Looking Forward to 2021!

Lisa Moler, Founder/CEO, MedMark Media

Through all of the challenges and changes of 2020, I look forward to 2021 as a year of renewal and rejuvenation. 2020 changed our perspectives on patient care and the way we run our businesses. Sanitizing and masking have become part of daily routines, and new methods of communicating with patients and sharing information with colleagues have brought new efficiencies to dental practices.

2020 also has taught us that managing our offices efficiently can navigate us through hard times and make the good times even better. This year, dentists discovered that teledentistry can keep them clinically connected with patients as well as keeping information flowing. The American TeleDentistry Association notes that teledentistry can:

• Improve dental hygiene of patients
• Reduce the cost of care and increase efficiency through reduced travel times, shared professional staffing, and fewer in-person appointments
• Be an innovative solution for the mainstream healthcare industry
• Improve access to care for patients
• Reduce the amount of time patients need to spend away from their offices
• Make in-office appointment times more accessible
• Make in-office appointment times more accessible to patients who really need them

In addition, PPE and aerosol containment policies and other safety precautions will allow you to make future plans to expand your skills and techniques.

Dental Sleep Practice continues to be a trusted source for introspection, invention, implementation, and innovation for your dental practice. Your strength and dedication to your craft and your teams is truly inspirational.

In this issue’s CE, “ACEs, Integrative Medicine, and the Mind Body Connection” by Dr. Sunita Merriman, discusses how adverse child experiences can negatively impact treatment for sleep deficiency and sleep disorders in adults. The mind-body connection can present a severe challenge to successfully treating patients if clinicians do not recognize that their impact on treatment outcomes is crucial to providing comprehensive, integrative care. In our cover story, “Challenging the Status Quo,” Dr. Erin Elliott discusses how technology can provide powerful tools in involving patients in the discovery and treatment of their OSA. In “Apples to Aardvarks,” Dr. Suzanne Mericle and Jeff Wyscarver write about Dental Remote Patient Monitoring (DRPM) for better treatment efficacy, to actively engage patients in their treatment, and gain more physician referrals.

This is our last issue for this year, and I think I am joined by all of you in saying that 2021 can’t get here fast enough! We look forward to starting the next year with healing, hope, and vision for a profitable future. As I have said before, stay positive, stay focused, and stay with us as you have over the years. We appreciate and value you, and invite you to contact us regarding submitting articles in 2021.