Life Is Too Busy

As I take a moment to relax, there is an excellent book that comes to mind.  It is called “Margin:  Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives” by Richard Swenson, MD.  I do not want to promote books to anybody, but this particular book completely changed the way I view my work life.  In the book, he talks about what ‘margin’ means.  Margin is that time in your day-to-day life between being busy and sleep.  In other words, this margin is when there is “nothing to do.”  The human body is designed to have margin in life and this margin can pertain not only to time, but also physical, emotional, and financial aspects of one’s life.

Margin is where a person works on the relationships, makes goals for their lives, prays to God, and restores their bodies so that during the part of your life that you are busy, they will be much more productive, satisfying, and fulfilling.

The trouble with today’s world is that margin has become almost nonexistent.  When the busy life that we have, because of the demands of life and people around us becomes demanding, the first thing we give up is our margin.  I am guilty of that as is most people I know.  Dr. Swenson (who is a family doctor who has seen the effects of the lack of margin in people’s lives in his practice) believes that this will lead to a very sick society, not to mention people!

The more I live my life and the busier it becomes the more my mind reflects back on this book.  It is not a decision to give up margin.  It is just something that slowly happens.  In fact, it happens to a point where a person is completely unaware that he is losing margin in his life until stress starts to build, relationship starts to crumble, and life gets out of control.

So if anybody is reading this, I highly recommend getting the book and understanding what this concept is all about and they will make a huge difference in one’s life both professional, at work, and in the personal lives. BTW, it comes with a workbook!!!!

Future of Dentistry

How many times have you heard the term “future of dentistry?”  I have heard it my whole career and after talking to my father who was a dentist, he also heard it his whole career, which started back in 1953.  He also told me that his father who was a Dentist since 1921 was always excited by that term “future of dentistry.”  That is what drove him to go to the conventions back then.  When he went to dental conventions back in the 30’s and 40’s, it was to see what the “future dentistry” was!

I have been in the “subspecialty” of TMD and dental sleep medicine now for over 20 years.  When I first got into this area of dentistry, I always thought this was the “future of dentistry.”  Earlier on in my career I realized that the term “future of dentistry” basically applies to technology and techniques.  The heart of dentistry has always been focused on patient’s care.  That is the purpose of the entire dental profession.  That purpose has not changed since my grandfather was a dentist and even before that.  The heart of what I do is for patient care.  All Dentists see a need in their patients and want to fill that need by providing excellent care so that the patient can enjoy their dentition as long as possible and have a healthy life overall.  The goal of dentistry is to diagnose the disease, offer a treatment, and either maintain the dentition or supporting structures or to rehabilitate them and bring them back into a state of adaptation and function.  That has always been the charge of a Dentist and the dental profession as a whole.

The “future of dentistry” is the technology that comes along, as well as new techniques.  This is very exciting and the focus of this technology and techniques is to provide the quality of care to our patients.  That must always be maintained as the focus of “future of dentistry.”

Balanced Life Philosophy

Through my journey of education in the dental field, God has given me the opportunity to go to the LD Pankey Institute.  There is where I learned a philosophy that has influenced in my professional life.  Dr. Pankey had a philosophy of a balanced life.  It is if you can imagine a cross with four points.  The four points on the cross are work, play, worship, and love.  I have since in my life modified this to being a three-legged stool with the three legs as being work, play, worship, and the seat of this stool of being love.  The work, play, and worship part of the stool needs to be in balance in order to have peace in your life. 

A person needs work to have purpose in order to be participating in what God is doing in any person’s area of influence.  A person’s satisfaction comes when he enters into what is God is doing with the work that God has provided for him to do. We are to work along side God in His creation here on earth.  

The next step of the stool is play.  Play must be part of a person’s life as they recreate and has time away from work in order to refresh his mind.  This play can involve family, friends, or just by themselves. This is a time of renewal.

The worship part of the stool is where a person takes time to worship God because knowing that there is a higher being in charge of their life, will bring peace to a person’s life.  Of course as a Christian or other religious type person of faith, this would entail talking to God and having to work out on how he should live his life.

The seat of the stool is love and without love there is no purpose in the other three footsteps of the stool.  Without love, there is no purpose in work and without love there is no purpose in play and without love there is no purpose in worship.  Love is what drives a life of peace and satisfaction. The Bible says that with faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love (1Cor 13). Love is the greatest because when we go to heaven, we will not need hope and faith because the object of our faith and hope will be standing in front of us!  But love will endure into the eternal kingdom!  God is love (1John).

Love is not “being in love” rather it is a verb that is active loving.  Love for ones fellow human being is what drives a Dentist to do what they do and should be what drives every persons work and purpose of life.

