One clinician recounts how 2 decades of sedation dentistry has grown his patient base and expanded his treatment options, all while benefiting his bottom line
At Chandler Park Dental Care, his Bowling Green, KY, practice, Eli Jackson, DMD, has spent almost 2 decades offering sedation dentistry to his patients for treatments ranging from restorative and surgical to basic hygiene. While the treatments vary, the one constant has been the “typical” sedation patient.
“Even though my sedation patients vary from 18 to 80 years of age, they typically all share a fearfulness of dentistry, which is often the result of negative dental experiences,” he shared. “Being able to offer sedation to these patients makes the dental procedure easier for them, and also easier for us.”
Increased Treatment Options
Dr. Jackson said sedation dentistry has transformed his practice and increased the services he can offer, as well as his bottom line. For example, in addition to general dentistry and hygiene, larger, more complex treatments such as periodontics, endodontics, and oral surgery are now a daily part of his workflow, and many treatments can be completed in just 1 visit.
“I’ve found that patients really want to have their treatment done in 1 place with a familiar dentist and staff—they don’t want to be shuttled from one specialist to another,” he shared. “Sedation has increased the type of services we now offer, such as implants and surgical procedures, and allowed us to keep our patients in-house—we rarely refer anyone out.”
A Boon to Bottom Lines
Word spreads among patients, Dr. Jackson explained, and offering these advanced specialties has led to significant growth in his patient population.
“A sedation patient generates 5 to 7 times more production than a nonsedation patient, and since many sedation patients are fearful, they often haven’t been to a dentist in years, which typically increases the amount of treatment they need,” Dr. Jackson shared. “We see patients who would otherwise never be seen by dentists and our production has probably doubled over the last 5 years!”
Top-Notch Sedation Training
Dr. Jackson credits DOCS Education for providing him with comprehensive sedation training, including live patient experiences and 1-on-1 instruction, which has undoubtedly led to his success.
“We rarely have cancellations or no-shows with sedation patients,” he said, “and they accept treatment almost 100% of the time. As for the cost of training and equipment, it’s a very, very small pittance, in my view, to pay for the returns you get. Sedation dentistry has been a big boon to our practice and DOCS Education is just A-plus. It’s very high quality, very well done.”
