Treatment Planning

With the advent of Dan Sindelar’s program and a growing awareness of oral systemic health—the profound relationship between oral health and overall health—dentists no longer simply observe using their eyes and a machine. They develop a stronger chair-side manner that allows for conversation and the initiation of a more intense dentist-patient relationship that can better the lives of their clientele. Without lengthening the time of a visit!

Dentists now incorporate quantitative tests and testing into the planning of patients’ treatments. These will show dentists the exact amount of disease present, and will allow for new diagnoses based on cutting-edge genetic testing. One out of three patients needs aggressive treatment plans to prevent cardiac crises, the possibility of diabetes, or even stroke. Dentists can do that now – with the proper treatment planning. They can become essential members of their patients’ local healthcare provider network. All as part of a simple periodic checkup or follow-up visit.

The beauty part of Dan Sindelar’s program, and the tools he has developed to incorporate oral systemic health treatment into a dental practice, is that these methods do not lengthen the time of a visit. This is a boon for patients and for practitioners.

When a patient starts working with Dr. Sindelar, or any dentist who has become acquainted with and practices oral systemic health, that patient will fill out an in-depth questionnaire (just as any new patient would). The difference is, this questionnaire is a bit more specific, and takes into account total health. The dental practice then incorporates that information into software that will calculate the patient’s risk for systemic disease.

When the patient meets with the hygienist for his or her routine cleaning, the hygienist will, as part of her work, take intra-oral photos, which are an integral part of cutting-edge treatment planning. “Some 95 percent of people don’t know that they have a problem with their oral health,” Dr. Dan says, “so they need more than words to understand it. That’s why we place such an emphasis on visuals .”

The patient will be sent home with the visual record of the oral situation, such as discolored gums. But before that, the dentist and the hygienist will discuss the situation with the patient, and explain to them the consequences of that oral problem, and why it is so important that it be treated. “We approach our patients in a much more elaborate and personalized way than the typical dental practice does, one that hasn’t yet incorporated the oral systemic health process,” says Dr Dan.

The dental team offers a solution to the patient, as part of an ongoing treatment plan, and works with a coordinator to find ways so that the patient can afford any treatment that is recommended. This is a step forward in creating a dental practice that is an essential component of a healthcare provider network.

Dr. Dan and his team can explain this, and show how simple, easy and affordable it is to incorporate the new era of dentistry into any practice.