 

New Courses for the Dental Sleep Academy

As in any medical profession, there are organizational entities that represent that particular aspect of the profession.  When it comes to sleep medicine, the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine is that representative organization.  It was started many years ago by like-minded sleep Dentists who are pioneers in the profession.  They organized the academy in relationship with the medical side of sleep medicine.  The original philosophy was to be in partnership with the physicians to solve the issues relating to obstructive sleep apnea.

I have recently become involved with the Academy in helping them to develop an advanced curriculum.  There is no better way in the dental sleep profession to come to understand sleep medicine than the introductory courses offered by the Academy.  They are very organized and thorough in their content.  Next step is to offer more advanced courses as more and more dentists are becoming involved and there is more and more need for advanced information to help these Dentists treat their patients.  We gave our first advanced course in New Orleans last month and it was a success.

I hope in the next six months that we will be able to mail down a format that is ever-changing and responsive to the needs of sleep Dentists across the nation.  It has to be a fluid and highly responsive offerings as the profession is advancing at breakneck speed.  New information and research is coming out all the time, which will greatly influence the content of the advanced courses.  These are exciting times and I have to commend the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine for responding to these changing times to provide profession with an excellent organization all with the goal of serving patients who have sleep breathing disorders.

Staff

A doctor has chosen to sacrifice much during an early period of his life in educating him or herself to be able to meet the medical needs of people.  This sacrifice comes at a time when they could be both making money at another job and enjoying the benefits of their youth.  However, they have chosen to delay gratification in both by attending medical school or dental school.  They come into private practice full of knowledge and lacking in experience.

A wise medical professional will determine very quickly the value of their supporting staff.  There is no way a medical professional can deliver quality medical care without a quality medical staff.

I have been blessed with a staff that has the same heart as I do.  They are all very compassionate and desire to serve the patient with the highest quality of care and compassion.  God’s gift of mercy is a very big attribute of my medical staff, as they sacrifice daily, parts of their life that they could be enjoying also.  They often times stay late and come early.  They work harder to deliver the quality care that our patients need in order to resolve their medical issues.

I am very proud of my staff, and I would hold them up as an example to all treating medical professionals as to the type of staff that they should seek in their own offices.

Thank you…Linda, Erica, Brenda, Gloria, Judy, Julie, Jenny, Susan and Kim for all you do.

Exciting Times

As many of you who have been following me for the past couple of years know that I have been helping Dr. Keith Thornton on developing the custom CPAP mask.  The hours spent without any compensation are immeasurable.  I credit my staff for putting in many unpaid hours and helping us to figure out how to make this mask a viable option for dental sleep doctors and their patients.  Dr. Thornton just recently got this mask FDA approved so that we can start teaching it to Dentists.  We have also been able to work out and streamline the procedures so that it can be delivered at a fee that the patient can afford as well as the Dentist and his staff is able to deliver.

Having said that, with the availability of this custom mask to obstructive sleep apnea patients to the nation and possibly worldwide, this will completely revolutionized sleep medicine.  The biggest obstacle to CPAP machine as many of you know, is the mask.  With this custom mask, all these obstacles are eliminated.  There are no straps and no leakage.  These were two main problems with the current CPAP mask situation.  Check  my website for more information concerning these masks and look for educational opportunities for those of you who are Dentists.

 

SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR EMERGENT MEDICAL SCIENCE

I have previously commented on information source for medical professionals and how it should be taken from journals of various professions who have editorial boards and follow strict guidelines.  This source of information can be scarce when it comes to an emerging medical profession such as sleep medicine.  There are many universities and treatment centers currently doing studies in sleep medicine; however, the profession is expanding so fast it is hard to keep up. The relationship of sleep disorders to many medical conditions is emerging everyday.  It has influence on the entire body and on almost every pathology the body has.  There are not enough treatment centers and universities to keep up with how fast this profession is emerging.  So where does a medical professional go for information?

This is the second emerging field that I have been involved with in my carrier.  The first was Orofacial pain.  My observations are that in any emerging field, evidence based scientifically validated studies are difficult to come by.  Therefore a medical professional has to take the knowledge base that he has secured to this point and apply it to the information as it is coming in from several different sources.  He attends seminars with leaders in the field who are just starting to observe conditions that are related to sleep medicine.  He takes the known information that has been validated and apply to the new information, as well as what he has experienced, and what is known to determine if this is something he can use clinically.  I know for myself, I am involved in several studies in order to validate ideas and relationships in sleep medicine for current and future professionals.  People like me all over the United States doing these things and bringing them to seminars and lectures to the rest of the profession as the science is emerging.

The difficulty comes with an emerging science like this when faced with clinical decisions.  Medical professional wants these decisions based on fax and validated science so as not to do harm to the patient.  A medical professional must be very careful when interpreting signs and symptoms and run it through the filter of what is known to apply it to what the treatment will be.  Reason is because what is known is scarce.  Therefore it comes down to care, skill, and judgment of the medical professional as he makes his decisions as to how to treat the patient.  My only suggestion at this point to a medical professional is to make sure that one does not make conclusions of fact based on what is known.

