’
HO
S
W
W HO
Dr. Jason Doucette
Brandie Havell: What prompt-
ed you to get into dental sleep
medicine (DSM)?
Dr. Jason Doucette: My partner
said he wanted to get involved
in DSM, but I didn’t even know
what it was. I thought it had to do
with sedation dentistry which we
were already offering. I attended
my first course 2 1/2 years ago.
I was blown away by the service
opportunity to our patients but
also taken aback by the pro-
cesses that would be necessary
to implement it properly. There
were the dirty words of medical
insurance and dealing with phy-
sicians.
find their “WHY.” They must have
a reason other than added pro-
duction to implement DSM. My
“why” was that I wanted to pro-
vide patients with a life-changing
procedure. I had to develop a
referral network with MD’s, find
software, attend CE, and get a
3rd party biller. Without having
a “why”, too many dentists quit
before they start without that
commitment.
BH: After establishing your
“WHY”, what are the next steps?
BH: What is most important for a
dentist considering implementing
DSM? Dr. Doucette: Get educated, a
good 40-50 hours of sleep &
TMD CE. Most of us didn’t get any
education about TMD in school.
It’s so important to understand
what’s going on with the TMJ’s
and the muscles of mastication.
Dr. Doucette: The dentist MUST You MUST take the entire team
“My “why” was that I wanted to provide
patients with a life-changing procedure.”
to some courses. It’s vital. This
won’t take off if your staff isn’t
involved. They won’t get involved
or get motivated without expe-
riencing it themselves. It’s a slow
brew and won’t happen over-
night. This will help get the team
on board, get hygienists screen-
ing, and keep the processes
moving in the right direction.
BH: Now the dentist has made a
commitment & everyone is edu-
cated. What’s next?
Dr. Doucette: Get going. Treat
5-10 patients for free or at lab
cost. I don’t mean just making ap-
pliances, I mean walking through
the entire process to establish
reproducible protocols.
It’s also vital that you invest in
HST’s. I have a couple Watch-
PAT’s and ARES units. This is the
gateway for dentists. Our abil-
ity to dispense HST’s in most
states is a phenomenal way
to get patients screened. Pri-
or to Medicare establishing a
code, dentists would bang their
heads against the wall because
patients wouldn’t want to get a