The Impact Of COVID-19 on Dental Practices!

 

The Impact Of COVID-19 on Dental Practices!

In December 2019, a viral infection spread in China named novel coronavirus (COVID-19) or the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). This infection rapidly spread throughout the world and become COVID pandemic. The first case in the United States was noticed in January 2020 and presently (May 2021) has resulted in 32,933,337 cases and 586,793 deaths. (www.cdc.gov). Currently, India is facing similar situation how it was in the United States in 2020 and some lessons can be learned from the USA that can help Indian dentists too.

DentistFriend is a best dental portal in india where in you can search dental jobs, clinical dental courses, second hand dental chair and setup

The effect of pandemic has also seen in dental practices across the nation. At the beginning of the first wave of COVID-19, approximately 198,000 dentists and dental specialists in the USA have to shut down their practices. The reason for the closure was the nature of the work performed in the dental care settings because dentistry is the field where physicians or other staff members have to work closely with the patient especially with the close proximity to the oropharynx and nasopharynx. The virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 is present in the nasopharynx and salivary secretions of the oropharynx. The unique nature of dental interventions involves the usage of various equipment that are known for aerosol production, such as high-speed handpieces, bone drilling equipment, and cavitron. These aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 particles can stay in the air for several hours and can cause the transmission of infection from an infected person to a normal person. Such a work environment is a high risk for the dental personnel teams and for patients for being infected with COVID.

New face of Challenges for dental practices

The pandemic changed the challenges for dental practices such as obtaining dental supplies, maintaining patient’s routine dental visits, financial sustainability, retention of employees, and patient safety challenges. Usually in dental practices, standard universal precautions applied to minimize the spread of infection but to minimize the COVID-19 infection, new strategies need to be implied. This is because the majority of COVID infected patients remain asymptomatic due to the long incubation time period of the virus (2-14 days) and can spread the infection without being aware of it. That’s why regular and daily screening of dental staff members and patients is necessary to ensure that they are neither asymptomatic nor being in contact with COVID patient or have travel history in the past 14 days.

Need of new strategies to spread awareness

 Various strategies have been implemented by dentists to continue attending to their patients and keep their businesses open. Various guidelines have been issued by various healthcare associations, to help dentists to practice dentistry and addressed the needs of their patients while minimizing the risk of transmission of disease. However, there is still a need to spread awareness, especially for the dentists or dental healthcare workers who are working in remote areas, about how to update their work field to continue providing services to their patients or community. The ensuing recommendations can be followed:

• Triage patients before treatment, record temperature or any other COVID associated symptom, patient history of any contact with COVID patient or traveled outside the USA in last 15 days.
• The use of double barriers for intra-oral X-ray sensors are recommended or if possible, perform extra-oral radiographs are recommended.
• Wear PPE kits and change them regularly after every patient.

• Hand hygiene that includes the washing of hands with soap for 20-30 seconds and use of hand sanitizer with the strength of 70% alcohol is recommended.
• The use of pre-operative mouth rinse of patients by either using 0.5-1% hydrogen peroxide or 0.2% povidone iodine solution, to reduce the risk of spread of microorganisms during dental treatment.
• Avoid aerosol-producing equipments and use of hand equipment is encouraged. If possible, try to schedule an appointment for aerosol-producing treatments at the end of the day.
• Medical grade high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system along with high emergency ultraviolet light units or panels can also be installed. This system is known for 99.995% filtration rate and units can kill live bacteria or aerosolized bacteria trapped in the filter.
• Negative pressure rooms or airborne infection isolation rooms can limit the spread of airborne infection to one room. These rooms can suck out 30-40% of air and ensure a one-way flow of air.
• Include tele-dentistry to offer various services such as to provide urgent care services or follow-up services.

Lessons Learned from pandemic

Various lessons can be learned from this pandemic, that can help the dental care professionals to be prepared for any future crisis such as, analyze the practice operations which will help improve the financial and clinical performance. By improving the quality of work, focusing on reporting, performance indicators and benchmarking, cost-effective strategies can be implemented. By removing the financial barriers and improving the access to care can also help both patients as well as dentists. By providing phase treatment and breaking up the expensive treatment plans into series of smaller installments, incorporating technology such as tele-dental visits, offering competitive fees, affordable payment plans or collaborating with insurance companies can help solve these issues.  As of now, with every passing day, more people are getting vaccinated. It is expected that once we will be able to fight this pandemic, likewise other business, dental practices will also be able to open and see their patients as they do before COVID.

 

References: COVID Data Tracker. (2020). Retrieved 24 May 2021, from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home

Source : DentistFriend

Being Dentist: Saturation In Dental Profession; Fact Or Myth?

 

Being Dentist: Saturation In Dental Profession; Fact Or Myth?

