RICHARD DRAKE
STARBUCKS , FISHING LINE , &
D S M
DENTAL SLEEPMEDICINE EDICINE
SOME YEARS AGO ,
Grandpa ( my dad ) was with me and a couple of my boys , and Garrett wanted to stop at Starbucks . His lawn mowing money was burning a hole in his pocket , and he just had to have a Vente Froppa Loppa Chino . WHAT ? $ 7 for a cup of coffee ? Later , I stopped by a fishing tackle shop and bought some braided fishing line …. for $ 250 . What ? $ 250 for fishing line ? “ Well , I guess I can go ahead and die now ” I remember hearing my dad say . “ I never thought I ’ d live to see that !”
Funny ; time marches on , and we soon become our parents . I found myself saying just the same thing the other day . You see , I pay a guy $ 2750 per month to manage my digital presence . What ? I never thought I would live
long enough to say that . I was listening to a financial guru give a talk recently , and a spritely young college kid in the audience asked
what he thought the next big money idea would be . The guy didn ’ t even hesitate . He said “ It doesn ’ t exist yet ; the next big thing to make money in the next five years does not exist today .”
That got me thinking about where I may be five years from today , and how different dental sleep medicine will be . Or will it ? “ Eat right ; get some exercise , and get a good night ’ s sleep .” We ’ ve been saying that for over a hundred years now , and I imagine we ’ ll be saying It a hundred years from today . When I made my first dental device 17 years ago , dental sleep medicine was much less sophisticated , and the number of dental devices was far fewer . Today , thanks to dentists like you , yes , YOU , awareness of sleep disordered breathing is increasing at a faster pace . More dentists are screening their patients ; more dentists are visiting the physicians in their community and educating them about how effective a dental device can be , and the volume of evidence based medicine supporting the efficacy of dental