On course for innovative thinking

Tracey Lennemann is committed to staying one step ahead in the dental practice and is keen to share her vision with colleagues at the Innovations in Dentistry Symposium.

She reveals: ‘Both lectures are going to challenge you to think about what you’re doing and give you a different perspective. Where are you going and where do you want to go with it? Are you even happy doing what you’re doing? These are going to be motivational lectures, they’re going to get you to think and present ideas from which to grow…’

Modern day concepts in dental hygiene

Focusing on the modern dental hygienist, Tracey’s thought-provoking and fast-paced presentation will challenge you to look at how you influence your patients’ oral and systemic health, along with presenting possibilities of how you can update, optimise and improve your periodontal treatment and maintenance.

One of Tracey’s biggest concerns is that of ‘supervised neglect’, often attributable to a lack of time, not a lack of desire to do the best for patients.

Tracey says: ‘I’m going to show some examples of supervised neglect and go over the scope of practise, helping delegates to understand how things can be changed, improved and updated.

‘There has been a precedent of getting a lot of people treated and keeping it affordable. Frequently, half-hour appointments are provided and, if the patient needs another appointment, you reschedule for another half an hour. But you often run over time, speed up with each patient, sometimes inflicting more pain, which is demotivating and leads to burn-out. Is this the correct concept and is it enough to properly treate a patient in today’s world?'

Tracey says the length of appointments was set in a time before dental professionals were aware of the new knowledge of how biofilm and dental disease function. So, despite hygienists wanting to do a good job, the quick appointments just do not allow for everything that needs to be done, which, in a nutshell consists of:  

  1. Reducing inflammation through biofilm reduction, demonstration of home care techniques and regular recall intervals
  2. Achieving re-establishment of a healthy periodontium for hindering bone loss, requiring sub-gingival calculus elimination.

Tracey comments: ‘Half an hour just does not do the job at first. So, I’m going to talk about the one-hour appointment, and how to move patients from the shorter appointment to the longer one. Once patients are periodontally sound and stabilised, then you can move them back to the half-hour for biofilm management, but you have to achieve a solid foundation first.

‘I’ll be talking about what’s changed, what we know about bacteria and biofilm, modern technologies, innovations and thought processes, and how important it is that we are up-to-date in terms of knowledge and skills and how you can start updating your procedures for your patients.

It’s business, baby!

Recognising that the majority of dental professionals who own a practice, whether a dentist or dental therapist or hygienist, have been educated in clinical methods and not business techniques, Tracey is set to start at the very beginning.

In her presentation ‘It’s business, baby! Recommendations on how to become a more successful dental business’, Tracey will share with delegates the possibilities for increasing profits, productivity and patient satisfaction through team support and integration of sales, communication and customer service.

She comments: ‘You need to stop, take a step back, and take a look at what you’re doing and where you’re going. You need to know what the whole picture looks like and then decide what part of the picture you want to fit into. What do you want to learn? How do you want to grow? How will you motivate yourself? What do you want to be doing when you’re 60?’

She continues explaining that it is important to put yourself in your patients' shoes. As a customer, what do you expect and demand? What do you not like? What annoys you? Are you doing the same to your patients? Would you come to you as a patient to be treated?

Tracey’s emphasis is that it is important not to get worried at this point, if your thoughts lead you to a negative answer. She says: ‘It’s okay to think what you’re thinking. It is the first step to making changes. You’re not wrong, you simply don’t know what you don’t know, and now you can do something about it, which is where this presentation comes into play.’

She will be presenting some of these options and business basics to help you evaluate where you are and where you are going.

In the hot seat

And Tracey’s role at the symposium doesn’t end there. Excitingly, she will be manning a working chair in the hygiene sections throughout the day, offering live demonstrations and an opportunity to get hands-on with the equipment, as well as being available to answer questions.

Tracey hopes her presentations will encourage delegates to look beyond the norm, offering motivation to ‘keep up with modern times and embrace it. Things are always changing, offering new opportunities for you within your scope of practice. I’m not saying you have to change things; I’m giving ideas and thoughts to get you looking at what you can and might want to do.

‘Everyone knows that common sense is not common practise, so these presentations will help you to look beyond what has become your everyday role and find what’s right for you.’

Why not join Tracey and her esteemed colleagues to learn from their experience and achieve the best this July?

Kerr is delighted, alongside Sybron Endo, Henry Schein Dental and Kavo, to be staging the Innovations in Dentistry Symposium – ‘For the Art of the Smile’ – in 2014.

During this two-day event, leading speakers, including Tracey Lennemann, Gianluca Gambarini, Chris Orr and Robbie McConnell will discuss the latest in hygiene therapy, running a business, endodontics, restorative dentistry and equipment.

On 3 July at Altitude 360 in Westminster, dental professionals can choose from a range of lectures to suit their needs, accruing six hours of verifiable CPD (continuous professional development). Then, on 4 July, dentists can attend restorative and/or endodontic hands-on sessions worth three hours of verifiable CPD at Henry Schein’s Marble Arch showroom.

For further information or to book you place, please email [email protected] or call 0845 873 6299.

 

Tracey Lennemann RDH, BA is an international professional speaker, trainer, published author and coach. She has been a practising clinical periodontal dental hygienist since 1986 and is co-author of the new book, First Aid for a Wounded Dental Business. Her topics include: complete non-surgical preventive and periodontal therapy, appointment and patient management strategies; implant pre-/post-surgical maintenance; team motivation; problem-solving; improving communication skills; selling your services; trust and knowledge; solutions for behavioural change; and much more.

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