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Episode 334: Narrowing the focus for dental assistants in the practice by Dental Assistant Nation

In this episode recorded live at the California Dental Association (CDA) meeting in Anaheim, Dental Assistant Nation founder Kevin Henry sits down with CDA's Teresa Pichay, CHPC, and Ashley Reich to discuss the dental assistant's scope of practice and why it's important for every dental assistant and dentist to know what their state law allows dental assistants to do. This is an important episode as we make sure to keep assistants and dental practices on the right side of the law.

Learn more about the scope of practice in your state at https://www.danb.org/state-requirements. Get in touch with our CDA speakers through https://www.cda.org.

Fresh off his day of speaking at the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference (PNDC), Dental Assistant Nation founder Kevin Henry shares two questions that were asked of him in Seattle by dental assistants and how he responded. Are these problems plaguing you and your dental practice?

In this episode, Kevin Henry, founder of the Dental Assistant Nation, explains the importance of stay interviews, what they are, and why dental assistants should be having one with the dentist before the first half of 2024 is over. What do you need to make this happen? How can these be successful for the dental assistant, dentist, and practice? Kevin shares his best tips here.

In this episode, dental assistant Mila McNeely returns to the show to discuss a connection in the oral-systemic link she believes every dental assistant should be willing to discuss with his or her patients ... the link between periodontal disease and erectile dysfunction.

You can see the study detailing the link referenced here ... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5672720/

In this conversation, Kevin Henry interviews Lynda Ricketson, the president and CEO of the Dental Lifeline Network, to discuss the organization's mission and impact. The Dental Lifeline Network is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has served over 170,000 patients, providing over $550 million worth of donated dental treatment. They connect patients who are elderly, living with disabilities, medically compromised, or veterans with volunteer dentists and dental teams who provide comprehensive care. The organization has seen a decrease in volunteers due to retirement and dentists joining dental service organizations, but they are building partnerships with DSOs to encourage more dental practices to volunteer.

Dental Lifeline Network makes it easy for dental practices to volunteer by handling the triaging and coordination of appointments. They ask dental practices to take on one or two patients per year. The organization also emphasizes the importance of involving the entire dental team in volunteerism, as it boosts employee morale and helps with talent recruitment and retention. They have seen a high level of volunteerism and compassion from dentists and dental professionals. The Dental Lifeline Network aims to serve as many patients as possible and measure success by the number of patients served and the value of donated dental treatment.

Learn more at WhyIDental.org