Arlington Dental Implant & Oral Surgery Center

Invisible Corporately Owned Dental Practices

As a dental patient, there are a myriad of offices to choose from to meet your needs. I will admit that I am passionate about the independently owned and operated model. But in an increasingly challenging environment for small businesses, many offices are beginning to partner with corporate owned private equity and other type organizations. Most of them operate in very ethical and patient centered processes, but occasionally this does not occur.

As a patient, there are some questions you can ask to empower yourself and arrive at peace of mind with your treatment plan.

  • Ask ! Is this practice privately owned?
  • How long have you (the provider) worked here? Do you intend to stay?
  • Would you recommend this practice to your family members?
  • What is the practice philosophy ?
  • Can you (the doctor) be reached after hours, or do the calls go to an answering service with an on call doctor who may not be familiar with my case?
  • How many of these types of cases have you done, and what is the most common complication?
  • Are you board certified?
  • Do you travel from one office to another?

In addition to question you can ask, please don’t ignore your intuition! While online reviews can be an indicator, they are often skewed in one direction due to businesses eliciting reviews from only certain patients. Reviews can also at times be outdated. Rather than relying on reviews, ask yourself, “Does this feel like a place I feel comfortable or is it devoid of the personal touch?”

The right practice model is different for everyone, and you have many choices where you receive care. I am happy to provide support to our patients, whether a patient at my practice or not. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

Dr. Dipa Patel

Ready to schedule your consultation with Dr. Patel?
Contact us today!

The Importance of Organized Dentistry

Dr. Patel at AAOMS 2023 in San DiegoThis past week, I had the pleasure of attending the 105th annual meeting of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

I was honored to serve as a delegate from the state of Virginia.

These meetings are so energizing for me. Not only did I get to enjoy a beautiful waterfront location in an amazing city (San Diego), but I was able to participate in major governance decisions that impact the way we deliver care on a daily basis.

We in the healthcare industry are facing unprecedented workforce shortages, and part of our discussion this weekend was how to ensure the highest standards of safety and care delivery amongst staff transitions that seem to occur on a weekly, sometimes daily- basis. I was blown away by the dynamic and impassioned commitment of my colleagues in establishing ways to ensure that our staff is the best of the best. This makes you- the patient, have better outcomes.

AAOMS 2023 logoWe also were able to take continuing education courses to directly improve outcomes. New techniques, digital dentistry and better ways to inform our patients of their options were all amongst the things we discussed.

As busy a professional as I am with my clinical care delivery, making time for these meetings is so important to me. It makes me a better surgeon and business owner.

Tags: , ,

2023: The Year of the Thriving Healthcare Provider

The year 2022 has been a very challenging year for all of us. If you believe in astrological experts, alignment of certain planets made the last few months of 2022 a time in which many people were “cleaning out their closets” of bad energies. Jobs, friendships, relationships, living situations. All seemed to be cleansed.

Those of us in the healthcare industry have struggled mightily in 2022. The “great resignation” has made it quite difficult to find and retain staff committed to excellence in healthcare. Rising costs to supplies increased overhead costs at a pace that insurance reimbursements have not kept up with, have made our margins thinner than ever, and in many cases, practices are closing, or being sold to corporate entities at staggering rates.

For me, it has been difficult to contend with the palpable feeling that the average patient and family members stress levels are higher than ever. To be fair, just about everyone who walks through the oral surgeon’s door is nervous. Anxiety can manifest as hostility, appearance of disinterest, or out and out tears. None of this is easy for me to see in a patient. I wish I could take that anxiety away.

So we, as providers, are stretched to the limit, as more than ever is being asked of us — while there is less resilience available as we face increasing pressures.

In the face of these obstacles, I myself have begun a journey of surrounding myself with empowering energy. It sometimes takes a leap to remove those things from our lives that no longer serve us. Whether they are people, work schedules, living situations or eating habits. This is a time to reevaluate what brings an energy of thriving and expansion — vs. an energy of self-doubt and fear.

I truly hope your 2023 brings a journey of self-discovery and expansion. For healthcare providers — our mission works to the extent we stay healed to better serve others. In 2023 you will be hearing more and more of my favorite well-being secrets. I truly hope they will contribute to your own wellness.

