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IN FOCUS: MINIMALLY INVASIVE DENTISTRY

Incorporating MID into your practice


At Dr. Kelly Blodgett’s practice, it’s all about the patient experience and the best technology for optimal care.   

 

BY RENEE KNIGHT
 

Dr. Kelly Blodgett is always looking for ways to enhance the patient experience, to make his patients feel like they’re truly involved in their oral health care. That’s been his focus since he first opened his practice doors in 2001, and minimally invasive dentistry has helped him make that happen.

 THE LASER ADVANTAGE

Lasers bring MID to a practice in a variety of ways. Here’s what Dr. Blodgett likes about them:

• They require shorter healing time

• They help manage soft tissue, whether you’re treating a patient for periodontal disease or performing an implant access opening

• If you use the right wavelength for the right procedure, your job becomes easier and your patient’s experience becomes more comfortable

• Certain lasers allow you to treat patients without anesthetic for some procedures
The Waterlase laser (www.biolase.com) from Biolase Technology Inc. and the PerioLase (www.millenniumdental.com) from Millennium Dental Technologies are among the lasers found in Blodgett’s practice.

Dr. Blodgett believes that MID “should be the goal of every dentist.” Here are some of the technologies he says will help get you there:

• Digital radiography: Allows you to gather more radiographic information with a lot less radiation. Blodgett uses Schick direct sensors (www.schicktech.com)

• CEREC CAD/CAM: (www.cereconline.com) Reduces treatment time for two or more visits to one visit for crowns, inlays, onlays and veneers.

•    DIAGNOdent laser: (www.kavousa.com) Makes it possible to see into occlusal grooves of teeth, providing more accurate data than traditional methods

•    VELscope (www.velscope.com): Allows you to see changes in the basement membrane of intraoral tissue, providing information about tissue change well before you’d be able to detect it with the naked eye.
  

The conversion to a minimally invasive practice at Blodgett Dental Care (www.blodgettdentalcare.com) has evolved over time, Blodgett says, with two soft tissue lasers becoming part of his repertoire five-and-a-half years ago. Since then, Blodgett has invested in a variety of new technologies, all part of his plan to build a practice that focuses on disease prevention and treatment with minimal tissue loss.


Making the change

Transitioning to MID changed the entire patient experience at the Portland-based practice. Visits to Blodgett’s office now last between two and two-and-a-half hours, and during that time Blodgett’s staff gets to know the patients, their experiences and their short- and long-term goals. With patient permission, the staff gathers all information—from x-rays to occlusal analysis—digitally and spends time educating patients about the processes that contribute to dental disease and minimally invasive treatment options for any problems found.

“Over the process of converting to a “MID” practice, I would say that we provide more care for fewer people,” Blodgett says. “Our office is far more productive and efficient than it was before the MID approach. Granted, I have made significant investments in technology to have this kind of practice, but with each new technology incorporated we have seen our production increase as a result of offering more advanced care.”

The challenges

As with any change, transitioning to a MID practice has its challenges. The first, Blodgett says, is staff buy-in. Staff members must see the advantages that new equipment or philosophies bring to the practice, and they must be able to describe those benefits to the patients. 

Finding a way to integrate new systems to the practice is also key to making a successful transition. Blodgett and his staff created well-defined integration systems. During 90-minute, weekly team meetings the staff discusses the latest technology or concept they’re integrating and determines who is responsible for what. 

When Blodgett and his staff incorporated CAMBRA (Caries Management by Risk Assessment) into the practice, the dental team took on the responsibility of collecting the necessary information to complete the assessment. This makes staff members happy because they’re using a new method to help patients control the disease process, Blodgett says, while patients are excited to receive a new treatment for caries.

“If you try to incorporate a new technology without having a well thought out, defined plan, it will most likely fail,” Blodgett says. “Almost all dental teams can put any system into place. They just need to be excited about how it can help their patients.”


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