I’ve Learned a Lot About Face Shields

June 17, 2020 Lee Ann Brady DMD

Most dentists have some stories about buying and trying different types of face shields as we have started to practice again. The challenges of fit, being comfortable and working with loupes are common conversations. I have tried six types to date with more on the way.

I started with “What can we get?” Then I moved on to “What will be the most comfortable and best on our loupes?”

I and my two hygienists wear loupes. I wear a 4.0x power, flip-up loupe. The hygienists wear 1.5x power loupes. In addition to the loupes, we wear a light.

We’ve tried face shields that hang from a visor. This is the kind my assistants love and wear all the time. However, this type of shield does not fit over my loupe. It fits over my hygienists’ loupes but by the end of the day, they have a headache from the pressure of the temple pieces on the visor.

We tried the disposable face shields that hang from a headband with foam padding. They did not fit over loupes.

A third type from Bio-Mask® turned out to be my hygienists’ favorite and the one I wear when I am doing a consult and not wearing my loupe. This type of visor frame has replaceable face shields. It is lightweight and comfortable (due to its weight, adjustable head strap, and foam padding), and it is designed to be worn with loupes. The replaceable shields can be washed with hot soapy water. The shields are designed to protect from splatter and spray that might come over the top of the visor, so you have full-face protection. I can wear it over my loupe by enlarging the headband and resting the front of the visor frame on my light.

Just recently I came across a different face shield designed to wear over dental loupes that I really like. It’s the PRO-TEX® extra-wide 13″x 7″ shield (model FSX). It clips directly onto the frame of my loupe. I wear eyeglasses, a face mask, my loupe with a light, and then clip the face shield to my loupe frame. This is the least pressure on my ears and temples that I have discovered. The shield can be washed between patients with warm soapy water.

I know a lot of people are praising loupe face shields from Ultra Light Optics®. I am looking forward to trying these when they come in because they are designed so you can mount your light outside the shield and not have to reach under the mask to flip down your light.

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Lee Ann Brady DMD

Dr. Lee Ann Brady is passionate about dentistry, her family and making a difference. She is a general dentist and owns a practice in Glendale, AZ limited to restorative dentistry. Lee’s passion for dental education began as a CE junkie herself, pursuing lots of advanced continuing education focused on Restorative and Occlusion. In 2005, she became a full time resident faculty member for The Pankey Institute, and was promoted to Clinical Director in 2006. Lee joined Spear Education as Executive VP of Education in the fall of 2008 to teach and coordinate the educational curriculum. In June of 2011, she left Spear Education, founded leeannbrady.com and joined the dental practice she now owns as an associate. Today, she teaches at dental meetings and study clubs both nationally and internationally, continues to write for dental journals and her website, sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry, Inside Dentistry and DentalTown Magazines and is the Director of Education for The Pankey Institute.

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Re-starting Your Practice – How Will You Handle Fees?

April 29, 2020 North Shetter DDS

We are “all in” on getting ready for our office to re-open. We have been in dialogue with our team members, reviewed our cleaning, asepsis, OSHA protocols, and worked out client and staff management protocols that follow the ADA guidelines. We are ready to go! However, our governor may prevent us from starting for another month. If that happens, we will have lost a full three months of production – one quarter of the year. 

We can never regain that lost revenue. Like the car salesman who does not close the sale, the money that was going to pay our fees is now gone forever as it has been spent somewhere else. If you want to understand a bit more about the mathematics of loss, take a moment to read this letter from Steve Blumenthal. The letter is old, but the math still makes sense and it is not pretty.  

“The New Normal” 

Like many of you, we have been “Zooming” into a variety of web-based CE on how to manage the new normal. The new normal to us looks like less productivity and higher overhead. The new normal also looks to us like a time when our clients and staff will feel a sense of increased vulnerability, so it is imperative that everything we do at every touchpoint is focused on active listening, positive messaging, and mutual respect.  

The Question of Fees 

This leads to the question of fees. Some presenters are suggesting adding charges for PPE or raising fees in general. Our opinion is that, as a nation, we are about to enter a period of deflation. If our clients are worried about maintaining their jobs, they are not going to spend discretionary dollars. We are very unlikely to see a V-shaped recovery. Our government has poured a great deal of money into the economic system, but fearful people will not spend if they are not sure of a paycheck.  

Most of us will have to eat the added overhead in our practices. In fact, many practices will look at staff costs and decide to run with less people. You can count on insurance carriers to use the pandemic to push on dentistry to accept lower reimbursement.  

Our Plan 

We know we will lose production until we refine our new systems. We are asking our team members to consider flex time until we can ramp up and have everyone working effectively. We are asking team members to multi-task so we can avoid adding extra people for the increase in sanitation needs. We are revamping scheduling and hours to get maximum productivity with patient flow that will be less than the old normal.  

We have mapped out projected production and can meet reasonable goals under the new model with no fee increase for now. We plan to hold the line for four months and then we will have a fee increase. How much? We do not know yet, but we project at least 3 – 5%. We believe that amount will be accepted by clients and will cover most of the cost of increased overhead. We do not foresee the fee increase dropping the bottom line. If you want to share what you are doing, feel free to do so in the comments section of this blog. 

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About Author

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North Shetter DDS

Dr Shetter attended the University of Detroit Mercy where he received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1972. He then entered the U. S. Army and provided dental care at Ft Bragg, NC for the 82nd Airborne and Special Forces. In late 1975 he and his wife Jan moved to Menominee, MI and began private practice. He now is the senior doctor in a three doctor small group practice. Dr. Shetter has studied extensively at the Pankey Institute, been co-director of a Seattle Study Club branch in Green Bay WI where he has been a mentor to several dental offices. He has been a speaker for the Seattle Study Club. He has postgraduate training in orthodontics, implant restorative procedures, sedation and sleep disordered breathing. His practice is focused on fee for service, outcomes based dentistry. Marina Cove Consulting LLC is his effort to help other dentists discover emotional and economic success and deliver the highest standard of care they are capable of.

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