How about a fun pre-pandemic memory? I was on a vacation cruise and had sought out a lounge to do my yoga privately early in the mornings. One morning, I arrived to find easels displaying paintings along the walls of the lounge and a team of people from the Art Gallery. One woman held up a camera and said, “Okay, go!” Then, four others ran along the sides of the room, picking up the paintings and rushing them up to the front of the room. Then they ran back, folded the easels, and moved them as well. The woman with the camera said, “You did it,” and everyone cheered and clapped.

Later that day, I ran into the woman who had held the camera. I had to ask… you know I did, “What were you doing in the lounge this morning?” She told me that every few months they do a quality control exercise to demonstrate they can breakdown the gallery in less than five minutes, because sometimes they only have five minutes to clear the lounge between events.

I had to ask… You know I did. “So, how well did you do?” She told me they were excited to do it this time in just over a minute. She was beaming from ear to ear.

So, that got me thinking…. You know it did. Turning a task into something fun can be energizing. In dentistry, we have to breakdown operatories and setup operatories all the time. What if, while following infection control guidelines and all things OSHA, there was still an element of fun in periodically demonstrating we can do this task at high speed? What record can we beat?

While I was on this same cruise in the Caribbean, it was flu season. There were bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere, and going into the dining room, there were four stations where you could stick your hand under an automatic dispenser. The cruise line did not want to leave it up to the honor system for passengers to clean their hands, so they had come up with a fun way to make us do it. Two men with Caribbean accents and funny attire greeted everyone coming into the room. They had Bluetooth speakers and danced as they said to everyone, “Washy, washy, yay, thank you.” So, every time I went into the dining room, I had a little dance with these gentlemen and sanitized my hands. For the entire cruise, everyone sanitized their hands upon entering the dining room!

During the final night’s dinner celebration… you know the one, where they bring in the blazing dessert and dance in a Conga line to “Hot, Hot, Hot,” the “Washy, washy” guys got on the microphone and thanked us for sanitizing our hands–and allowing them to help keep us healthy. Of course, we all cheered. We loved these guys!

So, that got me thinking… you know it did! They had found a fun and engaging way to improve our health and make us feel good about following the rules. I hope you noted that in my two cruise ship stories, having fun with systems increased the group’s performance. Research consistently demonstrates that when team members are enjoying themselves, work is performed at a higher caliber and with less stress. When patients are enjoying themselves, their participation in their own health is greatly improved.

I know dental care teams well, and they love a creative challenge. Where do you have systems that are trending boring that your care team might add a little fun and spice to? Have some great examples to share? Add them in the blog comments.

Over the past few months, I’ve had a series of coaching sessions with frustrated dentists due to many of their exchanges with team members not being as effective as they had hoped. The dentists were confident they had been clear about their expectations, and yet there was still lagging or even absent implementation of the anticipated behavioral and system changes.

“Maybe this is not the right team member! How can they not just do what I ask them to do?”

Of course, I appreciate how disconcerting this can be, AND I want to challenge the notion that a single conversation can lead to effective change.

I imagine we can agree that most of your patients are in the midst of their own developmental process, as dental offices have quality systems in place to support this idea. A patient comes in for a hygiene appointment and they are routinely scheduled to return in 3 or 6 months to follow up, monitor for changes, and (hopefully) celebrate new levels of health. We are used to the idea of having a return date, better known as a “recall appointment.” More often than not this system works. Over time, as the recall appointments continue, trust levels increase along with deepening relationships and even case acceptance.

The question I pose is this: How can you as a leader apply this same principle to coaching your team members? I like to call this system a Conversational Recall.

What if at the end of a coaching conversation, even a short one, you create an opportunity to revisit with the team member to assess progress, problem solve any obstacles, and set a time for yet another Conversational Recall? My own experience tells me that sustained change typically occurs by implementing small changes over time. Staying connected with a team member by offering ongoing feedback and support may very well be the difference between you being frustrated by unmet expectations and your ability to celebrate high performance and heightened levels of engagement.

