Would This Help Us Keep More Dental Appointments?

Please don’t jump all over us for this one, we have nothing to do with the concept and we’re not trying to publicize Taiwanese Dentistry du jour or expound on Jennifer Aniston’s dental dominatrix display in recent Hollywood cinema.

It was a dental-centric story out of Taiwan, which reports how successful a few women dentists have been at playing up this ‘sexy dentist’ angle that prompted this dental discussion.

Seems hordes of Taiwanese men are lining up at their door for dental exams, with some actually looking to return to the dentist before the next appointment is even needed.

Is a sexy dentist the answer to our neglected dental health here in America?

Despite the angle of the Taiwanese story, this isn’t some chauvinistic piece directed only at the men. On the contrary, we’d be willing to wager that more than a few women out there wouldn’t be too shy about seeing a sexy soap opera character dentist when they need a cleaning, exam, and x-ray.

Shoot…we’re of the opinion the male dentists would do better than the female dentists here in the States!

Generally speaking, at least when it comes to dentistry, guys are lazy – no matter what the allure.

Now we have no data, research, or even a footnote to back that claim up, and maybe we’re just playing that angle to elicit some response, but would the majority of women out there agree (generally speaking, of course)?

Just remember ladies, we’re only talking about laziness with regards to dentistry!!

Women seem to care more about maintaining proper oral health in the first place, and it’s our bet they’d be more likely to popularize the sexy dentist trend more so than the men.

Maybe our dentists could take a tip from the Taiwanese and turn on the charm to tune in their patients more!

What do you think…would a sexy dentist possibly enhance our dental office visit, and in turn improve our collective oral health?

Here are 3 reasons why we feel a sexy dentist can improve the health of our teeth and gums:

1. Patients will be captivated, enabling seamless communication and further education.
2. Bad news – like a root canal – sounds way better.
3. Missed appointments will be a thing of the past.

Is all this sexy dentist talk just way too subjective to actually have any measurable impact on the health and wellness of our teeth and gums?

Don’t tell that to this dentist!

 

Disclaimer: We actually have zero idea about the content in the abovementioned video, as we do not speak Mandarin, Cantonese, or Taiwanese – or any derivative dialect therein. We just thought it would be a lighthearted topic to discuss on a slow dental news Tuesday.

How Can Our Dentists Help Diagnose Diabetes?

As if we need another reason to keep up our normal thrice yearly dental visits, here comes recent news out of Columbia University College of Dental Medicine in New York.

Problem: As with periodontal disease or gum disease, many people walk around without even knowing they are affected by diabetes.

About 7 million according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four people affected with type 2 diabetes in the United States remains undiagnosed.

Solution: Develop additional methods to test and identify diabetes risk factors in an oral healthcare setting – the dental office.

“Our findings provide a simple approach that can be easily used in all dental-care settings.” – lead author and Columbia University College of Dental Medicine Associate Professor, Dr. Evanthia Lalla.

In the study titled, Identification of Unrecognized Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes in a Dental Setting, published in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Dental Research, researchers at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that dental visits present a great opportunity [for our dentists] to identify people with diabetes or pre-diabetes who are unaware of their condition.

So there’s reason number 1,286 on why keeping our regularly scheduled dental appointments not only improves the overall condition of our condition, doing so can actually save us money too.

Dr. Ira Lamster, Dean of Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, and colleagues recruited 601 people visiting a dental clinic in New York.

These 601 individuals adhered to the following qualifications:

• 40-years-old or older if non-Hispanic white
• 30-years-old or older if Hispanic or non-white ethnicity
• Had never been told they have diabetes or pre-diabetes

According to this press release about the Columbia study from ScienceDaily.com outlining the study, approximately 530 of these patients received a periodontal examination and a fingerstick, point-of-care hemoglobin A1c test.

These patients all had at least one additional self-reported diabetes risk factor: family history of diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, or overweight/obesity.

In order for the research team to assess and compare the performance of several potential identification protocols, patients also returned for a fasting plasma glucose test, which indicates whether an individual has diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Researchers found that, in this at-risk dental population examined, a simple algorithm composed of only two dental parameters (number of missing teeth and percentage of deep periodontal pockets) was effective in identifying patients with unrecognized pre-diabetes or diabetes. The addition of the point-of-care A1c test was of significant value, further improving the performance of this algorithm.

So what does all this diabetes and dentistry news mean to the average dental patient?

“Early recognition of diabetes has been the focus of efforts from medical and public health colleagues for years, as early treatment of affected individuals can limit the development of many serious complications,” says Dr. Evanthia Lalla, an associate professor at the College of Dental Medicine, and the lead author on the paper.

The more social connectivity enables the advancement of personal healthcare, the earlier we can identify and treat all too common oral systemic conditions.

SOURCE: Columbia University Medical Center (2011, July 18). Dentists can identify people with undiagnosed diabetes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110714191537.htm

Of Fish Tanks and Digital Engagement in the Dental Office

When we walk into our dentists’ office most of us check-in at the reception desk, hopefully exchange pleasantries with the receptionist or scheduling coordinator, then we take a seat…and wait.

While nano-thin televisions, gossip mags, and Muzak are great; couldn’t we be doing something better with that time?

In the age of social local mobile digital connectivity we have options, but we need to press our dentists for results!

Most dentists feel a fish tank in the office is relaxing to patients, we agree. What most dentists don’t know is that the time we spend in the reception area (who likes ‘waiting rooms?’) can be more constructively used to educate us as well as entertain.

How are we supposed to know that our dentist actually has a product to alleviate numbness before we’re even out of the office and on our phone yapping away like Bill Cosby?

Our dentists can inform and educate us on all things optimal oral health, but we also need to heed the call.

If you had the choice would you reach for the iPad2®, Xoom®, PlayBook®, OR the latest issue of People Magazine?

Or maybe you’d just rather stare at the fish tank?

Enquiring minds want to know…

Would a more digitally receptive, socially communicable (poor choice of words?), and locally identifiable reception area experience possibly enhance your next dental appointment?

Just think of the possibilities, we could not only peruse the news waiting for our thrice yearly cleaning, check-up, or exam. We could also use that time to connect with other local businesses around the dental office. Some of which we probably already patronize.

When is good enough not good enough when it comes to our dental reception area experience?

Maybe after that teeth cleaning we go get a Dairy Queen® milkshake.

And before we even get in the dental chair we’ve checked in on Foursquare or Facebook Places to grab a nice little dental discount reward for that milkshake!

We don’t know about you, but DQ makes a mean milkshake.

Maybe we’ve identified more questions than answers with this in-depth examination of human dental reception area behaviors, but as patterns and trends continue to come into focus we can work together toward reception area activity evolution.

Only together, with our dentists, can we shed some light on the social local mobile digital entertainment and education options available before our next appointment.

What would you like to see in your dental office reception area?

Would a cotton candy machine be asking too much?