Not a Believer Yet?
Read About Those Who Are!
Omer Reed DDS (foreword to Physicians Marketing Handbook)
"In trolling for a paradigm shift worthy of his commitment, Lee Ostler has latched on to a Significant Emotional Event equal to the revolutions created by cosmetics, implantology, and neuromuscular dentistry. Quite likely the future will show our profession that the impact of the Oral-Systemic Connection will be the most significant of those events we’ve recently experienced.
"Now, because of the new medical literature, attorneys looking for new revenue streams are waiting in the wings and eyeing the potential windfall coming their way. It will not be a happy day at the medical office when a person with gingival disease has a heart attack, stroke or premature birth and then learns that they should have been referred to a qualified dentist to treat their oral infection.
"Dentistry has not to date given medicine anything they can trust as knowledgeable and competent for which to refer to us. Ten or fifteen years ago, those who championed this cause were considered fringe at best and committing malpractice at its worst. Insurance ignored the subject, maligning the provider and proclaiming the fees to be unjustified. Our profession is asleep and "ho hum," in my opinion on the issues that Dr. Ostler has addressed. Dentists who fail to inform the medical doctor of record that the person being cared for in common is a periodontal disease patient are practicing below this standard of care. Dentistry has a solution, but most of us have not been trained on how to approach a physician.
"Medical insurance is paying for perio; liability companies are counseling and admonishing their physician clients to refer; the national press is telling its readers that gum disease could kill them; corporations are beginning to advertise their special product formulas to clean the germs from the mouth so the heart isn’t affected; and most significantly the ADA and the AMA are partnering on the oral-systemic connection.
"The project that Dr. Ostler has chosen with the Physician’s Marketing Handbook and the accompanying "Physician’s Dental Guide to a Healthy Body" (of the Physicians Referral and Education Program - PREP) is distributed because Dr. Ostler wants to make a difference and wants to save lives. The best way to do this is to work with the grassroots of the medical profession in our communities.
"The work that Lee Ostler has accomplished is a remarkable labor! The Physician’s Marketing Handbook assists the dentist in beginning to build a bridge between the dental office and the medical office. My test marketing of the information in the "Physicians Dental Guide to a Healthy Body" to a series of medical doctors has brought the comment that this is great stuff and must be read by all physicians. We are on the right track!
"It’s not rocket science to realize that prescription referral by medicine to dentistry will bring people coming for the reduction of their inflammation and the benefits thereof, but they will also be bringing to the dentist a mouth full of neuromuscular, restorative and cosmetic challenges. While this is true, it remains our responsibility to behave honorably to first and foremost apply the science and fulfill dentistry’s mission to improve health and save lives.
"If this project brings change in the relationship between dentistry and medicine, and medicine refers to dentists this diagnosable but not treatable disease (in their medical offices), and if the physician is fortunate enough to refer the person in need to a qualified dentist, then Dr. Ostler’s objectives will have been achieved. Lives will have been saved."
Bill Blatchford DDS
"It is truly refreshing when once every decade or so a new idea is born that promises to revolutionize our profession. Since the uniqueness of being a cosmetic dentist has faded ("everybody’s a cosmetic dentist!"), it has many wondering what’s next that can set them apart in a world of sameness. The convergence of important trends being forced upon us is creating a new era in dentistry that will forever and permanently change our practices.
"A major focus in medicine now appears to be systemic inflammation as a major risk factor for many of today’s serious life-threatening medical problems. New medical science is shifting the standard-of-care and malpractice attorneys are now breathing down the necks of physicians over a "new" medical condition called "periodontal disease" (perio treatment is now covered by medical insurance!) Dentistry now finds itself playing a key role in saving lives and in helping physicians avoid malpractice.
"Dr. Lee Ostler has captured the essence of the next major paradigm shift in dentistry with his work on how to market the Oral-Systemic Connection to patients and physicians. The Physicians Marketing Handbook is simply a MUST READ for any dentist serious about learning how to work with and approach medical doctors, and in increasing practice profits by treating the Oral-Systemic Connection.
"Smart dentists will quickly position themselves and learn how to approach physicians by applying and using the marketing principles and tools available in the "Physicians Referral and Education Program" which Dr. Lee Ostler has authored. Since lives are at stake and dentistry can become more profitable and create new streams of patients, dentists would be well advised to embrace the concepts presented in Dr. Ostler’s timely work."
