GAP Australasian Dentist Sept Oct 2020

Category 104 Australasian Dentist we know the anatomy, the soft tissues and looking at them all day, you know things like retrognathia. Or a patient snores, has trouble breathing through their nose, small mouth. You could easily say to yourself, “Well there’s an anatomical abnormality here.” Then you can start probing about symptoms. It is OK to ask questions that aren’t directly about the teeth. Ask them questions about quality of life and other symptoms. People only see what they know. The more you learn the more you realise that you actually can contribute to more than just worrying about oral health and start contributing to general health. Q In our region there’s probably 20-25% of people will have sleep apnoea at some point during their life. Around 90% in APAC overall are currently undiagnosed. So knowing all that, how important do you think a dentist’s role in the sleep apnoea therapeutic area will become? They will become more important. It’s like anything, even in business. It really is about what guidelines and what goals you set for you and your practice. If you have an interest in oral health and want to understand what sleep disordered breathing is, as a dentist if you think you can make a contribution then you should go for it. Even thoughMAD is a second line treatment it is still an important therapy. And dentists are perfectly positioned to screen and treat these patients. Q What do you think the most important or most logical first step is for a dentist that is interested in training in DSM? What is your advice to get this going in your clinic? Firstly as a dentist you want to have an understanding of the conditions, EG, sleep apnoea how it relates to things like snoring and how all these affect whole health and quality of life. What’s missing in education is this mentor type situation where you can learn from someone. My advice would be to look up sleep apnoea and learn the basics. Then start thinking about how this is going to work in your practice and develop a plan. Implementing this might look something like a few people in the practice doing some formal education, setting up pre screening forms to screen for OSA and going to visits local GPs and specialists and let them know you can treat their OSA patients. Then start some contact with colleagues you already know in the area for some advice and even reach out to device companies working in the space. Referrals will always be your greatest source of patients but it does take time. You are essentially building your own network and multidisciplinary team. Q So why start a company like the Respiratory Dental Institute? It’s really fortuitous and more a case of like minds coming together. You really do need that MDT example, someone to assist to diagnose. And we sat down one day and discussed (Linda Schachter and I) and we discussed, “What is the biggest gap at the moment in DSM?” And really we came to the conclusion it was education or lack thereof. And then ultimately mentorship where colleagues can ask questions, submit cases and get the support you’d get with a mentor within the clinic. RDI has been established to educate in the latest thinking and science but the “What to do’’ once you’re trained. What comes next so to speak so that dentists are ready to treat patients and have the mentoring and support required to be successful. Q It sounds like Linda and yourself really work together well, how did you meet Linda (Dr Linda Schachter)? We actually used to do a lot of courses together. I used to be the 9 o’clock person. I like to get my lectures done early at these events and I actually met her at the Somnomed introductory courses. We did talks on the same day for about 6 or 7 years and started just by saying hello. And then one day she mentioned she really wished she’d stayed for the lectures I’d made and then we just got chatting from there and developed a friendship. She’s also got a great entrepreneurial mind and she’s a real go getter. And I really love Linda as a sleep physician in the way that she looks at things differently and one day we came to the conclusion that we need to start this (RDI) together. u Dental Sleep Medicine is growing rapidly across the globe and is becoming an integral component of the treatment for patients with sleep disordered breathing. Dentists and Oral Health Professionals are perfectly placed to grow with this unique and rewarding market. If you want to learn more about training in dental sleep medicine visit the Respiratory Dental Institute website at www.respiratorydentalinstitute.com company profile Dr Linda Schachter