Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS

Millennials are natural entrepreneurs and are not much satisfied with status quo. The Ebola crisis has brought to light the need for proper personal protective equipment and procedures. Yet there needs to be funds to pay for it. The cost of doing business needs to be more than a nebulous idea.

Author Robin Hobb wrote “One must plan for the future and anticipate the future without fearing the future.” At the recent 2014 Converge Session of the National Association of Dental Plans a few trends emerged that help us to plan for the shifting dental benefit landscape.

In our previous article, we introduced the idea of the Modern Millennial Hygienist (MMH). MMH challenges our brains to use higher level revolutionary thinking. Growth and change can warp-speed return on investment (ROI) and profitability for the practice AND the hygienist. This issue, we will look at how a MMH uses the opportunities downtime provides.

Dentistry is now serving four or more generations with two or three generations working in the practice. All of us are aging and, as we age, the real danger is thinking old. For dental hygiene professionals to succeed in the 21st century, it is essential to become a modern millennial hygienist (MMH). It is not age-based, it’s attitude-based. MMH challenges our brains to use higher level revolutionary thinking.

Untapped Power in 5½ Minutes If your patient is experiencing their dental hygiene care as a prophy, a brush and floss lecture and quick dentist check at the end, then you are NOT getting the most out of the most powerful 5 ½ minutes in your hygiene appointment.

THE SET-UP “As the evidence mounts in the area of oral-systemic links, the dental profession will need to become more involved in sorting out the relevant clinical information and determine what is appropriate for dental practice. In this article, Patti DiGangi explores an interesting theory.” -Dr. Peter Cabrera, Team Lead