BARRY GLASSMAN, DMD
IS DSM IN YOUR DNA?
N
early every weekend of the
year, dentists can find many
dental sleep medicine (DSM)
courses available in a location of
their choice. After attending one,
they return to their offices excited
about the potential to increase
their bottom lines and the
potential to help save lives. During
the aforementioned course, they
were led to believe that inserting
a sleep appliance was a simple
procedure.
Upon returning to their offices,
that initial excitement is quickly
dampened. Although exact
statistics are unavailable, the
percentage of dentists actively
practicing DSM one year after
taking their introductory course
is rather small. The dissipation of
excitement occurs not because
they cannot master the clinical
insertion process, but rather
because they have assumed that
in the one size fits all approach to
teaching, that anyone present in
the course could “fit” dental sleep
medicine into their practice.
As sleep medicine is a young
science, very little if any literature
is available to evaluate what
common traits those dentists who
successfully implement dental
sleep medicine or limit their
practice to DSM have. Analysis of
the traits of general dentists might
be the first step in determining
how those traits would transfer in
the treatment of sleep dentistry.
“Dentists are prone to
professional burnout, anxiety
disorders and clinical depression,
owing to the nature of clinical
practice and the personality traits
common among those who decide
to purse careers in dentistry.” (Rada,
2004.)
Drawing the obvious conclusion
that general dentists, at least
statistically, have certain similar
personality traits that lead to
burnout and clinical depression,
how might these same personality
traits influence the success of a
dentist implementing DSM?
Clearly, understanding that
personality traits are related
to success and happiness in
specific professions should be
an important consideration;
unfortunately, such identification
rarely occurs.
Adding DSM is not like adding
another dental “specialty” to your
practice. A truly complex medical
specialty, DSM requires not only
different personality traits, but
also the ability to communicate
with a continuous flow of outside
sources (physicians, insurance
companies, etc.) in a totally
different manner than is required
for general dentistry.
Although achieving success in
dental sleep medicine takes
serious effort, the satisfaction
of “helping to save lives” is
tremendous. Careful evaluation of
the challenges and requirements
for success can improve the
likelihood of success and prevent
the common failures we have
seen.
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NADSM SYMPOSIUM!
There is also no doubt that the
personality traits required for
DSM are very different than those
required for general dentistry.
When dentists “sell” dentistry, that
plan is “sold” with an expectation
of success. Because dentistry
is a unique science, layers of
prognosis are automatically
included, thereby giving the
dentist the assurance that some
level of success is inevitable.
By nature of the complexity
inherent in dental sleep medicine,
that level of success is not as
predictable. Consequently,
setting appropriate and realistic
expectations for both the dentist
and the patient is extremely
critical in long-term success.
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BARRY GLASSMAN, DMD
Barry Glassman, DMD,
maintains a private practice
in Allentown, PA, which
is limited to chronic pain
management, head and facial
pain, temporomandibular
joint dysfunction and dental
sleep medicine. He is a
Diplomate of the Board of
the Academy of Dental Sleep
Medicine.