2013 State of the Practice Letter

Happy New Year!

As we embark on another chapter in our practice, I wanted to take time to recap 2012 as well as “tease” you with our outlook for 2013!

Last year brought many new changes to University Avenue Dental. Personnel wise we once again maintained the same team. That said, many team members made great strides both professionally and personally.

-Stacy, who joined our team at the end of 2011, has really embraced her position as appointment coordinator and new patient coordinator. As many of you who became new patients in the past year knows, the new patient experience at our office is second to none!

-Barb and Lindsay attended a fantastic course with Pride Institute titled “Realizing The Hidden Gem In Your Practice—The Hygiene Department”. This course set into motion several subtle changes to our continuing care protocols that are geared to assist each one of you to achieve optimal health!

-Torie, while still working as a dental assistant, has taken on other responsibilities that now put her in an Administrative Assistant position. Her primary duties involve organizing our Dental Sleep Medicine department, which will be discussed later. By having Torie in this position, this will give Jill more time to spend with each one of you in regards to insurance filing and payment arrangements.

-Our assistants Monica and Liz learned several new procedures this past year, the biggest being implementation of our hard tissue laser. Dentistry is changing so quickly, and both Monica and Liz are outstanding in rolling with the changes and providing these new and improved procedures to you in a seamless fashion, giving you the ultimate peak experience!

On my end, I was able to add several new items to our list of procedures. As mentioned earlier, dental sleep medicine has continued to forge its way to the forefront of the dental profession. We have continued our education in this area to become the leading dentist in our area in making sleep apnea appliances. We have partnered with Somnomed, the leading manufacturer in the US of dental sleep appliances. We are one of only 13 offices nationwide to have “Elite” status with Somnomed!

The hard tissue laser is another innovative addition to our list of procedures. The iLase from BioLase allows us to do many new procedures. However, the one that most of you will notice is our ability to do most fillings without using anesthetic! That’s right, no more leaving the office with that “numb” feeling for hours!

The last major accomplishment happened in June. As you know, we do many smile “makeovers”. We have continued our education in this area on an annual basis to stay up to date with the very latest advancements in cosmetic dentistry. As a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), we have begun an accreditation process. The first step is to pass an exam, which I did in June! Next up is to submit several cases for review. At the present time, there is only one other dentist in Indiana who is accredited, so I’m looking forward to becoming the second one!

On a personal note, our family continues to grow! We will become proud parents of a college student later this year, and our other two children continue to excel as well! Also, at Christmas, we added another member to our family, Abe, a Springer Spaniel.

So, what’s in store for 2013 you ask? Our team will continue to strive to give you the very best experience in the dental profession! We will implement any new advances in dental sleep medicine, as well as continue our quest for accreditation with the AACD. Dental materials, which change almost daily, will also be monitored to ensure your treatment is both as functional and aesthetic as possible! Lastly, in an effort to keep our costs as affordable as possible without compromising your care, we have kept our continuing care fees (cleaning, exam, x-rays) the same! We are also considering several other payment options to include working closely with some dental insurance companies.

In return, we continue to ask for your commitment to your overall health, sharing our vision for optimal care with us. In case you missed it, we recently posted our vision on Facebook (if you don’t already follow us, please do so at Greg Pyle D.D.S.). I’ll include it below. Our vision is real—we honestly talk about it every day!

“Our vision is to continually collaborate with our patients, finding ideal plans that show our commitment to outstanding treatment, our commitment to cutting edge dentistry, and our commitment to meeting our patients’ unrecognized needs, thus providing them with a true “peak” experience.”

Here’s to a wonderful and prosperous new year in 2013!