ADA Annual Session

A meeting as large as the ADA’s Annual Session generates very impressive statistics. Here’s a look at projected numbers for this year’s Annual Session in Philadelphia, October 6–9:
2,000,000+ pounds of exhibition freight • 300,000+ net square feet of exhibit space • 42,570 hotel rooms in 37 hotels • 8,000 total dentists in attendance • 600 exhibiting companies • 700 volunteers • 260 continuing education programs • 200 speakers • 6 semi-trailers of equipment and materials shipped from ADA headquarters • 2 years of planning •

ADA - Fluroide - Bone Cancer

Water Fluoridation and Alleged Risk of Rare Bone Cancer

The Wall Street Journal (July 22, Section B-Market Place, page 1) and other news outlets are reporting that a Harvard University doctor was charged with misrepresenting the findings of a doctoral student's thesis that reportedly found that fluoridated water increases the risk of osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer). Harvard University is conducting an investigation into the matter. Your local media may report on this story, and your patients may ask you about it. We will post a brief media statement about this issue on ADA.org.

To help you respond to patient inquiries, the ADA provides the following points:

Recent news reports may be alarming people unnecessarily about the safety of water fluoridation.
We're talking about one doctoral student's paper, a paper that has not been published in a scientific journal and therefore has not been available for peer review. Peer review is a process where a group of experts review studies prior to publication to determine if the study is designed well and if the conclusions are valid.
The student notes in her thesis that there are several limitations to her study and recommends that the findings be confirmed using data from other studies. (For example, she notes that the study may not accurately reflect the actual amount of fluoride consumed by study subjects.)
The vast majority of studies by nationally recognized researchers in widely-published, respected and peer-reviewed scientific journals conclude that water fluoridation has not shown any ill effects on health. Studies show that water fluoridation can prevent between 15-40 percent of tooth decay, and that there is no association between cancer rates in humans and optimal levels of fluoride in drinking water.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has proclaimed community water fluoridation one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. According to our current Surgeon General, fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay and to improve oral health for a lifetime, for both children and adults.
Unless and until the weight of scientific evidence shifts to the contrary, the American Dental Association continues to recommend that community water supplies be fluoridated to reduce the risk of tooth decay.
As a dentist, my goal is to help protect and improve your oral health. I believe that water fluoridation is important in preventing tooth decay.
As a member of the American Dental Association, I will be kept up to date on the latest dental research, so if the science on this issue changes, I will certainly let you know immediately.
As the leader of a science-based profession, the ADA is open to new scientific information and welcomes the opportunity to address it according to the standards that prevail in the scientific community.

For more information, go to www.ada.org

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Joining New Dental Insurance Plans

Are you considering participating in a new FFS dental plan?

Here is another item to consider:

One of our clients asked us about a plan she was considering in which the diagnostic and preventative benefits were extremely low: at about the 50th percentile for that geographic area. However, those were the only services that were covered.

Which meant that every other service: restorative, endodontics, periodontics, prosthetics - you get the picture - were not covered: she could charge her normal fee for those! So for accepting a discount on some of the basic procedures, she was receiving full fee on the other ones.

A perfect example of the plan that covers few services and the dentist benefits.

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Meet you at the ADA Convention

The Preview for the ADA's 146th Annual Session was recently released and it looks like it's going to be an exciting event. Lots of good speakers, courses and activities. And I'm sure that the dental venders will have some great deals on supplies and equipment. See you there.

More details can be found in the July issue issue of JADA or going to www.ada.org.

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Joining New Dental Insurance Plans

Are you considering participating in a new FFS dental plan?

Here are some more things to consider:

Are some subscribers of this plan already patients of yours? You have to examine potential fee discounting vs possibility of of losing them to a convenient participating rival.

Are you one of the few dentists in your area that will participate? If you are and fees are low, you may be able to negociate them to a level closer to your normal fees.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this and other practice management and insurance topics, subscribe to the Dental Talk Newletter. For more information, send us an email at DENTAL TALK

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Re-examining antibiotic therapy

The July issue of JADA has an informative article by the editor, Dr Glick, on the history of antibiotics, the decrease in efficacy against certain strains of bacteria and a charge to the profession to re-examine prescribing patterns.

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Joining New Dental Insurance Plans

Are you considering participating in a new FFS dental plan?

Here are some things to consider:

What does the fee schedule look like? Are the fees high on the low frequency items and low on the high frequency ones?

How many doctors in your area currently participate?

Is it a new plan in the area and what groups have they contracted with? Or are they building the network prior to offering it to clients?


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Retainers vs Abutments

Are you aware of the difference between an abutment (no, it's not as many of us were told in dental school, one end of a fixed bridge) and a retainer?

If you don't then you may not be coding your dental claims correctly.