 An example of this would be when it comes to imaging the airway.  With the new Cone Beam technology we are able to see the airway in great detail.  A patient may have a very very large airway and the logical conclusion would be that this person does not have an airway collapsing problem.  However, my experience has shown that just because the image is large they can still have a very collapsing airway.  This is because I know that the x-ray is a static image and sleep disordered breathing or a collapsing airway is a dynamic process.

I also know from experience that if the x-ray shows that the airway is very small, they have extremely high probability of having a collapsing airway at night.  Therefore when I make decisions as to what treatment should be done my next order of therapy would be to obtain a nocturnal polysomnogram to verify that indeed the airway is collapsing.  I will not use the image to tell the patient they actually have obstructive sleep apnea.  I will say that the image suggests that he does.  That is the way to use emerging technology in a new profession.

  Ronald S. Prehn, D.D.S.

RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET

The Internet has become the main stay of source of information in society today.  The plethora of information is mind boggling, but also without any type of standardization.  This is great for patients who are looking for answers to the medical problems as they read through as much information as they can.  It is difficult for patients when the information is contradictory or false or even worse yet…deceitful.  I am a big fan of information and I appreciate it when the patients do research on their medical condition when they come to my office.  Then I can engage them at that level and guide them into correct information and help them understand their condition.

However when it comes to research by medical professionals, the Internet is not a good place to go.  Most of the information on the Internet is antidotal at best and speculative and fantacy at worse.  There is some information that can be had on the Internet for a medical professional; however, it must be viewed with a jaundiced eye.  The source of information for medical professional should be in the literature, which is in the medical journals of various professions.  Medical journals have an editorial board and they filter out studies that are not valid and do not follow the scientific method.  The studies must be outcome based and follow a certain procedure and validation requirements in order to be printed in their journals.  Yes, there are many journals that are online and can be a great source for a medical professional and they know where these are.  Look for future blogs as I comment on source of information for emerging science.

 Ronald S. Prehn, D.D.S.

Motivational Speaking

Normally this term talks about the type of speaking a speaker does.  However, when I am referring to this term in this blog, I am referring to what motivates a speaker.  I just had the incredible opportunity to speak at the national sleep meeting in Seattle June 2009.  I was able to see many speakers and learn as they spoke and afterwards as to what motivates them.  I saw many different motivations for speaking.  I saw people who were speaking simply to convey information, I saw people who spoke in order to pride fully showoff or pride fully present their research.  I also saw speakers who were speaking in order to get a name for themselves.  I am not certain if they are trying to pursue a professional speaking career or if they were just looking for acceptance and prestige among the peers.  Then I saw some speakers who I admire who were speaking simply to enhance and grow the knowledge and skills of his fellow colleagues.  These speakers were motivated enough not by pride or prestige rather than by a desire to not only help the profession, but to connect with the audience in order that they may respond by becoming better dentists and health care providers for their patients.  These speakers are the ones who I admire as I watch them present.  I also watch them after the presentation as they interacted with the audience and/or interested individuals on a one to one basis.  These speakers were accessible, friendly, and very helpful to those who were seeking what he knows. These speakers are the ones that motivate change.

God Bless,

Dr. Prehn

Rumors

Rumors can be a deadly thing.  Rumors not only destroy people and destroy relationships, but they also can affect a person’s well being.  The rumor that I have in my mind is the rumor that TMJ treatment is expensive.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard that just as a person going to the stores and meeting people.  People hear these rumors and they decide not even pursue treatment because it is “too expensive.”  They decide to suffer with it or they decide to go to the drug stores and sport stores and buy mouth guards and never even consider actually getting a proper diagnosis.

 This rumor will have an adverse effect on their overall health.  TMJ disorder, if it is related to the joint itself, is a degenerative disease that will continue to destroy the joint unless intervention is considered.  The longer a person waits, the more expensive the treatment will become.  The longer person waits, the less effect of the treatment will be.  So in reality the greatest value of TMJ treatment is to catch it early because the money spent for treatment will have the greatest effect on dealing with the problem.

 Therefore, the rumor that TMJ treatment is expensive is not only detrimental to the health, but is also very costly to the patient.  I suppose that pertains to any type of degenerative disease that patient can possibly have.  The longer they wait to get properly diagnosed, less effective the treatment will be.  That is an adverbial truth and there is no way to get around it.  Because of that, I would encourage anybody who has got any type of TMJ disorder to get properly diagnosed and to make investment of time and money early on in disorder, and start to get the most effect and benefit from the least amount of financial investment.

God bless,

Dr. Ron Prehn