Throughout my childhood I had no restorations in my mouth, other than pit and fissure sealants. My father and uncle were dentists, as was my brother-in-law. My sister is a hygienist. It makes sense that I wouldn’t have cavities as a child. I was at low risk for tooth decay throughout my childhood. Of course, it didn’t stay that way when I went to college. I came back after my freshman year at the University of Texas with eight class II lesions. Ouch! I did it for 18 years though. Not bad at all!
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I don’t have kids myself, but all my friends do and I’m lucky enough to look after them. I don’t like restorative dentistry on pediatric patients, but I don’t mind providing preventive services. When I was a kid, my prophecies were short and sweet. Polish, fluoride gel and you’re done! That doesn’t seem to be the case with my friends’ kids in my toilet seats. Their children have calculus. Their children are sticky. Mostly, they all had cavities in the primary teeth and I had to do restorations on them.
This is not fun for them, their parents, or me. Although we may think of childhood caries as a disease that only affects people of low socio-economic status, it is certainly not. An increase in sugary drinks, fruit snacks and sticky vitamins appear to be just a few factors increasing the risk of tooth decay for children across the board. I don’t find restorative dentistry on pediatric patients to be very fun or profitable, so I searched for answers to reduce the risk of tooth decay in my friends’ children and other pediatric patients. I found an answer in an old friend…PreviDent 5000 ppm Toothpaste.
I have been a user of PreviDent Booster 5000 ppm for years. I have been using PreviDent in some form since my freshman year of college. However, we often think of 5000 ppm prescription toothpaste as an option for adults. We are sometimes hesitant to use fluoride in children because of concerns about ingestion. Plus, that strong mint flavor isn’t exactly a kid favorite. Colgate has answered these questions with PreviDent 5000 Kids. The Fruitilicious flavor is a favorite with kids. When they use a thin ribbon on their brush and then expectorate, it’s perfectly safe. This is an excellent product to use for your pediatric patients at high risk of caries.
At the end of the day, though, a dental office is a business. Can prevention in pediatric and adult patients be profitable? Let’s look at some facts to find out. Fortunately, Sikka Software Corporation has done some research with support from Colgate,1 and the results will surprise you.
Sikka is a data analytics company focused on retail healthcare. They took on the challenge of answering the big question in preventive dentistry: Does the use of fluoride (in this case, PreviDent 5000) really benefit the patient?
Fluoride study data
The first step in answering this question was to create a patient selection method. For a study like this, we want to look at many average patients to get an idea of their disease patterns. We know from other Sikka analysis studies that the typical patient receives 10 procedures over a two-year period in one dental office. Patients who were prescribed PreviDent 5000 and had at least 10 procedures before and after the prescription was written were selected to participate in the study.
A total of 1,200 patients who matched these qualifications were randomly selected from dental offices across the country. Of these, 300 were Millennials (ages 28-43), 300 were Generation Xers (ages 44-59), 300 were Baby Boomers (ages 60-72), and finally 300 were members of the Silent Generation (ages 73-plus). When the procedural data and cost data from these patients were examined, Sikka found an absolute advantage for patients who were prescribed PreviDent 5000. I would assume that this data would hold true for children as well.
Study results
In general, patients who were prescribed PreviDent 5000 spent less money on dentistry than patients who were not prescribed PreviDent. Sikka investigated further to see where these savings came from. The category where patients saved the most was, by far, restorative dentistry. Patients prescribed PreviDent 5000 spent, on average, 48% less on restorative dentistry. This adds up to an average total savings of $1,176 per patient in restorative dentistry. This figure represents a 16% savings in endodontic procedures, an 11% savings in periodontal procedures, and an 11% savings in oral and maxillofacial surgery procedures. These numbers are significant and shocking! This study shows us that we can help our patients spend less on dentistry by prescribing PreviDent 5000. As dentists, we’re probably the only business owners who will see this as good news. If your favorite spa could give you a recipe that would cut down on the money you spend at the spa, would they? The answer, most likely, is no.
But dentistry is different. We are taught the value of preventive dentistry in dental school. As professionals who want the best for our patients, it is good to spend less on restorative dentistry, especially for children whose habits and experiences can affect the rest of their lives. But how does this work from a business owner’s perspective? Should we prescribe PreviDent 5000? I’d say yes, and Sikka’s data backs me up.
Challenges in practice
I am a restorative dentist. I love doing restorative dentistry. However, I do not like to perform caries control procedures on pediatric patients at high caries risk. These appointments can be stressful, exhausting and painful for the patient, my back and neck, as well as our emotions and mental health. I would rather use my time to do comprehensive cosmetic and restorative dentistry such as smile makeovers, veneers, full mouth restoration and clear aligners on adults. These procedures excite and excite me far more than a Class II quadrant in a child or adolescent at high caries risk.
The study looked at the referral habits of patients who were prescribed PreviDent 5000 versus those who were not. It turns out that, in general, patients who were prescribed PreviDent referred more friends, family and loved ones than those who weren’t prescribed it. To me, this speaks to the increase in patient satisfaction that comes with a prevention-first approach. These patients are simply happier. They don’t get hit as often by the revolving door of restoration. They have more happy visits with less bad news and expensive treatment plans. These happy patients pay it with reference about 20% more.
The study didn’t just stop at patient referrals when looking at the success of practices prescribing PreviDent 5000. They used their proprietary Sikka Score,2 based on 10 different key performance indicators, to differentiate between the two groups of practices. On average, practices that prescribe PreviDent 5000 have higher Sikka Scores than those that do not. Prescribing PreviDent 5000 can lead to a more successful practice. It can do this by increasing patient satisfaction and experience. This type of augmentation is invaluable and can help offset losses in high-cavity dental procedures.
A win-win-win
If you read my column “Pearls for Your Practice” on Dental Economicsyou know I’m an avid baseball fan. One of my favorite baseball books is Moneyball. Moneyball it taught me a whole new way of looking at the game based on analytics. Sikka has done the same with her study. My personal experience has told me that the PreviDent 5000 is a winner. Now, with this wide-ranging data, I know the PreviDent 5000 Kids prescription is a winner. It is a winner for my pediatric patients because it saves them pain, discomfort and stress. It’s a win-win for their parents because it saves them money and stress. It’s a winner for me because it makes my patients happier and my practice more successful. PreviDent 5000 Kids prescription is a grand slam!
Editor’s note: This article appeared in the January/February 2024 print edition RDH magazine. Dental hygienists in North America are eligible for a free print subscription. Register here.
References
- Colgate PreviDent 5000 study. Internal study. Sikka Software Corporation. 2020.
- Success Dashboard. Internal study. Sikka Software Corporation. 2020.
Joshua Austin, DDS, MAGD, is a graduate and former faculty member of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Dentistry. Author of Dental Economics’ Pearls for Your Practice column, Dr. Austin lectures nationally on products, dental technology, online reputation management and social media. He maintains a full-time restorative dentistry private practice in San Antonio, Texas. You can contact Dr. Austin at [email protected].
