Jim Du Molin offers dental marketing news and dental practice management advice for dentists.
When we asked dentists if they offer their patients sedation dentistry, two out of three reported that their dental practices offer oral conscious sedation.
A quarter of dentists don’t feel comfortable offering sedation. And 8% said that they wished they were able to offer OCS, but regulations in their state made it too difficult to implement in their practice.
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Read more: OCS a Favorite with Sedation Dentists
This survey found 97% of responding dentists happily offering OCS. The average fee for oral conscious sedation is about $300. Some dentists don’t charge, whereas others ask as much as $650.
A third offer IV sedation, charging about $500. But intravenous sedation fees ranged from $250-$800.
Only 6% have general anesthesia capabilities. Ranging from $320 to $1200, anesthesia costs around $700.
Here are few comments from responding dentists:
Read more: The Cost of Dental Sedation? Usually, a Few Hundred Dollars
In our most recent survey, we asked dentists about their favorite treatment options. Cosmetic dentistry was the clear winner, pulling in over one-third of the total vote (and one-half of he general dentist vote). Dental implants were the runner-up.
There were distinct differences between general dentists and specialists. While nearly half of general dentists favored cosmetic dentistry, only 16% of specialists did. Among specialists, dental implants were the favorite treatment option.
There were also notable differences between urban and rural dentists. Rural dentists were significantly more likely to vote for cosmetic dentistry as their favorite option. While Invisalign was preferred by one-quarter of urban dentists, no rural dentists reported feeling the same way.
Here are some other treatment options dentists like:
Survey Finds OCS a Top Priority among Dentists
In our most recent survey, we asked dentists if they offer their patients oral conscious sedation. Two out of three dentists reported that their dental practices offer OCS. A quarter of dentists don’t feel comfortable offering sedation. And 8% said that they wished they were able to offer OCS, but regulations in their state made it too difficult to implement in their practice.
When it comes to sedation, urban dentists are the most conservative, and rural dentists the most liberal. Rural dentists are most likely to offer sedation. In addition, urban dentists were most likely to wish they were able to offer oral conscious sedation.
Gender differences were minimal, but still significant. Female dentists were more likely to feel uncomfortable offering OCS than their male colleagues. In addition, male dentists are more likely to offer OCS at their practices.
“Oral conscious sedation is an excellent tool for the fearful patient that has not been to the dentist in years,” commented a New Jersey dentist. “The regulations are overly onerous. More rules and regulations won’t prevent irresponsible behavior–it will only prevent many competent practitioners from utilizing this modality,” complained a Maryland pediatric dentist. “I think the training provided by DOCS (Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation) is both adequate and excellent. I oppose the new regulations proposed by the ADA,” wrote a Michigan dentist.
Read the full oral conscious sedation survey results.
Editorial
by Jim Du Molin
By now I would hope you’re aware of the raging debate on the issue of oral conscious sedation. (You can catch up by reading my editorial on the subject.) In a nutshell, the ADA wants to limit conscious sedation by general dentists.
The doctors’ group Team 1500 has been fighting the ADA on this issue. The organization has been praised by acting US Surgeon General Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, who commended the group for its “dedication to making quality healthcare available to all Americans.”
Moreover, the Academy of General Dentistry featured Team 1500 as the lead item on its website and newsletter. AGD President Dr. Bruce DeGinder wrote, “The Academy of General Dentistry is likewise dedicated to making quality healthcare available to all Americans.”
Team 1500 can explain the situation better than I can, so I’m going to let them do the talking this week. The following article was written by the group’s director.
Are the ADA and AGD the Secret Puppet Masters of Team 1500?
By Dean Rotbart, Director
I had a contentious phone conversation this past week with a member of the American Dental Association’s Council on Dental Education and Licensure, also known as CDEL.
It is CDEL that is recommending a major overhaul of the ADA’s existing guidelines pertaining to the practice of oral conscious sedation (OCS) – changes that we at Team 1500 believe are wholly unnecessary and designed primarily to protect the financial turf of oral surgeons, dental anesthesiologists and other specialists.
This CDEL member made it clear from the start that he doesn’t respect me or Team 1500. His contention was that we are working outside the established systems and are using questionable methods to promote our cause.
Our nearly 20-minute phone conversation followed CDEL’s meeting in Chicago late last month to consider the newly proposed guidelines that were submitted to CDEL by its Committee on Anesthesiology, also known as Committee H.
I had already discovered from another CDEL member that CDEL mostly – if not entirely – endorsed the recommendations that Committee H presented to CDEL’s 16 members. I wanted to confirm my facts and try to understand what rationale CDEL was using for proposing radical changes to the very same guidelines that the ADA’s own House of Delegates had praised in the fall of 2005 for their “remarkable safety record.”
There was more heat than light generated during our conversation.
The CDEL dentist, in particular, presented me with this false syllogism: Since most of Team 1500′s many donors and thousands of supporters also are members of the independent Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation (DOCS), then really it is DOCS who has been harassing CDEL, the ADA and others who are promulgating the new regulations.
What a non sequitur!
As I pointed out, those who are most opposed to the ADA’s proposed overhaul of the OCS guidelines are ALSO members of the ADA and Academy of General Dentistry (AGD). So in fact, if the CDEL member’s logic were correct, it is the ADA and AGD – not DOCS – that are actually pulling the strings of Team 1500.
Trying to trivialize the thousand-plus dentists who at Team 1500′s suggestion wrote the ADA to protest CDEL’s proposals by suggesting they are a small group of self-interested dentists is the pot calling the kettle black.
Read the conclusion of this story or help Team 1500.
Share your own thoughts on the issue of oral conscious sedation by leaving a post. This is a major debate in dentistry today, and I’m curious to know where you stand!
Jim Du Molin
Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet marketing expert for dentists in North America. He has helped hundreds of doctors make more money in their practices using his proven Internet marketing techniques.
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