Dental Tribune U.S. Edition No.7, 2016

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition | July 2016 a7 “ EDENTULISM, page A5 placing missing teeth in the maxilla with a full denture may be an appropriate solution. But a full denture in the lower arch is absolutely incongruous: It does not allow sufficient chewing efficiency; it does not address instability due to poor tissue support; it results in movement of the tongue and cheeks that often creates soreness and contributes to stress in so- cial settings. Therefore it is necessary to inform people facing mandibular eden- tulism that they can regain comfort and masticatory function with insertion of two implants to stabilize the prosthesis. A big step forward in treatment of eden- tulism has been achieved with accep- tance of the “all-on-four” protocol, which is fast, minimally invasive and financial- ly less burdensome for the patient. This solution, however, is not appropriate in all cases because patients must have ad- equate manual dexterity to maintain proper oral hygiene. The protocol also can have functional and esthetical limi- tations. In such cases, the best therapy is often an overdenture stabilized by four implants, especially in the maxilla and/ or when the patient is unlikely to accept the time, expense and surgical invasive- ness of regenerative therapies. Location, location, location In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. In dentistry, it’s also about location, and that certainly was the case for Dr. Monica Garnache. Many dentists who own or work with an Aspen Dental-branded practice join Aspen after getting a taste of private practice. But Garnache took a different route on her way to owning multiple Aspen Dental practices. Garnache knew she wanted to be a dentist at a young age. She had a child- hood dentist who inspired her to work in health care. Dentistry appealed to her because of the instant gratification. As a dentist, she imagined being able to immediately help people and see quick results – whether giving a patient some pain relief or a new smile. After attending Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Garnache became a temporary dentist. She joined an Aspen Dental practice in New England as an associate doctor be- fore becoming a lead dentist in that of- fice. She then opened a new Aspen office in New Hampshire. She loved working in an Aspen practice, with the support of Aspen Dental Management Inc., the den- tal support organization that handles the business side of things. She wanted to become a practice owner right away. Due to family reasons, however, Gar- nache had to relocate to California after only two years with Aspen. Since there are currently no Aspen practices in Cali- fornia, she couldn’t fulfill her dream of ownership with Aspen. Instead, she pur- chased a traditional private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even though there are close to 900,000 people in that area, there are also more than 8,000 dentists, making the area highly com- petitive for practicing dentists because there is no shortage of dental care. When Garnache discovered this, she knew she had to make a change. “One morning, my office manager came to me and said, ‘Doc, you need to find two crowns to do today so we can pay the bills,’” Garnache recalls. “This was a complete shock. I never heard that when I was working with Aspen Dental. We always had plenty of patients who truly needed my help without me hav- ing to ‘look’ for dentistry.” Around the same time, Garnache heard that Aspen had expanded into the Pacific Northwest, so she sold her prac- tice in California and moved to Oregon, where she opened her first Aspen office as a practice owner. Just a few years later, she now owns three Aspen practices, has been able to build strong and engaging teams, and has a steady flow of patients who desperately need dental care. As in real estate, moving to the right place can be key to enjoying dentistry Dr. Monica Garnache, below, and, at left, with some of her team members, sold her traditional, practice in California and moved to Oregon expressly to open her own Aspen Dental office (and, ultimately, two more). Photos/Provided by Aspen Dental INDUSTRY NEWS Fig. 2: Orthopantomography control after six months of the end of rehabilitation. AD With Aspen Dental, dentists can work their way up – in just a few years – from an associate dentist right out of col- lege to an owner of multiple practices. Although Garnache is now an accom- plished dentist and practice owner, her path to success required her to be open to relocation and new adventures in order to achieve her childhood dream. Luckily, the Aspen model provides den- tists with the opportunity to relocate for a variety of reasons. If you or someone you know is inter- ested in relocating or joining an Aspen practice, you can send the company an email at recruiting@aspendental.com. (Source: Aspen Dental) Read more The full version of this article is available at www.dental-tribune.com under the same title.

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition No.7, 2016

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