5 Ways to Support a Profitable Hygiene Department

Whether you are joining an existing practice or starting your own, you will eventually get to the point where you are working with a hygienist. Developing a strong relationship with your

hygienist will set a firm foundation for the growth of your practice. A thriving hygiene department can be a wealth of passive income for

the smart, progressive dentist.

A strong relationship based on mutual respect creates an environment in which your hygienist eagerly supports your treatment recommendations and encourages patients to proceed with treatment. Support your hygiene team in using their skills to the maximum capability and you will create a winning situation for both you and your hygiene team.

There are a few key ways in which you can work with your hygienist to develop a hygiene department that delivers high quality care in a productive environment. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you begin working with a hygiene team:

1. Invest the Time In an attempt to increase hygiene production, teams may make the decision to shorten hygiene appointment time to squeeze in more patients. Avoid the temptation! What often happens is that as days get busier and crazier, critical steps in diagnosis and treatment may be unintentionally short-changed or left out all together. This results in lower levels of care and it actually reduces

productivity. Every team I have coached to increase their hygiene appointment time has increased their effectiveness in delivering high quality care and increased hygiene production.

of patients. If you often notice that there has been heaving bleeding during the prophy when you check hygiene or that the number of perio procedures is very low, it might be time to take action.

In real terms, investing in time means reserving 60 minutes for most adult hygiene visits.

First, sit down with your hygienist and share with them how important it is to you that complete periodontal charting (recording every number, bleeding, recession, etc) is recording on every adult patient at least once per year. With a commitment to this critical assessment tool, any changes in periodontal health will be caught early and treated conservatively. Next, be sure you have a clear protocol for periodontal treatment that is based on science and that you believe in.

This doesn’t mean that your hygiene team can’t customize appointment time if they choose to. A commitment to invest the time must be accompanied by a firm commitment from each team member to make every one of those 60 minutes count. Putting in place an outline for what takes place at each hygiene visit is a good place to start. You can find a free Hygiene Exam template at www. InspiredHygiene.com/ultimatehygexam.

3. Increase the Level of Hygiene Co-diagnosis

2. Create a Practical Perio Program The No. 1 reason for low hygiene production is a low level of perio care. Just like a dentist that does single surface fillings all day long, a hygienist that does one prophy after another is going to get bored and frustrated and won’t be maximizing his or her potential for taking care

So what is hygiene co-diagnosis anyway? It is a talented hygienist using their skills and knowledge to educate patients about their dental health. Empower your hygienists to practice this skill. Give them permission to evaluate the health of the teeth and existing restorations, not just the gums.

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The first and most critical step to encouraging more co-diagnosis is to sit down with your hygiene team and be very specific about your treatment philosophy. Share with them why you would recommend a crown rather than a filling. Pick a few patient charts and review them together. Go through each step of your assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning. Of course, you will make the final diagnosis but it is a tremendous help when your hygienist has already begun to educate the patient about his broken tooth.

5. Work Together to Create a Passive Profit Center

The ability to empower your hygienist to use his/her co-diagnosis skills is one of the most important tools in building a thriving practice by delivering restorative treatment to your schedule with minimal effort on your part. It makes for efficient doctor exams, builds the hygienists’ credibility and helps patients complete needed treatment before they get into an emergency situation.

4. Support a Healthy Service Mix The service mix of your hygiene department is made up of the various services your hygiene team provides, other than the standard prophy. A mix of procedures such as sealants, fluoride therapy, periodontal care and homecare products contribute to a healthy service mix. These adjunctive procedures contribute to the health of patients, as well as the health of your practice, by providing a source of passive income. Many of these procedures take no more time and minimal effort by the hygiene team to deliver. As a dentist, it is important to work with your hygienists to develop a common belief in procedures and products delivered through hygiene. Read the research, conduct your own inoffice trial and determine which of them you believe support your efforts to keep patients healthy. Below is a list of procedures and products you should expect to see performed in the hygiene department.

Product Cost Retail Profit/Unit

Hygiene Service Mix -Professional strength fluoride treatments (in-office and at home) -Power toothbrushes and flossers -Periodontal therapy and maintenance including locally applied anti-infectives -Home care products

Power Brush $75 $125 $50

Oral Irrigator $65 $100 $40

Toothpaste $7 $12 $5

Mouthrinse $8 $13 $5

Oral Health Kit $20 $30 $10

Home Fluoride $8 $16 $8

-Breath management systems -Whitening (in-office and at home) -Desensitization therapy -Sealants -Temporary occlusal guards (fabricated by hygienist, approved by dentist)

If you sell the following: One Oral Irrigator or Power Brush per day (16 per month) Average $45 profit = $720 profit per month

Three Oral Health Kits per day (48 per month) $10 profit per kit = $480 profit per month

Patients ask for our advice about homecare products every day. With a strong professional recommendation, patients feel the team’s commitment to their health even when they are at home. Another benefit of recommending home care products is that it sets your office apart as a center for dental health, not just a place they come to have their teeth cleaned or “fixed.” Wouldn’t you rather your patients visit your office to purchase their homecare supplies than go to the local retail store? These frequent visits create an opportunity to continue to build the patient-dental team relationship and keep them active in your practice, not to mention contribute to the annual practice revenue.

Three tubes of toothpaste and three bottles of mouthrinse per day (48 of each per month) $5 profit per paste + $5 profit per rinse = $480 profit per month

Three tubes of home fluoride per day (48 per month) $8 profit per tube = $384 profit per month

Power Brush/Irrigators $720 Oral Health Kits $480 Toothpaste&Rinse $480 Fluoride $384

Total Profit (monthly) $2064

Work with your hygiene team to find the products you all believe in and then support them wholeheartedly. Recommend these products not only in hygiene, but also as you complete restorative procedures as well. The end of a crown delivery appointment is the perfect time to recommend home fluoride use, for example. It is not unusual for patients in temporary restorations to develop mouth odor. Sending them home with an anti-microbial paste and rinse to combat those odors will make the experience much more pleasant.

That is an annual profit of $24,768

As owner of Inspired Hygiene, Rachel and the Inspired Hygiene team assist dentists to tap into their hygiene profit potential. In addition to private coaching, Rachel draws from her 20 years of experience as a hygienist and practice administrator to deliver to-the-point clinical articles and speaking programs. She has spoken for numerous groups and events, including RDH Under One Roof and the AACD Annual Session. Rachel has written for, and been featured in, numerous industry journals including Dental Practice Report, Dentistry Today, Progressive Dentist, RDH, and Hygienetown. She recently received the 2012 Dental Excellence Award from DrBicuspid.com for “Most Effective Dental Hygienist Educator”. Inspired Hygiene’s programs include in-office coaching, a free weekly e-zine, the Hygiene Profits Mastermind group and the Prof-

Set aside space in the office to display the items you recommend and include support materials for patients to read. Utilize these products for pre-procedural rinsing, irrigating and as a soothing mouth freshener after all procedures. The following formula demonstrates the potential for passive income that a product center can create:

itable Perio Online Workshop. Inspired Hygiene is the preferred hygiene coaching group for the Productive Dentist Academy and a corporate partner with Philips Sonicare. Contact Rachel via email at Rachel@ InspiredHygiene.com or call 877-237-7230.

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