Mark Duncan DDS, Editor Oklahoma AGD
"The PREP program is a perfect adjunct for my office and couldn't have come at a better time! We have been looking at building a tight network with our practice and medical offices so that we can help to close the gap in health care. Unfortunately the health of the mouth and the connection to the rest of the body is still a mystery to most physicians. In our effort to help improve the awareness of the Oral/Systemic connection, we have been looking for the right tools. The PREP program is exactly that tool! The reference book is very well laid out and is a complete resource for physicians to be able to readily access the latest information on periodontal health and it's relationship to the rest of the body. Having the references and articles already out and categorized so that it is easy to see the impact of chronic infection and inflammatory disease can have makes it painfully obvious that the health of the mouth is vitally important for more than just keeping teeth for life. Treating periodontal disease as a systemic disease is an important advance in thinking and a major benefit to our patients. This reference resource is one very large step in the direction of placing our profession in the position of being physicians of the mouth!
"When the reference manual is coupled with the manual on marketing to physicians it creates a one-two punch that will become the backbone of my networking and position strategy for my office! The power created by a few forward thinking physicians who refer patients to a well trained dental office for management of their oral health is huge. When looking at the simple numbers involved, there is no way a dental office can keep up with the volume of referrals that this can generate! We all know that a word of mouth referral is the strongest lead for a new patient in a practice. When that referral is from a physician and recommended for helping them to control their diabetes or heart disease, the patient is more than just motivated. The key is building that bridge so that new patients can find my practice and the PREP program has done exactly that! I am looking forward to the evolution in my practice as we incorporate the PREP program - thanks again for putting it together!"
Norman R Thomas DDS
Cert Oral Path; MD; PhD; FRCD; MICCMO; C. Med. Ac; FADI. Director of Neuromuscular Programs LVIADS, Las Vegas USA Professor Emeritus University of Alberta Canada Chancellor and President Elect of the International College of Craniomandibular Orthopedics.
It is a privilege to write this letter of endorsement of the extensive writings and course materials produced by Dr. Lee Ostler on the oral systemic connection, TMD-headaches and dental sleep medicine, including how to develop MD-DDS referrals. In these days of increasing and extensive litigation it is essential that dentists understand the importance of developing professional referral networks with physicians.
It benefits everyone when medical doctors are appraised of the connection of periodontal disease to diabetes, heart disease, and cerebro vascular accidents (stroke), as well as the connection between migraines, facial pain and TMD. Additionally, many CPAP intolerant sleep apnea sufferers could be helped if physicians were more aware that dentists using oral sleep appliances could provide needed and life-saving help. Dentists are increasingly using oral appliances to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, as well as people with TMJ and facial pain.
Failure to refer OSA patients to sleep physicians for assessment of the type of apnea, (central or peripheral) has been known to result in avoidable fatalities. This is because mandatory polysomnography was not undertaken to inform the physician and dentist alike of the frequency and duration of the patient’s apneic/hypopnea episodes, which are life threatening reductions in blood oxygen tension.
It is well recognized that REM and non-REM sleep are associated with body restlessness in connection with oral parafunction that characterize painful temporomandibular disorders and a multitude of related musculoskeletal signs and symptoms that has given the condition the eponym of the “Grand Impostor”because it mimics systemic diseases.
The presence of ear, face and headache pain is daily treated by physicians who overlook the contribution of pain-producing muscle fatigue from bruxing and clenching. The needless suffering of countless people is clearly better served when dentists and physicians work together.
Certainly it is now known that TMDs are accompanied by torque of the upper cervical complex producing brainstem cranial nerve compression as well as that of the physiological nerve centers that control respiration, mastication, swallowing, heart function and stability of the blood pressure.
Compromise of the blood flow through TMD torque of the vertebral artery is also recognized to reduce blood flow to the base of the brain, diencephalon and occipital cortex with resulting visual aura, migraine and depression of the hypothalamus pituitary and adrenal (HPA) axis and in particular control of endocrine function generally with far reaching effects on systemic health as demonstrated by the Selye stress connection to the General Alarm Syndrome.
There is no doubt that Dr Ostler’s materials including his irreplaceable plethora of handbook, texts, videos, physician and dentist guides, fulfill a much needed and essential role in dentistry today in helping dentists achieve a two–way referral system between the dentist and physician.
As a specialist in oral medicine and oral pathology I am acutely aware that the dentist and physician must develop a network like that proposed by Dr Ostler which will provide the patient the much needed healthcare they need and deserve, which is in strict accord with the practitioner’s Hippocratic Oath ‘primum non nocere’… (first do no harm), which harm is bound to occur if the referral relationship between dentist and physician is not developed or honored.
