Michigan – In his drive to become a health provider, and not just a neighborhood dentist, Darren Riopelle, DDS looked to America’s #1 health threat and fifth deadliest disease – Diabetes.
In doing so, Dr. Riopelle has developed a program that serves the community in a way many dentists never dream of and also creates practice growth, patient loyalty and reinforces to his entire team that they make a profound difference in their patients’ lives.
The program focuses on two different areas: the current patient and the potential patient. Both methods are supported by developing a network of medical doctors who share the vision about the common and link between diabetes and oral health.
In the first scenario, current patients, Dr Riopelle identifies those suffering from undiagnosed periodontal disease and he educates the patient on symptoms and the periodontal disease/diabetes relationship, then refers them to their medical doctor or the network of physicians, to be checked for undiagnosed diabetes.
In the second scenario, a patient is been diagnosed with diabetes and their medical doctor refers them to Dr. Riopelle’s office for a free diabetic oral exam (“DOE”) to check for correlated periodontal disease issues. In cases where the patient presents with periodontal disease, the patient questions why their current dentist did not provide the same level of care and typically becomes a new patient. If the DOE does not find periodontal disease, we opened up the patient’s world to a whole new level of care.
According to Dr. Riopelle, the key is to tie a patient’s diabetic or periodontal diagnosis to the health of their mouth so that it is a health issue and not a dental issue. He recommends having straight forward conversations with patients regarding the health risks of not treating gum disease in real terms that will affect their future, acknowledging but downplaying any embarrassment because one-third of most diabetes goes undiagnosed, and letting them know that there are solutions that do not require surgery.
In both scenarios, Dr. Riopelle is raising the bar in his own practice, by showing the community world class service and a concern for the overall health of its residents.
In future articles, we will be highlighting specific portions of this program, including the development of the physician network, what the DOE visit includes, and samples of publicity and referral materials physicians provide to their diabetic patients. Dr. Riopelle is available to provide more information at SmileGrandHaven@gmail.com.
Tags: dental, dental education, dental news, Dental Practice Management, dental team, dentist, diabetes, news, office management, office staff, oral health, oral health business, success, team building, wellness
