Trish Walraven

Health IT Security: THE GAME

October 14, 2013 By Trish Walraven Leave a Comment

There is just nothing, nothing at all that is alluring or interesting about the need to safeguard our patient data. We want to pass the buck, let SOMEONE ELSE HANDLE IT, not our problem. Except that if your dental team doesn’t know better there’s a chance that they’re setting you up for a security breach out of mere ignorance. Trust me, you do not want to go there. Instead, our government spent a whole bunch of money, probably, to make a video game for you and your office to play and learn about CyberSecurity.

Wait, before you pass judgement like I did and say either (1) This can’t be real, it’s a joke or (2) it’s stupid to play a game about medical data security, just click on the image above, type in a random name, and PLAY IT. You’ll be surprised what you do and don’t know about the HIPAA and HiTech laws that affect you and your practice, and that it’s actually a pretty interesting way to learn.

What’s that? Should you allow your team members to play it during work? If they have basic knowledge of proper security protocols they will be much more likely to understand the importance of any changes that may be rolled out with the way you handle patient data in the near future. And you’ll get bonus points for being kind of cool, but not really, because it is still work, even if it’s disguised as fun.

Here’s the link:

http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/cybersecure/cybersecure.html

It should only take you about 15 minutes to complete the entire game, unless you’re actually looking for all that extra real estate that it promises to give you.

And really, consider the source.

An interview with the Duck Dynasty dentist

September 28, 2013 By Trish Walraven 6 Comments

Not too many dentists are portrayed positively in the media, we all pretty much know that. Even when something so routine as a third molar extraction becomes fodder for reality TV it becomes as heinous as possible. Oh, and thanks, sound teams, for when you add that special bone-cracking celery effect during tooth removal. You really help the cause there.

Want to know why I think that this dentist is truly one of the good guys? Not only was Dr. Kevin Finley, DDS gracious in accepting an interview request a few days after his appearance on the A&E Network, he was able to work it in amongst…get this!….fooling his whole dental team into thinking they were working, but he had secretly booked the day full of fake patients and instead thrilled all of them with a birthday party, complete with a shopping spree, a scavenger hunt, fine piano bar dining, board games (with big fat bills for winning!) and an early send-home. That takes heart. So thank you, Dr. Finley, for doing your best to make dentistry go well on TV, and for being the kind of dentist that everyone wants to work for.

With that said, here’s our conversation:

DentalBuzz: It’s intriguing to see a dentist doing a little bloodletting on unscripted television, especially on a show that’s as popular as Duck Dynasty. How long have you known the Robertson family?

Dr. Kevin Finley: I have known the Robertson’s for over 25 years. Phil has been a patient in the past. Korie has been a patient for over 10 years and her children have been patients since their first dental visit.

DB: So Willie’s not a patient? Why not?

KF: By his own admission, he does not like going to the dentist. Korie says that she is going to get him in sometime. They do seem to be very busy people.

DB: Maybe it’s time for a dental intervention! Or at least a postcard. Speaking of postcards, Wal-Marts all over the country seem to have postcards and everything else, for that matter, branded to Duck Commander this and Duck Dynasty that. Is the whole town of West Monroe like that too? How has their success changed your community?

KF: It is important to know that Phil is a great businessman. The Duck Commander and the Buck Commander have both been fantastic businesses long before Duck Dynasty. Don’t let the beards and accents fool you. Phil ( and the rest of the family) are really smart and VERY hard workers. (Filming my part of the episode was more work than i could have imagined).

It appears that the entire community is elated that they are so successful. The old adage that “a profit is not without honor, save in his own city”, does not apply here. We all love the Robertson family and they have brought nothing but positive influence to our community. It is no secret that they are Christians and they are not ashamed of who they are. They proclaim their love for God, their family and their country. They really are a phenomenal family. That being said– the business of Duck Dynasty has been great for our community. It is fantastic to see the local West Monroe police having to direct traffic in and around their store because people are coming here from all over the place. Duck Dynasty has put West Monroe Louisiana on the map, so to speak.

As for Wal-Mart, it is not an easy thing to get your products in Wal-Mart, they, too, are great business people and they know what sells. I can honestly say that the success of the Robertson family has been a wonderful benefit to our community.

