, “They understand that the orthodontist is truly their customer.”

Lowe also shares his experience growing his solo orthodontic practice and working with a pediatric dentistry group practice. He talks about the benefits and challenges of each, balancing his clinical and business owner roles, and the dynamics of the two practices. In addition, he talks about how he has embraced remote monitoring to make treating patients who are on the go easier and more efficient. OP

In this episode, sponsored by Ormco, Orthodontic Products Chief Editor Alison Werner takes a deep dive into the company’s Damon Ultima System, with Michael Bicknell, DDS, MS, an orthodontist in private practice in Illinois. Bicknell, who was part of the team of clinicians who validated the system before its roll out in 2021, has since transitioned his practice into a full-Ultima practice, giving him a keen understanding of the bracket system’s mechanics and how it can impact treatment.

As a frequent lecturer, Bicknell talks about the evolution of brackets and how the biggest challenge has always been an issue of geometry. With the Damon Ultima System, Bicknell sees a pre-manufactured bracket that is able to apply forces in three dimensions that are predictable and exact, addressing that issue of geometry.

Bicknell is quick to point out that Ultima isn’t an upgrade of a previous version of Damon passive self-ligating brackets. As he says, “What Ormco did is they went back to the drawing board, and they tried to get their engineers and people in the same room to develop a system of brackets and wires that are engineered to work together from the ground up to deliver a certain expectation.” And that expectation was to create a “pure system that would put the teeth where they want to go in about a year, but also have a passive system.” Damon Ultima was designed so that the brackets and wires talk to each other and express exactly what the orthodontist wants, says Bicknell. He further explains that this system eliminates the times that you, as the orthodontist, aren’t moving teeth. That translates into fewer visits and shorter treatment time.

In this episode, Bicknell shares how the Ultima system has impacted his cases and finishes, practice productivity, and how it allows his team to feel like experts. What’s more, he talks about how this has translated into improved job satisfaction for his staff at a time with many practices are facing staffing shortages.

Bicknell, who has been practicing for 20 years, talks about how he is so much more excited about orthodontics now than he has ever been. For him, the juxtaposition of enhanced technology and manufacturing capabilities are allowing more exciting products to come to market. As he says, “If we can invent something, but we can’t make it, what’s the point?” What’s more, he points out that products and technology have evolved so that the treatment pathway is not only a straighter line, but a shorter one as well.

In addition to sharing his experience with Damon Ultima System, Bicknell shares his experience building his two-office practice west of Chicago. He talks about the differences between building a practice from the ground up and acquiring an established practice. And finally, he shares what excites him about the future of orthodontics. OP

In this podcast, Melanie Hamilton-Basich, chief editor of Rehab Management and Physical Therapy Products, talks with Karen Danchalski, PT, DPT, who has been practicing physical therapy for 25 years and has a special interest in mindful movement. They discuss how incorporating qigong and other types of mindful movement practice into physical therapy can benefit both patients and therapists.

For more information about mindful movement and physical therapy, read Karen Danchalski’s series of articles on the subject:

The Case for Mindful Movement in PT
The Benefits of Mindful Movement in Physical Therapy
Qigong for the Physical Therapist
How to Start a Mindful Movement Practice

Karen Danchalski, PT, DPT, has been practicing physical therapy for 25 years. She currently practices in an outpatient orthopedic clinic and delivers outpatient level of care in the home setting. Karen is the education coordinator at Rehab at Home at Northwell Health where she organizes lectures for homecare therapists. She has a special interest in mindful movement and uses the practices of qigong and Pilates with her therapy clients. Karen has been a certified Stott Pilates instructor since 2013 and is a member of the National Qigong Association. She is the author of several articles written for therapists on the topics of mindful movement, pain, and personalized healthcare. She is pursuing a science writing certificate from University of California San Diego and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association.

Orthodontic Products and Levin Group teamed up again for the 2nd Annual Orthodontic Practice Performance Survey to find out how practices faired in 2022. In this podcast, Orthodontic Products Chief Editor Alison Werner is joined by Roger P. Levin, DDS, founder and CEO of the practice management consulting firm, Levin Group, to take a deep dive into the results. Levin shares strategies to help listeners navigate the impact of increased overhead costs and economic uncertainty in the year ahead.

