Practicing Dental Sleep Medicine- My Why

With Dr. Mayoor Patel and Dr. Terry Bennet

I like to know why I do things. 

Understanding my motivation to pursue a passion results in me being at peace with what I give up to accomplish my goals. Nothing is achieved without a cost and I want to make sure that I am not paying too high a price to gain something.

When it comes to practicing Dental Sleep Medicine, I am clear about why I do it- To improve the lives of our patients.

The lack of restful sleep is an epidemic in our society.

We have been geared and encouraged to achieve ‘success’ at any cost. It has traditionally been a boast to have ‘pulled an all nighter’ in high school and college. Putting in extra hours at work has been considered an employee’s strength in many professions. Well, it has all come at a great detriment to our health and well being.

Society is waking up to the serious consequences of not getting enough sleep. There is no system in the body that goes unpunished by breathing disorders but the heart deserves special mention. The effects on this critical organ can be life threatening. At the very least, the impact is life altering- and not in a good way.

As a dentist, I am in a unique position to help patients. 

The area that I treat on a daily basis is full of physical clues that alert me to the possibility that my patient may have a high risk of having a sleep disorder. That allows me to start a discussion with them and send them to be further evaluated and possibly tested for sleep apnea.

As a dentist, I  work with sleep physicians when it comes to treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Oral Sleep Appliances are one of the treatment modalities available to help a patient breathe through the night. I work as part of a team that collaborates to get results for the patient.

Sleep Medicine is still in its infancy. There is a wealth of new information coming from sleep research being done in many disciplines. For me, the opportunity to continuously learn and grow so I can be my personal best and bring optimal care to our patients is another WHY I practice Dental Sleep Medicine.

Pictured above are 2 Dental Sleep Medicine educators that I have had the pleasure of learning from- Dr. Mayoor Patel and Dr. Terry Bennett. Hats off to great teachers that pay it forward!

It has been a while since I have blogged. I have missed writing and sharing with you but was focused and devoted to setting up the NEW JERSEY DENTAL SLEEP MEDICINE CENTER at 229 Charles Street during those months.

But I promise to be in touch regularly now. There’s a lot to talk about!

Be well, Do well, Live well

Sunita

Self Care, Self Love, Your Health- What is the Why of Your Life? There is a direct connection

I realized after years of educating patients about the benefits of proactively taking care of their health that I was only marginally successful.  

I attributed it to a host of factors. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Maybe they needed the message in writing. Maybe I wasn’t communicating with them in the manner that they best received information.

I worked on all of these possibilities and greatly improved my interactions with my patients.

Yet the results of positive behavior changes leading to optimal health and wellness were still disappointing by my standards.

I wanted to see more patients succeed at taking charge of what they can do to have a healthy mouth, body and mind. I respect inbuilt disease susceptibility and discuss it at great length with my patients but always stress what they can do to give themselves the best chance for a disease free and healthy life.

I started to change my approach to this problem. I began to study the patients that were showing the results that I wanted for all my patients. They steadily improved their home care, were selective in their dietary and nutritional choices, managed stress in a healthy way, exercised routinely and partnered with me in a proactive and positive manner.

But there was one more commonality to their profiles that I believe is the most powerful motivator of human behavior- conscious and unconscious. 

ALL THESE PATIENTS UNDERSTOOD THE WHY OF THEIR LIFE.

THAT MOTIVATED THEM TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY SO THEY COULD LIVE THEIR ‘WHY’. THAT MADE THEM INTERESTED IN WHAT I HAD TO OFFER AS THEIR HEALTH CARE PARTNER. THEY FOLLOWED MY ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS. THAT GOT THEM OPTIMAL RESULTS. THAT MINIMIZED ANY EMERGENCIES AND UNNECESSARY TREATMENT NEEDS AND COSTS.

OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS ALLOWED THEM TO FLOURISH AND LIVE THEIR ‘WHY’

At this stage of my career, I do not ask my patients to floss.

Instead, I say this-

‘David, Any inflammation in your mouth travels to every part of your body. It raises your C reactive protein which causes chain reactions that have been linked to multiple diseases that affect your heart, brain, joints, etc. The scariest to me is the link of Inflammation to dementia !

What is YOUR reason to do everything you can to avoid knowingly contributing to this disease process? That is the reason that you should consider flossing daily.’

I am usually met with an initial period of silence followed by- Wow, I never thought of flossing, my health, my dental appointment and my life in this way.

YOUR WHY-SELF CARE-SELF LOVE-YOUR HEALTH-LIVING YOUR WHY

I am passionately committed to this new messaging about health because I know that nothing else really works to successfully bring lasting changes to a patient’s life. It is only through their own motivation that I am successful in helping them

So let me ask you,

What is your WHY

Until Next Time,

Be well, Do well, Live well,

Sunita

Celebrating American Heart Month at 229 Charles Street in Westfield, NJ

NJ Dental Health Center and NJ Dental Sleep Medicine Center

IMPROVING THE LIVES OF OUR PATIENTS

How our JOY JAR helps our Patients receive Better Care

Happy New Year!

Anyone following my blog knows that I am big believer in the magnificence and power of gratitude. 
I try not to end a day without finding something (if it’s not been a stellar day…) or an abundance of things to be grateful about. And expressing that gratitude never fails to make me feel good.
However, as we start 2016, I have upped the ante to adding on Finding, Feeling and Discovering Joy as the bench mark of my day. I must be honest. It’s easier on some days than others. But those are the days when I dig in deep and look carefully at what the day has brought me.
My team has also jumped into this game with total commitment and start the day challenging each other to put as many notes into the jar as possible. Yes, more than 1 note a day is not only allowed but encouraged!
Joy does not have to be a bold and brash event for me to recognize it. I grab any moment that takes me to a place of celebration. The Joy Jar is my motivation to actively look for and pause for these subtle and quiet and sometimes earth shattering occurrences and ‘aha’ moments.
Joy makes me feel alive; it makes me a better person and makes me believe that I can do anything.
When joy visits me, I am able to offer my best to everyone around me
That is how Joy helps our patients get the best possible care at our practice.
Be well, Do well, Live well
Until next time,
Sunita Merriman, DDS