DB: It gives a whole new meaning to living one’s faith, huh? They get to be who they were meant to be and lift everyone else around them up in the process, including all their TV viewers and fans. Which brings us to how they’ve elevated your world for a while, at least. In last week’s episode you extracted the third molars of both John Luke and Sadie in the same day. That’s eight teeth in front of a camera crew! No pressure, right? What was that like?

KF: It is unique to human nature that if you know a celebrity, it kind of makes you feel special– sort of like a celebrity yourself. I got to feel famous for about 1 minute. As a side note, when I have gone to dental meetings and met other dentists and they find out I live in West Monroe, Louisiana, they all ask if I know the Duck Dynasty family. I tell them that I do and that some of the family are patients of mine–they usually look at me kind of sideways and say “that’s great”, but all the while thinking that I am lying.

I really love to see success stories, especially in person, and is even more of a thrill to be asked to participate in their story. You would have to know this family to really feel what I am saying. As to the treatment, I have been in practice for 29 years and the dentistry itself was quite normal for us. I remember from dental school reading in our oral surgery textbook that “wisdom teeth extractions are easy, except for those that aren’t”. I really didn’t know what that meant until I did my share of third molar extractions. They either come right out in a few minutes or it’s “hold on to your butts”, we are going to be here for a while. Usually on teenagers, the surgery goes very well, as was the cases for John Luke and Sadie.

I guess if I was going to have any anxiety it would be with the anesthesia–we all know that the unexpected can happen and we would not like it to happen while parents were in the room or while the filming was going on. As it turned out, thanks to Delvin Price our Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, who is off the charts amazing, conscientious and caring, and our wonderful dental assistants, Frances and Kim, the Robertsons went to sleep, stayed asleep for their procedure and woke up when it was over, only slightly worse for the wear. I would call this quite a successful operation! Of course, after they woke up, then the real fun began, as you saw on the show. I can’t say enough good things about this family and my life has been enhanced just by knowing them—regardless of how famous they may be.

DB: Fame and good fortune sometimes goes to the right people, that’s what it sounds like you’re saying. As an insider looking out (because after all, you do live and work in the Beard Bubble there!) your experiences with the Robertson family seem to explain their phenomenal success to the rest of us: Duck Dynasty is not so much about characters as it is about character. Thank you, Dr. Finley, for sharing a juicy little slice of what it’s like to be a dentist in the middle of reality TV.

So there’s a final serious answer everyone wants to know about working with the Robertson family: How have you and your team ever managed to do dentistry through all that facial hair?

KF: (crickets chirping).

Didn’t catch this episode of Duck Dynasty? You can watch it now in its entirety by clicking this link to the A&E website: John Luke After Dentist

Also a BIG hug goes to my friend Eva Watson, RDH for pushing the interview button. Thank you, awesome woman!

IV sedation can be fun – for the oral surgeon

September 13, 2013 By Trish Walraven 1 Comment

Haven’t you wondered what your patients experience when you send them to your most trusted oral surgeons? Here’s an in-depth video that explains the process of taking out their third molars:

I have to give the Awkward Spaceship sketch comedy group a HUGE thank-you for making this a top-notch, truly hilarious, dental-wanna-see video. I wish I could say I’ve seen a funnier skit or parody about dentistry but no one else even throws a paper ball anywhere close to where you guys throw ’em. So for now I’ll say congratulations and suggest a new challenge for Dentally Challenged:

Offering a smile makeover to someone whose teeth are the LEAST of their problems.

Serious tongue action

August 28, 2013 By Trish Walraven 3 Comments

Are you in a state of media overshock after this gratuitous display of tongue-adge on a certain video awards show? No? But it may give you pause to think about all the naughtiness that tongues present to you as a dental clinician on a daily basis.

Most tongues behave themselves very well when you’re working in their realm. It IS the tongue’s kingdom after all; the mouth is where this majestic muscle rules supremely, preventing any dangerous objects from being inhaled or swallowed. However, there are some tongues that simply won’t cooperate, no matter how much you comfort and reassure them. See if you recognize any of these personalities in the tongues you have worked with.