In this episode of Clinical Lab Chat, Chris Wolski meets the Texas A&M team behind what could be an effective, highly sensitive test for Lyme disease. Artem Rogovskky, PhD, ACVM, and Dmitry Kurouski, PhD, outline why Lyme disease is a diagnostic challenge and their work on developing a Lyme disease test using Raman spectroscopy.

Medical tourism has been on the rise in recent years as people seek cheaper cosmetic surgery options in foreign countries. However, this trend has been associated with a range of risks and complications, as discussed by Alexander Zuriarrain, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon and owner of Miami-based Zuri Plastic Surgery, in this podcast with PSP co-chief editor Keri Stephens.

According to Zuriarrain, patients seeking affordable cosmetic surgeries often consider traveling to the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, or Mexico, where the costs are significantly lower than in the United States. However, there are a number of concerns associated with medical tourism, including the potential for patient exploitation, the risk of complications arising from long flights, and the difficulty of diagnosing and treating complications without in-person consultations.

One of the major worries associated with medical tourism is the potential for patient exploitation. Patients who seek cosmetic surgery in foreign countries may be unaware of the quality of care they will receive or may not have access to adequate post-operative care. This can lead to a range of complications, including infections, necrosis, and blood clots, which can be difficult to diagnose and treat remotely.

Another risk of medical tourism is the financial cost associated with undergoing cosmetic surgery abroad. Patients may believe that they are getting a better deal by traveling to a foreign country for surgery, but they may not consider the additional costs associated with follow-up care and complications. These costs can quickly add up, making the overall cost of surgery much higher than expected.

Overall, Zuriarrain advises patients to mull the risks and benefits of medical tourism before deciding to undergo cosmetic surgery abroad. Patients should be aware of the potential for patient exploitation, the risks associated with long flights, and the difficulty of diagnosing and treating complications remotely. Instead, patients should consider seeking surgery from U.S.-based board-certified plastic surgeons, who can provide them with high-quality care and adequate follow-up care at a reasonable cost.

A large proportion of mental health professionals misunderstand the nature of sleep problems in mental health patients, according to sleep specialist Barry Krakow, MD, who has worked in the field of sleep research and clinical sleep medicine for more than 30 years. Such professionals view sleep issues as a symptom of mental health disorders, rather than as a distinct disorder that needs to be addressed.

Healthcare professionals fail to understand that treating sleep problems can help to alleviate mental health issues.

The sleep medicine community itself also struggles with how to serve the mental health community. Many sleep centers are still discounting or ignoring the significance of upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS). According to Krakow, many sleep doctors are uncomfortable treating patients with mental health conditions, such as PTSD, depression, or anxiety, and will refer them to therapists or psychiatrists rather than addressing their sleep problems. This lack of understanding and training in the connection between sleep disorders and mental health leads to patients not receiving proper treatment and being left with the impression that sleep medicine cannot help them. Sleep medicine needs to recognize that insomnia and sleep-disordered breathing are prevalent in this population and that effective treatments, such as advanced PAP machines, are available.

With regard to bureaucracy surrounding treating mental health patients, Krakow advises that sleep centers can implement efficiencies using modern technology, and offer reimbursable services, such as PAP Naps, to assist with the business aspects.

Krakow's new book Life Saving Sleep: New Horizons in Mental Health Treatment explores the link between sleep and mental health, and how the quality of sleep is often overlooked in mental health treatment. Mental health patients with sleep complaints are typically prescribed medication to help them sleep, without addressing the quality of their sleep. Many patients are unable to describe the quality of their sleep beyond the number of hours they sleep each night.

For further information:

https://barrykrakowmd.com/ https://www.lifesavingsleep.com/ https://fastasleep.substack.com/

Follow Sleep Review on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, & YouTube.

Join Orthodontic Products’ Chief Editor Alison Werner as she talks with Alyssa Emory-Carter, DDS, MS. In this podcast episode, sponsored by Ormco, Emory-Carter, who is in private practice in Texas, shares her experience as a solo practitioner, building a three-office practice, and how she is using Ormco’s Spark Clear Aligners in her practice and the benefits she has found, from achieving better outcomes and to more efficient systems.

Only 6 years out of her residency, Emory-Carter is early in her career. But in that short time, she has taken ownership of three orthodontic offices, starting with the one owned by the orthodontist who treated her as a child. Each office has one thing in common—it serves the community she grew up in. In this episode, Emory-Carter shares how she knew the time was right to jump on these opportunities and why the decision is about more than potential extra income.

