Howard Speaks by Howard Farran DDS MBA MAGD

I went to the ADA convention over the weekend in Kansas City. With all the terrorist hype going on the attendance was lame! It was sad that so many people, and 10 speakers, didn’t show up! Although it wasn’t as busy as conventions normally go, I thought there was a lot of dentists buying on the floor! It was a blast seeing so many Townies on the convention floor, and as usual, they were buying lots of toys! Lasers were a big, big hit, especially Biolase and ADT! I just loved listening to dentists justify why they were buying these high dollar toys! Why not just admit that you love dentistry and you just want to have fun! You can’t have all your toys at home! If you are asleep 8 hours a day, work 8 hours a day, and you are at home awake 8 hours, then my math tells me you should have half your toys in the office. I would really love to hear from the Townies as to what you were buying on the floor and why. I just want to make sure I’m not missing out on any hot new toys plus I’m curious as to how big your midlife crisis is! Remember, a laser is still always cheaper than a fling! I am certainly enjoying mine— my laser that is!

There was a lot of side talk going on about the recession. Remember, separate the recession we are now in, as opposed to the 9/11 terrorist events. We are now officially in our 10th recession since World War II, so I should now officially tell you for the umpteenth time, that healthcare has historically been recession proof. I’m sure a lot of elective cosmetic procedures such as veneers will be put on hold, but seriously, what percent of your practice is veneers? Nordstrom’s will always take a huge hit during a recession, but Wal-Mart will keep on trucking. If your dental office business model is high end cosmetics, and you start to see a slow down, switch gears just a little bit and start learning new procedures such as 300 rpm NiTi endo, perio, and the most challenging of all, pedo! Okay I admit, pedo only if you’re desperate!

Now with regards to the terrorist events, although most offices I talk to were off 20 to 25% the first 30 days after 9/11, the numbers are now climbing back slowly but surely to normal levels. So don’t worry, adjust your dental office business model focus as needed, and keep your continuing education mode in high gear, as always! If you don’t feel comfortable flying, take advantage of the great new online resources such as EDT Learning and CEODental (www.e-dentist.com and www.CEODental.com). I love learning C.E. in the comfort of my own den.

Now what did I personally learn the most at the ADA convention? The big focus was on oral cancer. But the really, really big focus was that dentists have completely dropped the ball with regards to diagnosing oral cancer. In a nutshell, let me tell you the bottom line. Oral cancer kills roughly 8400 people per year in the USA with 28,000 new cases being diagnosed each year. The overall 5-year survival rate is still 52%. Did you know that almost every other cancer has had major improvements in survival rates in the last 50 years except for oral cancer and a very few others. “Why?” It was the yearly mammogram starting for women at age 40 that accounts for the great gains in breast cancer survival, not some fancy chemotherapy agent like Tamoxifen. It was the yearly PSA test for males starting at 40 that accounts for the great gains in prostate cancer survival, not some fancy chemo agent! It was the yearly Pap smear for women starting at 30 that accounts for the great gains in cervix cancer survival, not some chemotherapeutic agent. It was the yearly colonoscopy that accounts for the great gains in colon cancer survival, not some chemotherapeutic agent. And for the last 50 years, by the time a dentist’s diagnosis oral cancer, the patient is on average 64 years old and the cancer is already at Stage III. If we were diagnosing oral cancer at Stage I, the 5-year survival rate would be nearly 79%. But diagnosing at Stage IV, and you are looking at less than 19% living 5 years.

So my question to you is very simple yet succinct! How often do you guy dentists recommend your wife having a mammogram and a Pap smear? Yearly! How often do you gal dentists recommend to your own husband to have a PSA and a colonoscopy? Yearly! Then how often would you recommend your patients to have a yearly oral cancer exam? Yearly! But you can’t tell me that you do this already! You think you do, but you still aren’t finding these lesions until they are Stage III or IV and the patient is nearly 64. Would you want your cervix exam to be a visual inspection or would you prefer a Pap smear? If you say you want a Pap smear then you should be doing an Oral CDx on every patient over 40 years old every year. The Oral CDx is basically an oral version of the Pap smear. The ADA code is 07286 and word on the street is about $175 to $100 depending on if you’re Nordstrom or Wal-Mart. If you say you’re going to keep on doing visual exams instead of using the Oral CDx, then I think you should, in all fairness, quit getting yearly mammograms, PSA test, colonoscopies, and Pap smears. After all, the bottom line is treating other people like you want to be treated!

If you would like more information on Oral CDx, call: 800-560-4467