The Stalker

This is a tongue that hangs back, ominously, but sort of follows you a tiny bit, like it’s planning to MURDER you while you’re simply blowing an occlusal surface dry. It is the godfather of tongues, so you had better not refuse its offer of allowing you to LIVE.

The Fist

If you encounter The Fist, you will be lucky to gain power over it. Usually appears when you’re working on an upper posterior tooth. The tongue will ball up and tighten so hard that you cannot wedge anything, not even oxygen itself, between the tooth and the tongue.

The Dive Bomber

You know you’re working with a Dive Bomber tongue when the tip of it continuously pounds you from every direction. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if the patient were actually whistling downward and making the CRRR crash sound with every hit. Your dentistry may feel like the crumbled buildings in Space Invaders by the time this appointment is over.

The Wave

A tongue doing The Wave is bad. Not that it’s doing anything to get in your way, but when the ripple of peristaltic action starts quivering along the rim of the tongue, that usually means that the patient is about a half-second away from a gag and a wretch. Have your high-speed suction available for…um…incidentals.

The Bulldozer

Everyone has had experience with this tongue. It’s one big bully, pushing you around, scooping up the rubber dam clamp and pelting it against the wall before you even consider straightjacketing it with your square of latex. The Bulldozer will warp impression vinyl into a freakshow of “was that a human or an octopus?” when questioned by your lab, and is generally violent towards anything you try to put in the attached patient’s mouth.

The Lover

This tongue is so embarrassing! You’re working along, minding your manners, when it just sort-of slinks up the handle of your mouth mirror and begins pole dancing. Worst of all is seeing this happen to a straight male dentist by an apparently straight male patient who has no idea that his tongue is lovingly caressing the tools. You just. Can’t. Say. Anything. But your assistant will, after the appointment, behind your back. Or worse, to your face.

The Exorcist

I’ve only seen The Exorcist once. Okay, twice, but it was the same patient, and I would have never believed that a tongue could move like that unless I’d seen it with my own eyes. The Exorcist stands up, perfectly straight in the center of the mouth and slowly and continuously rotates in a clockwise direction while you’re cleaning the left side of the mouth, and then stops and begins rotating in the opposite direction when cleaning the other side. The only reason I didn’t call a priest was because the patient’s health history showed she was taking some major antidepressants and schizophrenia medications.

The Puppy Dog

Like a real puppy dog, this tongue is actually kind of cute. It bounces, following you around while you’re touring a patient’s mouth, stopping to sniff while you check the edge of an old amalgam, wagging its tail when you give it a little attention. It’ll even pee on itself if it gets nervous. Yeah, you’ve seen that submandibular salivary gland gleek squirt piddle.

The Cobra

The Cobra should be heeded, but it is more of a display than an actual threat. When a patient’s tongue slowly raises up and looks like a curved shield about to strike, get out your clarinet. It’s time for a little snake charming.

The Victim

This tongue acts like it’s been maimed and waterboarded, cowering in the back of the throat like it’s trying to make itself as small as possible. You actually feel sorry for The Victim, and find yourself trying to convince the patient that you’re not the dentist from The Marathon Man, which can cause some funny looks from the oblivious. One problem with The Victim is that it may end up consoling itself by acting out its former abuse and become The Lover. NOOOOOOOOOO!

And if this is the best tongue-in-cheek humor you’ve EVER READ you need to share it now. Oh that was bad. But share, because the world needs more tongue humor, at least.

A soundbite for deafness

July 19, 2013 By Trish Walraven 3 Comments

Suppose there’s a new treatment for a specific kind of deafness, and this treatment can’t happen without you, the dentist. But there’s a vicious cycle at play preventing all the parts from hooking up and delivering the appropriate patient care.

Would an ENT physician ever admit to being intimidated by a new product because it meant that they’d have to partner with a dentist to deliver the treatment? Are they afraid of their own ignorance about dentistry?

Why then, out of thousands of ear, nose, and throat physicians, audiologists, and other hearing specialists, are only a handful of clinics offering what looks like to be a breakthrough product? Currently about 70 medical practices are listed at the Sonitus website. If you exclude the 13 practices in New York and the 9 in California, that means that the rest of them are scattered around the country at an average of less than one per state.

Can you imagine if you were the only dentist in your entire state who was working with an audiologist?

Well then.