One aspect of leadership is setting each team member up for success. You can do this by investing time and energy, walking alongside them, and committing to following up as a pathway to letting each person know that you care. One of the greatest ways to inspire change is to demonstrate to your team members that you both value what they have to bring and that you believe in them…sometimes even more than they believe in themselves.

Another aspect of quality leadership may just lie in your ability to be congruent in all areas of your practice; do for your team what you do for your patients—if not more. Care for your team like you care for your patients—if not more. The rewards for everyone involved could be incredible!

Despite headlines you may have read, heart disease is still the number one killer in the U.S., followed by cancer and then (hopefully only temporarily) COVID-19. Gum disease is on the rise in this country. This condition affects much more than just a person’s mouth. We need to shut down the dangerous anaerobes that live in our tissue and bone that drive the oral and systemic inflammation. The bacteria that live in our mouth do not stay in our mouth! Hygienists are not only cleaning deposits off of teeth; they are managing dangerous bacteria and saving lives!

Patients see their dentist more often than they see their physician. The start to providing optimal care is having informative conversations with our patients when discussing their health history, their medications, and the tie in their periodontal and endodontic health.

Married to a cardiologist, it was beneficial for both my dental patients and his medical patients to receive integrative care, and to that end, we worked together to build a center for my restorative practice that includes oral-systemic health diagnostics, counseling, and treatment.

Pushing the Standard of Care

My practice, Complete Heath Dentistry of Columbus, is distinguished from other practices by pushing the standard of care to treat patients based on his or her risk factors for developing systemic health issues. Saliva/oral DNA testing enables us to take this proactive health approach. This testing allows us to learn if our patients have dangerous oral pathogens. It helps guide us on how to better treat our dental patients with periodontal therapy and with oral probiotics, as well as Perio Protect trays.

My husband, Dr. Eric Goulder, and I opened the first medical center in the United States with an accredited Cardiologist and Dentist to practice the Bale Doneen Method testing and care under one roof. We passionately believe a medical Bale Doneen provider cannot optimally help their patient without the assistance of a dental team that understands the value of their work.

With every patient, we discuss oral health risk factors for cardiovascular disease and strokes. We use saliva/oral DNA testing to proactively calculate the CVD risks of our patients with the recommendation they create a health plan with their doctor geared toward overall health. With focus on prevention and the elimination of disease, we work with patients to achieve optimal oral and systemic health.

Pushing Dental-Medical Integration

Across the country, dentists are teaming with cardiologists to better understand the oral-systemic connection and to help their patients discover developing risk factors for heart attack and stroke, among other diseases such as diabetes. You do not have to have a cardiologist under your roof to similarly help your patients.

You can explain to your patients that one of the most painless tests that can reveal hidden heart attack or stroke risks is a carotid artery scan (CIMT scan) that measures carotid intima-media thickness. It is an important test for individuals with few risk factors for developing cardiovascular issues. Under traditional care, 75 percent of heart attacks happen in people with normal cholesterol levels. Through this no radiation ultrasound procedure, the neck is examined so that a doctor can uncover whether or not a patient is heading for health problems. This screening detects atherosclerosis, a condition where deposits hide within the arteries. Also, it is possible to find the “age” of a patient’s arteries.

Through CIMT ultrasound testing, a cardiovascular problem can be identified 10-15 years prior to an event. While 50% of the population does not know they have a growing cardiovascular problem, this simple test provides an early diagnosis for lifestyle counseling and dental-medical treatment.

Working with your patients and their physicians, you can also recommend the NT-ProBNP blood test that is a part of the blood testing involved with the Bale Doneen Method. This test measures the amount of BNP in the blood.  When the heart is under stress, the body excretes high levels of this substance. If elevated levels are detected, it is a red flag that a person may be heading for a stroke or heart attack.

Dr. Eric Goulder and I are on a mission to push physicians to be proactive, to understand what is going on inside arteries, discover why the disease is present, and observe the disease stabilize after treatment. I encourage you to become familiar with the Bale Doneen Method if you have not already done so and become familiar with cardiologists in your area who can be of assistance to your patients. Two-way referrals are a natural outcome of developing these relationships, and patients are very appreciative.