Most dentists who take a sleep apnea course never bring it into their practice. They come home excited, and six months later nothing has changed.
Dr. Erin Elliott, a general dentist in Post Falls, Idaho, who lectures nationally on dental sleep medicine, made it work in a busy general practice. In this episode, Dr. Lorne Lavine asks her how.
What they cover:
- Why sleep apnea is "not an old fat man's disease," and how her own dad's snoring turned out to be moderate to severe sleep apnea, with a heart rate of 83 while he slept
- Why dentists take the course and stall, and her fix: a dedicated sleep champion and a six-month runway
- Getting the whole team talking about sleep by giving every team member a free sleep study
- What an Apple Watch or Oura ring can and can't tell you about sleep
- Her workflow: a yes in hygiene, a separate sleep consult, a home sleep test read by a sleep physician, then the results conversation
- Why a $2,500 appliance feels harder to sell than $5,000 aligners, and why you shouldn't lead with medical insurance
- "Do not cheap out on the appliance," and how to follow up to show the therapy is working
- What's next: appliances with built-in sensors, myofunctional therapy and new nerve stimulators
- Plus Naren's marketing tip: how to get ten or more Google reviews every month
THE ONE THING FROM THIS EPISODE
Don't make sleep rest on you. Pick one person on your team to be the sleep champion, treat it like a startup inside your practice, and give it six months before you judge it.
Find Dr. Elliott at erinelliottdds.com.
WORK WITH US
Marketing: book a strategy meeting with Naren's team at ekwa.com/wired
Technology: schedule a call with Lorne at thedigitaldentist.com/call
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