Protect the ones you love – Sports Injuries

The Reality

We all want to keep our children safe and secure and help them live to their full potential. Knowing how to prevent injuries from sports and recreation activities, one of the leading causes of child injury, is a step toward this goal.

Taking part in sports and recreation activities is an important part of a healthy, physically active lifestyle for kids. But injuries can, and do, occur. More than half of the 7 million sports and recreation-related injuries that occur each year are sustained by youth between ages 5 and 24.

Thankfully, there are steps that parents can take to help make sure kids stay safe on the field, the court, or wherever they play or participate in sports and recreation activities.

Prevention Tips

Gear up. When children play active sports, make sure they use protective gear, such as helmets, wrist guards and knee and elbow pads — in addition to any other sports gear appropriate to their activity or player position. Further, during informal recreation activities children should also always wear helmets when recommended, especially during activities such as in-line skating and biking.

Use the right stuff. Be sure that sports protective equipment is maintained correctly and is in good condition—for example, without missing or broken buckles or compressed or worn padding. Poorly-fitting equipment may be uncomfortable and may not offer proper protection.

Practice makes perfect. Have children learn and practice skill sets relevant to their chosen activity. For example, appropriate tackling technique is important in preventing injuries in football and soccer. Correct biomechanics, or movement and alignment, also plays a role in preventing injuries during baseball, softball, and many other activities. Also, be sure to safely and slowly increase activities to improve physical fitness; being in good condition can protect participants from injury.

Pay attention to temperature. Allow time for child athletes to gradually adjust to hot or humid environments to prevent heat-related injuries or illness. Parents and coaches should pay close attention to make sure that players are hydrated and appropriately dressed.

Be a good model. Communicate positive messages about safety and serve as role models for safe behavior, including a wearing helmet and following the rules.

Please visit www.cdc.gov/safechild for podcasts, tip sheets, and other information on the leading causes of child injury and steps you can take to protect the children you love.

Department of Health and Human ServicesChild injuries are preventableCDC


The Burden of Child Injury, Unintentional Injury Deaths Ages 1–19, United States, 2000–2005
  • Across the United States, injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages 19 and younger.
  • About 33 children die every day because of injuries.
  • Each year, nearly 9.2 million children aged 0 to 19 years are seen in emergency departments for injuries, and 12,175 children die as a result of being injured.

In addition to doing all you can to protect a child from suffering a sport injury, follow these steps to prevent other leading causes of injuries:

Burns
Burns — Fire and scalding water can pose threats to children. To help keep kids safer from burns caused by fire, install and maintain smoke alarms in your home.
Falls
Falls — Falls can happen at the playground or at home. To protect your child, check playground equipment to make sure it’s properly designed and maintained and that there’s a safe, soft landing surface below.
Drownings
Drownings — Drownings can happen quickly and quietly, but installing four-sided fences, with self-closing and self-latching gates, around backyard swimming pools can make a life-saving difference by keeping kids away from the water when you’re not there to supervise.
Poisonings
Poisonings — Everyday household products can be poisonous to children, but you can safeguard your home. Keep medicines and toxic products, such as cleaning solutions, in locked or childproof cabinets.
Road Traffic Injuries

Road traffic injuries — To make injuries less likely when you’re on the road with kids, always use seat belts, child safety seats, and booster seats that are appropriate for your child’s age and weight.

Posted with permission from AAOMS

My IRONMAN 70.3!

It has been a loooonnnggg 7 months of training. 7 months of getting up at 5:30 am after going to bed late at my personal training seminars, 7 months of leaving social events early to get enough rest to get up early and train.

Heading in early from the slopes and training out of breath AND at altitude! 7 months of working out on my family vacation to Florida. And then, in March, my race day in Puerto Rico had arrived. I finished 6 miles short as a bike malfunction added over 30 min to my time, rendering me to miss the cutoff. I was devastated.

That morning I thought my biggest hurdle would be overcoming the sheer terror of open water swimming.

