WARMINSTER, Pennsylvania--OraPharma, Inc., manufacturer of ARESTIN (minocycline hydrochloride) Microspheres, 1 mg, and PennWell Publications, the publisher of the leading dental industry magazine Dental Economics, recently co-hosted a successful practice management symposium in Chicago.
The session, moderated by Dental Economics editor Joe Blaes, DDS, provided an audience of most of the dental industry's foremost practice-management consultants with the latest clinical and financial information regarding the benefits of incorporating locally applied antimicrobials, such as ARESTIN, into the dental practice.
According to John Lenart, product director, ARESTIN, "This was a think tank comprised of some of the best practice management minds in Dentistry. Collectively, we were able to discuss the prevalence of periodontal disease, the leading cause of adult tooth loss1, and also examine why wider acceptance of locally administered antimicrobials can lead to better patient outcomes and improved dental practice productivity."
Among the periodontal disease-specific topics discussed at the Practice Management Symposium were:
*Recent clinical findings in the periodontal clinical environment
*Market research studying current practice treatment patterns
*Accurate diagnosis and treatment options
*Effective patient communication best practices
*Proper insurance claim submission
"Based on the feedback from the participants, this promises to evolve into an important annual event," commented Dr. Blaes. "With periodontal disease affecting more than 50 million people across all U.S. demographic categories, and the use of ARESTIN proven to be an effective adjunct to scaling and root planing, there is still a lot of patient and professional education needed."
OraPharma, Inc. and PennWell hope that the practice management consultants will share the information they gathered during the think tank with their dentist clients. "We're using a top-down approach to explain the benefits of consistently diagnosing and comprehensively treating periodontal disease with ARESTIN plus SRP to the general dental community--those who are currently treating the majority of people with periodontal disease," explained Lenart.
"The outcome we're hoping for from this endeavor is an increase in the number of practices actively diagnosing periodontal disease and comprehensively treating it. Current market research and practice treatment patterns show that although chronic periodontal disease is estimated to affect more than 30% of U.S. adults, fewer than 10% are going to their dentists and receiving treatment. We feel that working through thought leaders from the practice management consultant community can help spread the word about the need to treat this chronic bacterial infection to the betterment of patients and the practices that treat them."
To help accomplish these goals, OraPharma, Inc. and PennWell are currently planning follow-up initiatives to continue the dialogue and programming into 2007, including publication of the think tank's programming, meetings and Web site content dedicated to the dental practice consultant community.