As a dental student or professional, it is really disappointing to hear someone saying "Why did you choose to become a Dentist? There's no scope in Dentistry."

Visit the DentistFriend.com dental portal in india to buy or sell second hand dental clinic equipment.

How can anyone say that about our profession?Initially we resist to such comments but then seeing the situation of young dentists; some of us end up believing that dentistry has no future in India; few manage to opt out of the profession but majority has to continue dentistry. Recently there have been some cases of dentists committing suicide out of financial frustration which is very sad... 

 

 

Let me put you across some facts & figures 

 

1. I have some references which say that there are approx. 300 Dental Colleges in India & approx. 25,000 new dentists join the battle every year. 

2. As per DCI there are 3 lakh registered dentists in India till date (2015) who are serving to the population of approx 128 cr. 

I do agree that, the situation of young dentists in India is not that good. There are limited job opportunities for dentists, few patients & has cut throat competition. On the other hand if we look at the figures of developed countries such as US, the scenario is quite surprising. In the US, dentists are amongst the highest earning professionals & dental treatments are the costliest.

 

 

Why dentistry is amongst best professions in The United States?  

You will probably say, that US is a developed country and there is no saturation. Let me give you some figures provided by ADA. As per the American dental association there are 1.5 Lac dentists in US serving to 32 Cr populations. 
If we try to match the ratio of “Population: Number of Dentists” between India & US then it will be like this

 

Population	Number of Dentists
128 Cr.	3 Lac	Actual ratio of India
64 Cr.	1.5 Lac	Actual ratio divided by 2
32 Cr.	75 K	Actual ratio divided by 4
32 Cr.	1.5 Lac	Actual ratio of US

 

In the above table, one can see that there are only 75 thousand dentists to serve 32 crore population in India where as in US there are 1.5 lakh dentists to serve the same population i.e. twice the number of dentists in India. If these are the figures then why dentistry is amongst the best professions in US and we are still complaining?
 
Are we really facing saturation?
If you feel there's saturation at present then just think about the situation 10 years down the line when there will be additional 2.5 Lac dentists in the country. 
 
I believe that, saturation in not there in our profession
Saturation is in our minds which doesn't allow us to see the future possibilities..
 
The dentists in US are not only facing competition from local dentists but also from dental graduates from countries like India, China and many other countries. Just imagine what will happen if government allows dentists from neighboring countries to practice in India after clearing an entrance exam?
 

In India, increasing number of dentists is not the main problem but the status of oral healthcare awareness amongst the population is. Oral healthcare awareness is one of the biggest reasons that differentiate Indian & US dentists. In India less than 20% of population has awareness about oral health while in US more than 80% population pay attention on their oral health. 

Just imagine what can happen if we could turn this 20% into 80%
I know it's not going to happen overnight but it's possible

Source : DentistFriend

The Price War In Dentistry!

 

The Price War In Dentistry!

The inflation rate is high in India & with every passing year the price of basic necessities i.e. ROTI, KAPDA & MAKAN is increasing. Dentistry isn't the exception here. The basic overheads for running a dental clinic such as cost of dental equipments, materials, staff salaries, clinic rent etc. are increasing even then the dental treatments are getting cheaper & cheaper.

Visit the DentistFriend.com dental portal in india to know how much does it cost to become dentist 

 

What is the root cause of this trend?

There are only a handful of dentists willing to start up in Rural India where dentists are actually required. Most Dentists have a natural affinity of setting clinic in Urban Areas which is already overcrowded & this is where the price war begins...

Most of the young practitioners, being new, have minimum liabilities and their only aim is to establish their practice by beating the competitors. They consider "Treatment Charges” as the main constraint to overcome the competition & lower their treatment charges to such an extent that there is hardly any profitability. They are of the firm opinion that this initial step will help them establish themselves and profitability can be brought in at a later stage. But this is where they go wrong. Any efforts to increase charges at a later stage are met with a lot of resistance.

The established dentists initially don't bother about these “freshers” but when the number of such young dentists increases; the experienced practitioners have to suffer because of their pricing policies and they also have to lower their consultation charges in order to attract clientele.

As the experienced doctors start charging low; fresher don't get the chance to raise their treatment charges & overall pricing of dental treatment goes down.

 

Who actually pays?

The shrinking profit margins not only affects the dentists but also the dental lab technicians & patients. When you are not paid well; you don't have choice than to look for ways to reduce your expenses. Dentists have to start using sub-standerd materials, equipment, dental labs, which ultimately results in compromising with the overall treatment. 

You can't deny that there are some dentists who don't even follow the sterilization norms in order to reduce cost and ultimately the one who suffers is the patient.

 

How does this affect you?