But if there is one thing that I have learned in life, it is the true joy of being in the ring- competing, fighting, and failing. I have probably failed more than I have won- but I have taken on that very tenacious attitude- “NEVER GIVE UP.”

And so, on this May 5, with my parents there to support me, I successfully completed my first Ironman 70.3. The forecasters said, 80% chance of thunderstorms all day. It was muddy, it rained, but it certainly did not stop any of us.

I can’t describe the joy. Enough to start those first sparks of curiosity about taking on the full distance…! What is that thing you have always wanted to take on in YOUR life?

Dr Dipa Patel running in Ironman race in VirginiaDr Dipa Patel running in IronmanDr Dipa Patel biking in Ironman

 

 

Work Life Balance of an Oral Surgeon

Despite the many virtues of being a health care professional, It is no secret that we are faced with higher stress levels than the average professional. While attempting to balance our personal and professional lives, it seems that our professional responsibilities always seem to take precedence over every other aspect of our being. After all we hold our patients very lives in the balance and therefore must always be thinking quickly and using our very best judgement.

There have been many articles that have been written regarding the “burnout of the healthcare professional”. A quick query on google yielded me with 112 articles written over the last 30 years. Specifically only five of those articles addressed the “burnout of an Oral Surgeon”.

Oral surgeons have a fuzzy role with one foot in medicine and another firmly in dentistry. While managing in-office patient care along with frequent hospital calls and visits of ER emergencies,  a planned free weekend with family and friends can turn into a 5 hour hospital room operating case for the on call oral surgeon and no sleep. Most oral surgeons will not even think about whether or not they are in network for that patient, we take care of the situation, and deal with insurance and reimbursement on Monday morning. Often to discover that we do not participate with the insurance plan.

Not much has been written on the specific impact these stressors can have on the oral and maxillofacial surgeon.  There is a conflict between running a business, with the expenditures including payrolls, rents, equipment costs and professional licensure fees, and on the other hand, a human being who may or may not be able to pay.

For me I have learned to find balance in the little things in life. A weekend getaway to my favorite ski resort, giving back to my community, hanging out with my pet parrot Kiko, spending time with my family and friends, and my second “home away from home” – the Landmark Forum- where creating new possibilities for people, bring me the greatest sense of joy and peace.

I am out to transform health care so that we can give care to every human being, and costs are managed and reasonable. It starts with each and every one of us- looking to make a difference and striving to answer to my higher calling to heal. At the end of the day, we hope to achieve a balance where we were able to make the difference for a human being and maneuver through the complex financial aspects of insurance for patients.  The privilege of being there in someones worst hour is always worth the sacrifice.

While it is still quite the balancing act, the art of helping others was and is the reason that I decided to embark on this ever changing journey of an oral surgery, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The Narcotics Crisis and the Role of Dental Providers- What You Can Do to Make an Impact

On January 25th 2019 Dr. Patel was given the huge opportunity to be a guest speaker for the Northern Virginia Dental Society. It was an amazing opportunity to spread the word to our dental community as to how what we providers do, day to day, to make an impact in keeping teenagers opiate- naive.

It was a candid and at times heart wrenching discussion about the true impact of the crisis. Decisions we make every day as providers can have a tremendous ripple effect in permanently altering the future of the opiate epidemic until it becomes a distant memory.

Dr. Patel is committed to the de-stigmatization of addiction, and to the eradication of this crisis.

The power of compassionate listening

We as a team delivered a huge “win” in my book this week. We experienced a patient that to us all just seemed unjustifiably upset over us running late for her promised time.

Of course, we were assisting an emergency patient at the time who threw us into a later than promised pattern. Naturally we felt justified in our broken word, and she felt upset over our disregard for her promised time.

I would not say we did anything magical here. What we did, was simply acknowledge our broken promise of seeing her on time. We then listened without our “filter” of our concerns, but rather, listened to her out of being 100 percent responsible for her upset and our broken promise.

After I had left the office, the patient was talking over her care with my office manager. She ultimately was in tears and shared a life circumstance that was jarring. She had been injured by a driver under the influence, and was, at the prime of her life, inflicted with a life altering injury.

