With these simple steps, you’ll find that it’s relatively simple to bring preventative health screens to your dental practice.

Total Health Screens specialises in helping dental practices realise the benefits of preventative health screening. Our members have found success using our model every time.

Here’s a breakdown of what we teach them so that you can apply it too.

Hold Oral-Systemic Education Sessions With Your Team

Our members report that after starting health screens they’ve seen, “total team engagement increase” and “all members of the practice want to be involved.

“How many new initiatives have you brought into your practice that had that impact? 

To get results like that it’s crucial to hold training sessions with your team. Most oral health professionals know about it but haven’t seen the latest research or heard how to apply it in practice. But that research is widely available in journals. There are also many success stories from other dentists putting this knowledge into practice. 

Gather some of that together and hold a ‘lunch and learn’ sessions with your team. Tell them some real stories about how it saves lives. And then show them how to bring their knowledge of the oral-systemic connection into their daily practice and interactions with patients.

Get the Health Screen Testing Equipment

To bring the full benefits of this knowledge, integrate simple health screening into your patient journey.

These are several simple and practical tests that you can bring to your practice to begin preventative health care.

• Blood pressure tests
• Blood glucose levels
• Blood cholesterol levels
• BMI calculations

When combined with a basic oral check, these tests can form part of a preventative health screening.

One problem we found is that there is no ‘screening kit’ that you can buy from any of the major suppliers. So we spoke to them and created one ourselves.

Engage your Patients in Preventative Health Screens

Getting your patients to take part in the health screens is reasonably straightforward. They’re often excited to try something new. They appreciate the extra value you are bringing them. And we’ve heard the feedback that many patients find it easier than getting screens at their GP.

“Patients really love it. They’re happy, it’s easy to do, and you feel like you are really helping people. We’ve had people say this is easier than trying to organise health screens with their GP. Having them provided here at the practice has been really helpful for them.”

— Emma Birch | Dental Therapist | THS Member

Here are some tactics you use to engage your patients in your preventative screening program:

• Send out a notification email to your patient list
• Start offering them when patients check-in, waiting for x-rays etc.
• Make them part of your patient registration process
• Encourage patients to give feedback to add to your newsletters etc.
• Hold an ‘open day’ event
• Create Facebook adverts

Word of mouth plays a significant role too, as patients talk to their friends about this unique service their dentist has begun to offer.

Track the Health Screen Data

An essential part of successfully implementing health screening is tracking the data. We’ve found that our members are most successful when they involve patients in monitoring their results too.

Showing them the data at their next appointment is another opportunity to engage them in a discussion about their health. Our members have found that using a patient portal helps to keep patients engaged with the health screening program in the long-term.

Begin Health Screening at Your Dental Practice in 30 Days

The steps are all there. All you have to do is apply them. Some things are the same for all dental practices — the tests, the knowledge, the framework. But we’ve found they’re most effective when tailored for each dental practice. 

For more information about how to bring health screens to your dental practice, download our free guide here.