When you sell yourself cheap, you can't invest in newer technology, machines, materials. You can't invest in learning new things which eventually makes your knowledge obsolete and affects your future practice.

Dentistry is a combination of art & science and our practice is not just about consultation like other healthcare professionals. Most of us can't practice after 60yrs of their age due to backache, vision and several other problems. 

An average life span of a dental practice is 25-30 Years. So whatever dreams you have; you have got only 25-30 overs. Now it's up to you to bat like a 20:20, one day or like a test match. 

 

What young practitioners need to understand?

The young dentists need to understand that "treatment charges" is not the only factor to overcome the competition, but there are several other things where you can focus like your specialty, best equipment, quality of materials, public relations, communication etc. 

This way you don't downgrade your own dental practice as well as help dentistry to evolve. 

 

What established practitioners need to understand?

The dentists who are already established should review and revise their treatment charges every year. Forget about progress but even to keep pace with the inflation rate; one has to increase treatment charges by at least 5 to 10 percent/year otherwise you will be at loss. overall status of dentistry can be improved.

This way you will give equal chances to the younger generation to prove themselves.

Cover Image courtesy: Google Images

Source : DentistFriend

Dental Practice Branding: Things To Consider Before Setting Up Website For Your Dental Practice

 

Dental Practice Branding: Things To Consider Before Setting Up Website For Your Dental Practice

A Good Dental Website Complements Your Brand!

 

Visitors arrive at your website, they look around, if they don't like what they see, they leave. So it is very important to get their attention quickly. However, it is also important that website should reflect your brand. 

How long does it take to become a dentist in India, to know visit our dental portal DentistFriend.com 

 

Consider a website that you have visited. Was the content you were seeking was readily available? How was the presentation? How well was the organization of content? Did it look professional? If the information was, difficult to find, left you confused, did not exist. Now consider your own website. You aim to design a website which can successfully sell your brand.

 

 

1. Aesthetics:

 

While designing your website you should pay special attention on Color scheme, Images, Graphics, Font size, Font style. Additionally your website should have a contemporary feel.

  

2. Content:

 

Content is the King. Users won't come to your website because it is beautiful but because of information they are looking for so create original content. If you just copy & paste the content from some other website it will carry zero value. The content should be well written, error free and it should be appealing. Create an interactive content by keeping it interesting; also you can use pictorial representation wherever it is possible to keep the users engaged.

 

 

3. Clarity:

 

Clarity is rule one when it comes to developing a website. This includes clarity of purpose, content and your contact information. You should have clarity in your vision. Know why you are creating a website, communicate who are you and your purpose through your content. Make sure that the information and layout of your website is easy to understand.

 

 

4. Tabs:

 

It is vital to have a clear idea of the content you want to present. This will help you in determining the number, type and title of the web pages you will need. Some of the more standard types of web pages include: HOME, ABOUT US, CONTENT PAGE, CONTACT US.

 

 

5. Navigation:

 

Create a navigation system that is logical and easy to use. People don't want to visit a website where they are lost. Don't merely rely on your sense of the proper flow. Test and retest with experts as well as your dental team. It should be simple, clear and appealing to draw the interest of the viewer and persuade them to explore other pages.

 

 

6. Compatibility:

 

Users access internet from different devices such as desktops, laptop, mobiles, tablets etc. When the user opens a website on mobile and finds the navigation system difficult then he will immediately go away. So create a website which is adaptable to all screen sizes (Responsive Design).
Visitors use different browsers from their devices to accessinternet. Make sure that your website is compatible with all the leading browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox etc.

 

 

7. Brand Value:

 

Your website gives you a great opportunity to create a brand value and influence your visitors to be your prospective patients. Remember, your website is extension of your dental practice.

 

 

8. Review:

 

Ask your existing patients to write a feedback about treatment, staff and their overall experience during the treatment at your clinic. Positive feedback from your patients increases your credibility 

 

 

9. Social Media:

 

Integrate all your social media accounts in your website. Do not forget to provide social media plug-in of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, You Tube, Pintrest etc.  Ask your patients to follow you on social networking sites for regular updates on Dental Care.

 

 

10. Call To Action:

 

Show Your Visitors "What to Do?" & "How to Do?" Your website should have some type of call to action, such as "Click here to make an appointment" as it is the ultimate reason to create the website. The entire purpose behind creating a great dental website is to encourage people to make you their dentist of choice. Yes, you want to share information with current patients. However, marketing to new dental patients is your primary goal.

 

Remember, your website is an extension of your dental practice. When you select a domain name for your website, try to keep it short, easy to remember and type otherwise you may lose some of your visitors.  For example:  DentistFriend.com is easy to type & remember compared to The DentistsFriend.com 

Source : DentistFriend