Together, my team and I have been through courses such as the Landmark Forum, and have been able to institute a new way of thinking and relating to our patients. Not just as a medical record number or a dental issue. But as a whole and complete being. Through these courses and our efforts to install them as daily practices here in the office, we are able to build a doctor patient relationship that allows our patients to feel a whole new level of trust and compassion.

Now there is no amount of training that I received in residency, dental school or anyplace else that ever taught me compassion, and I especially never learned listening. In that moment I believe we healed her more than anything my hands or surgical procedures could achieve.

In a profession that is ever changing and highly stressful, where I am always on the go. Its sobering to know that aside from all of my well learned expertise. Just giving a listening ear can turn someones bad day into something great.

Treating Pain With Fewer Opioids

The nation’s addiction to opioids is part of a crisis plaguing communities across America and particularly the DC Metro Area. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioid deaths have nearly tripled in the past 15 years.

But a possible antidote — created in New Jersey — could be part of the solution to the growing crisis.

“In the last year, we have treated over thousands of patients in the United States,” Pacira Pharmaceuticals CEO Dave Stack said. “So there’s very little doubt that we have had some modest impact on opioid epidemic.”

It was five years ago when the drug Exparel hit the market, with the local, long-lasting anesthetic designed to reduce pain in those tough few days after surgery. But the real selling point is that unlike Percocet, Vicodin and Oxycodone, Exparel is not an opioid.

“It has changed the way I think about treating patients from the beginning until the end. “I talk about pain medication differently. My patients understand pain medications and the risks differently.”

Opioid abuse is ravaging the country, killing nine Americans every day. Pacira Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, makes Exparel, fighting back against the growing epidemic by giving patients a non-opioid option.

The drug maker says Exparel can eliminates opoiod side effects like nausea and constipation. Also, it reduces the chance of yet another American potentially getting hooked on pain pills.

Dr. Patel is an active member of the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative and strongly suggests the use of Exparel to all of her patients postoperatively for the extraction of Wisdom teeth. Exparel, which manages pain for three or four days, works almost like a slow drip inside the body.

“If this can cut down on some of the addiction, deaths and overdoses, I highly recommend it,”.

This past September Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed an Executive Order Establishing an Advisory Commission on Opioid Addiction. “It’s essential that we draw upon the knowledge and experience of experts and community partners from across Virginia in order to develop policies and interventions that will reduce the impact of addiction in the Commonwealth” Says Northam.

“I think what is really good is that patients are now understanding of the depth of the problem and are taking control of the their own healthcare and are demanding opioid-free or reduced opioid at least post-surgical treatment strategies, “And I am determined to give them this option”Says Dr. Patel.

Oropharyngeal & Oral Cancer

Worldwide, over 550,000 new cases of Oral, Head and Neck cancer are diagnosed each year.

Oropharyngeal cancerOropharyngeal cancer is slightly different from oral cancer. Oropharyngeal cancers are related to HPV (Human papilloma virus) and usually occur in the tonsils or at the base of the tongue, while oral cancers are in the mouth and usually associated with tobacco use.

The Oral Cavity

The oral cavity incudes the lips, the inside lining of the lips and cheeks, the teeth, the gums, the front two-thirds of the tongue, the floor of the mouth below the tongue, and the bony roof of the mouth – also known as the hard palate.

The Orpharynx

Behind the wisdom teeth is considered the oropharynx, which is part of the throat just behind the mouth. It also includes the base of the tongue, the soft palate (back of the mouth), the tonsils, and the side and back wall of the throat.

Categories

Oral and Oropharyngeal cancers are sorted into 3 categories: Benign (non-cancerous), harmless growths that may develop into cancer, and cancerous tumors. This is why regular check-ups with your dental professional are key to your overall well-being.

The Team Involved

The treatment of head and neck cancers does not involve just your dental team, the assistance of many different professionals contributes is required. There may be surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, dentists, nutritionists, and speech therapists all involved in your treatment.

Oral cancers are found as late stage three and four diseases about 66% of the time.

It is very important for you to check yourself at home as well as visiting your dentist.

Call Arlington Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to schedule your routine dental check up and oral cancer screening today at 703-566-1908.