Physician referrals sometimes make for the best patients. I mean, the patient trusts their doctor already. It’s easy for the patient to transfer that trust to you, especially if you’re partnering with that person.

Admittedly, this is looking at the situation from a dental-centric side: what’s in it for you. Right?

New patient flow aside, let’s go to the patient, the problem, and the product for a moment.

The patient: usually younger than the average person needing a hearing aid. As young as eighteen; average age? Mid-forties.

The problem: single-sided deafness. One ear works pretty well, the other one, pretty badly. Having hearing only in one ear can be more devastating than you might imagine. While not as difficult as total deafness, single-sided hearing loss means that the “good ear” must be turned towards the sound origin which can result in loss of eye contact when listening to conversations, having to choose seating where no one will be able to sit next to the patient’s “bad ear,” dysphoria related to sound confusion, and many other issues which affect quality of life.

The product: It really is called…. wait for it…

A Soundbite.

Beautiful. Here’s how it works:

The receiver reminds me a little bit of those old Nesbit spider partials that dentists no longer seem to make because of the fear that they will be swallowed. No sharp pointy pieces to snag in the gut, however. Um… yay?

So for those who are candidates for the SoundBite, what other options do they currently have? How about a titanium implant? Boy, that rings a bell (Ha! audiology humor). Seriously, for about $10,000 a titanium fitting is surgically implanted into the bone behind a patient’s deaf ear and a sound processor is attached to it which sends vibrations into the skull. Another option is to wear a microphone in the deaf ear and the receiver in the other one. But audiologists say that patients who can hear normally in one ear really have a problem with anything impeding the healthy ear’s function and definitely don’t want to wear two hearing aids.

It’s not a perfect solution due to the changes some users have noticed with eating and speaking, but those who have been fitted with the SoundBite have been extremely happy with the improvement in their hearing and feel like the small inconveniences are totally worth the life-changing effects of their new device. Imagine! The microphone picks up the sound of fingers snapping in a deaf ear, and the transmission through the tooth tricks the brain into thinking it’s hearing again! The cost is upwards of $6000, and batteries must be kept charged and changed after eight hours of continuous use.

Don’t you want to help now? Of course you do. You can click over to the SoundBite website, read this information for dentists, and even sign up to become a provider. But I have a better challenge. There’s probably an ENT or audiologist in your own zip code. Let them know that you’ve read up on this product, you might have even watched the video below, and that you would love to work with them to help patients manage their hearing loss. They won’t do it without your interest.

Hygienists already know all about this sound conduction. Just ask anyone who regularly uses ultrasonic scalers if patients hear a “feedback” tone that is very, very loud when the distal of the upper left molar is cleaned. It might happen with other dental techniques as well, but since I’m not down in the roots or cutting enamel off of teeth as regularly as I screech along the gumlines of able-eared people, I don’t know.

As a patient, though, I don’t hear this ultrasonic wail any more. Last time I had my teeth cleaned the tone was gone, as I suspected it would be. And that is the whole reason for even discovering the SoundBite.

I happen to be one of those patients with single-sided deafness; my hearing disappeared suddenly, with no known reason. I awoke one morning with a roar in my left ear. I thought that this new horrendous white noise was the problem, it was so loud, I figured it would go away soon enough, so I tried to ignore it. When it didn’t, and then I made the shocking discovery when I turned my right ear away from music that it faded away…well, that’s when I realized I needed a specialist. It wasn’t just tinnitus; it was the absence of sound. And it sucked, like a vacuum cleaner. Literally.

Even though the bad news from my ENT was that the hearing was diminished and not likely to come back, the good news was that it wasn’t gone completely. I started searching for solutions, just in case I did go totally deaf in that ear, and that’s when I discovered that my very own dentist! my employer! could! help! me!

When you think about it as a professional, isn’t this awesome?

I’m thankful to still have a decent amount of hearing in my bad ear, and despite the fact that noises are garbled and tinny-sounding, I’m going to do my best without a SoundBite for the moment. However, there are many, many patients out there with total ear deafness that could benefit from one. All they’re missing is a dentist who can take a good impression.

And that’s my throwdown.

« Previous Page
1
…
4
5
6
7
8
…
26
Next Page »