From there, Emory-Carter talks about building out these offices to run at full capacity, and how staffing, systems, and technology have been key. Included in that is Ormco’s Spark Clear Aligners. Emory-Carter talks about how each of the offices she bought didn’t previously offer aligners and shares how she integrated them and got staff to see the benefits to the system. Emory-Carter talks about the benefits of Spark Clear Aligners, from the integrated hooks and CBCT integration in the software platform to the proprietary TruGEN materials used to manufacture the aligners. What’s more, Emory-Carter talks about the results of her own in-office analysis comparing Spark to other clear aligner brands. A key finding was how many fewer refinements she was doing with Spark Clear Aligners. This translates into less patient burnout, better compliance, and shorter treatment times.

In this episode, Emory-Carter also talks about both her patients’ and her staff’s experience with Spark. She shares how the former find the aligners comfortable and less likely to stain, while the latter appreciates the attachment template and the Spark dashboard.

To round out the episode, Emory-Carter talks about the role remote monitoring plays in managing her aligner cases and the technology that she has on her radar. OP

In this podcast, 24x7’s chief editor Keri Stephens sits down with Chace Torres, aka “The Bearded Biomed,” to discuss the results of 24x7’s 2022 compensation and job satisfaction survey. Notably, the survey saw an increase in engagement, with female respondents doubling from the previous year.

Stephens and Torres discuss the factors that may have contributed to this increase, including outreach from educational parties and social media engagement from industry professionals. The pair also highlight the value of continuing education, which 35% of survey respondents said they were pursuing, and how it is vital for healthcare technology management professionals to grow in their career field.

Another key theme from 24x7’s 2022 compensation and job satisfaction survey was the number of respondents who said they would promote the HTM profession to others, with 36% very likely to do so and 29% likely, despite a prevalent theme of feeling overworked. Stephens and Torres also delve into the problem of an aging workforce and the need to replace those retiring from the HTM industry. Overall, the survey results indicate positive trends in the HTM industry, with an increase in engagement, diversity, and education.

Finally, Stephens and Torres get into the weeds of the salary survey and discuss some of the most surprising findings from it.

Plastic surgeons today face a unique set of challenges, from changing patient demographics to increased competition in the marketplace. In this podcast episode, Plastic Surgery Practice Editors Keri Stephens and Alison Werner talk to Nicole Chiaramonte, CEO of Advanced MedAesthetic Partners (AMP). Chiaramonte joins them to discuss how AMP can help plastic surgeons overcome these challenges and grow their practices. What’s more, she explains why AMP is an alternative to the private equity consolidation model sweeping the industry.

AMP works as a management service organization, coming in, as Chiaramonte describes it, as a consulting firm of sorts to take care of the business side of running a medical practices—specifically those aspects doctors often don’t want to deal with or don’t feel they have the knowledge to handle effectively and efficiently. According to Chiaramonte, AMP takes care of HR, IT, marketing, and overall day-to-day management, including inventory systems and data management for its partner practices. As she explains, AMP allows “physicians to do what they love without the headache of the business side of medicine.”

In this episode, Chiaramonte talks about how private equity is changing the playing field, and how she wanted to create a model that protects private plastic surgery practices. As she explains it, Advanced MedAesthetic Partners partner practices retain their public-facing identity. AMP’s goal is optimize the business side, investing heavily in marketing and training, while allowing the plastic surgeon to focus in on what he/she knows best: clinical treatment.

As Chiaramonte explains it in this podcast, for plastic surgery practices looking to partner with Advanced MedAesthetic Partners, the key characteristics include a commitment to patient satisfaction, a willingness to adapt to changing market conditions, and a desire to grow and scale their business over the long term. She also explains how this model can be just as attractive to mid-career plastic surgeons as those at the beginning and end of their careers.

From there, Chiaramonte shares how AMP has helped partner practices scale up their business. That has included adding additional surgeons to fully book out the practice to building out a practice’s non-surgical recurring revenue opportunities. Chiaramonte also shares how AMP can help practices struggling with staffing—a problem affecting all of healthcare.

To close out the episode, Chiaramonte and PSP’s editors talk about trends and how the industry is evolving. And Chiaramonte explains the role she sees Advanced MedAesthetic Partners playing in the future.