Check your CDT-2005 manual for an explanation. Or, for a complete decription subscribe to The DENTAL TALK NEWSLETTER.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this and other practice management and insurance topics, subscribe to the Dental Talk Newletter. For more information, send us an email at DENTAL TALK

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Excellent source of office forms

The Colorado Oral Health Network recently finalized a group of low-literacy oral health patient education materials. They are available online & are copyright free - please copy and distribute them freely.
The materials were written at a third grade level in story format and translated into Spanish, Russian, and French. Material topics include:
* Diabetes and Oral Health
* Pregnancy and Oral Health
* Tooth Removal/ Dry Socket
* Periodontal Disease
* Dental Appointment Etiquette
* Root Canals
* Taking Care of Young Children's Teeth
* Oral Health and Low Birth Weight Babies
* Dentures & Partials
* Oral Cancer
The materials can be found on the CCHN website:
http://www.cchn.org/activities/oral_health-forms.asp (Scroll to Section
IX: Education Materials). Your feedback is welcome!
Terry Hobbs
Oral Health Project Coordinator
Colorado Community Health Network
303-861-5165 x291

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Deadline Filing Date for claims

Have you read the fine print on your claims, pre-determinations and participating provider contracts you have signed? There are some companies (and some plans within those companies) that place a deadline on how long, after a service is performed, you can file for that service. Sometimes it can vary from 6 months to 2 years.

And what if COB is involved and the reason you're filing the for the secondary insurance late is because the primary paid slowly?

And if you are denied despite the fact that you did file it several times and it went unanswered? Do you have the documentation to prove that to an appeals board?

Claims can fall between the cracks with ven the finest PMS system so make sure you're current on your filings.

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Participating in PPO's

Have you been participating in a PPO for a while and questioning if you should continue?

A fourth consideration is that if you’re in several plans, evaluate them as a group as to value. Then examine the number of patients from each one. You may want to eliminate them one by one and let your practice catch up.

For example, a plan may have a high benefit for crowns, but a very low one for exams and radiographs. Are you aware of the frequency differential between these services?

An average office statistically performs 7 times the number of recall exams as crowns. What would you like the higher relative benefit for: exams or crowns?

If you have difficulty evaluating this dimensional relationship, The Huskin Group is capable of helping you rank plans according to benefit payments based on procedure frequency. We can be reached at any of the emails listed below.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this and other practice management and insurance topics, subscribe to the Dental Talk Newletter. For more information, send us an email at DENTAL TALK

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Participating in PPO's

Have you been participating in a PPO for a while and questioning if you should continue?

A third consideration is the role these patients are playing in the overall makeup of your practice. Are they usurping valuable chair time from patients that earn you more? (i.e. taking chair time away from patients in a higher paying plan or entirely FFS?) If so, then it might be time to consider dropping out.

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Participating in PPO's

Have you been participating in a PPO for a while and questioning if you should continue?

A second consideration is the number of doctors in your area that participate in that same plan. Despite what many practitioners think, economics can be a driving force with patients in selecting and/or staying with a dentist.

In your estimation, how many patients do you think will migrate to another participating provider because of the fee discount if you decide to quit? Unfortunately, many practitioners over-estimate their influence with patients when economics dynamics are involved.

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Participation with PPO's

Have you been participating in a PPO for a while and questioning if you should continue?

One consideration is how much income you’re writing off compared to what you would earn if you charged your usual fees. Remember that no one is twisting your arm to continue participation. It's a business decision and if you feel that financially your practice is losing out, then it might be time to quit.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this and other practice management and insurance topics, subscribe to the Dental Talk Newletter. For more information, send us an email at DENTAL TALK

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Dental Insurance and Your Office

Many practices are taking a more aggressive stance in evaluating their participation (or intended participation) with dental insurance plans. The next several postings will offer some suggestions both for offices currently participating in plans and those considering joining.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this and other practice management and insurance topics, subscribe to the Dental Talk Newletter. For more information, send us an email at DENTAL TALK


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Low Radiation Report

There are new studies out that even low level radiation can be hazardous to a patient's health. Read more at this Dental Products Site by CLICKING HERE


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Broken Links

One of Dental Talk's goals is to provide links to articles that we think may be of interest to our readers. These links are located on other websites and we have no way of knowing how long that article will be on that site at that address. For that reason, if you ever click on a link and it does not take you to the article you're looking for, we apologize and would appreciate it if you notify us via email. We'll try to find shere the article was moved to or remove the posting.

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Continued Difficulty With HIPAA

The ADA reports that dentists are continuing have difficulty with the new HIPAA security rules, including differentiating between these and the privacy laws.

The ADA has developed a series of training aids assist offices in understanding the process and becoming compliant.

More information can be obtained by going to the ADA website at www.ada.org.

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