Dr. Ostler’s referral materials are highly and unreservedly recommended to every medical doctor and dentist. The information found in these resource materials are an incredible eye opener to important diagnostic and treatment protocols, and are useful in building and nurturing professional referral networks.
It is my sincere pleasure and honor to endorse Dr Ostler’s excellent Handbook and accompaniments that will bring dentist and physician into an ideal and essential referral relationship for the Oral-Systemic connection, TMD, and Sleep Medicine.
Lee Ostler DDS - Founder MDReferrals
"Created in the real dental-world trenches of a busy dental practice needing a better solution, EZ-MDReferrals Manager is the answer to trying to keep track of our communications and relationships with area medical offices. We’re pleased to know that dentists and practice consultants across America and now internationally in Australia and Canada, are equally thrilled with how this also helps them in their physician referral programs. After many years of trying to manage all the contacts, communications, newsletters, in-service trainings, physician communications, and keeping my staff from going crazy doing it manually, I was forced to find a better way.
After years of struggling the old-fashioned way we finally have a tool which allows my office team to manage and administrate our professional referral program. Having done it both ways, I just don’t think we could continue without a software program that simplifies and automates our physician referral marketing program. Each part of it is a user-friendly solution to a problem that was crippling any attempts we made to establish ourselves as a knowledgeable and valued resource in our medical community. My staff really loves this new online management utility! It greatly simplifies our efforts to get professional referrals, communicate with area physicians, and to set my office up as the premier “go-to” dental office in my community.
At the touch of a button EZ Reports lets me track what my staff has been doing, the physicians we’ve contacted, the number of patient reports to physicians, and referrals from physicians, as well as set up a plan for future networking and marketing within my medical and dental community. Regular newsletters and the multiple Personalized Patient Reports we create each day for our patients, are now a breeze. In these tough economic times, the PREP system and the EZ-MDReferals Manager utility has been a welcome solution in helping me build professional referral networks and increase professional referrals, as well as a welcome relief in preserving my team’s sanity from trying to manage it all."
Bob Schulhof, CEO - Center for Dental Medicine
"I have been involved with dentistry and in dental practice coaching for 30+ years. A central focus of this is in teaching dentists how to obtain referrals and nurture relationships with physicians and other health professionals. The physician referral process is an important process to get right.
"I believe that the PREP program fills in many of the missing gaps we have had to deal with. It helps to create a positive first impression and in building the professional relationship necessary to obtain referrals from medical doctors. Mostly it helps our dentists to position themselves in their community as the experts they rightly are.
"The expertly written Patient Report letters provide a great first impression. The Physicians Dental Guide to a Healthy Body or the “Physicians Resource Manual” is the best possible calling card to get the attention of the physician. The “Perio Flags” referral cards combined with the expertly orchestrated free perio consultation, are really the bottom line in making it easy for the physician to take the action needed.
"The ongoing monthly “FaxDrip” newsletters are indispensable to their efforts to maintain regular contact with the doctors in their respective communities and to nurture those relationships. Finally, the methodologies presented in the Physicians Marketing Handbook are vital to teaching the dentist their role in profitably pursuing all things related to the Oral Systemic Connection, in “closing the sale” and in the necessary follow up to ensure a successful program in the dental office.
"We encourage all of our practices to become a “PREP” practice and to use the PREP Marketing System to increase their profits and enjoyment in delegated hygiene services. We invite all others to seriously consider the benefits of utilizing a ready-made solution to doubling-tripling their hygiene productivity and to gaining physician referrals by being properly positioned in their community."
Peter Munton, Esq. Practice Management
"I have advised dentists in various capacities over the past 25 years. I believe that this unique marketing system and the associated treatments represent a huge opportunity to generate referrals and to significantly increase revenue."
Michael L. Gelb D.D.S., M.S
Private Practice – TMJ & Dental Sleep Medicine – NY, Clinical Professor, New York University College of Dentistry
"The PREP marketing program which Dr. Lee Ostler has put together is an incredible physician marketing system. It both educates the physician and establishes a win-win-win for patient, dentist and physician. The Physicians Marketing Handbook is just excellent and has helped us know exactly how to approach the physicians in our area and how to position ourselves in their referral networks.
The opportunity for this with Sleep Apnea and getting Dental Sleep Medicine referrals is particularly significant. Screening existing patients and communicating with physicians about the merits of oral appliances is an idea whose time has come. What’s been missing until now is a methodology about how to interact with physicians that establishes expertise and secures referrals.
The MDReferrals program for working with physicians using the PREP marketing approach has increased our physician referrals significantly and improved our professional relationships. The MDReferrals program is simply the finest system available for approaching physicians and getting referrals."