Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition No. 12, 2016

11 Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition | 12/2016 TRENDS & APPLICATIONS income due to loss of high-end, cutting edge dentistry, loss of referrals. The final decision to purchase is worked out after looking at both financial and the opportu- nity costs.16 Laser as a profit centre There are many ways that can help us calculate the profits based on Laser procedures. In any pri- vate practice, time is money. This can be best determined on the basis of the average hourly in- come. There should be a certain specific amount that needs to be earned per hour that can keep the practice flourishing. Apart from this basic income, any additional ability to perform the procedure more efficiently means extra in- come. The average amount of one hour chair time should be able to yield approximately 500 to 750 US Dollars. This is not the fixed amount but an approximate average that can keep the practice on profitable ends. The procedures that can be effectively and efficiently per- formed by using laser in the pae- diatric dental office are: 1. Restorative laser dentistry 2. Laser-assisted endodontics 3. Frenectomy 4. Sealants 5. Minor surgical procedures 6. Tooth desensitisation 7. Lingual fraenum removal 8. Exposure of unerupted teeth 9. Laser tooth whitening 10. Treatment of orthodontic or drug-induced hypertrophy. Return on Investment16 Once the laser is bought, pedo- nomics suggests that there should be a fair return on the investment made. Just to break even, the in- come generated by laser must include covering the price of the laser, maintenance, supplies as well as an additional amount to cover the income lost from the money used to purchase the equipment and not otherwise generating its own income. The profit that exceeds the break-even point is called the return on in- vestment (ROI). Some of the items that should be included in ROI would entail the profit from the following: 1. Novelty of procedures with la- sers. 2. Reduced out-referrals, caused by the new laser procedures. 3. In-referrals due to the unique- ness of laser-assisted paediatric dentistry. Tracking To actually calculate the accu- rate financial return of introduc- ing the laser to the practice, the income derived from laser must be monitored over time. A new terminology used in pedonomics is KPIs which stands for key per- formance indicators. These are the factors that are used in evaluating the success of the profit centre as follows: 1. Laser-assisted procedures. 2.In-referrals for laser procedures. 3.New patients that come asking for laser. If KPIs seem to increase or even remain at a good level, this indicates that break-even and the much awaited ROI will not be far off. Unique selling preposition The USP is the unique cutting edge of any practice. When it comes to paediatric dentistry, lasers are indeed a unique sell- ing preposition due to their con- temporary benefits. In the field of marketing and management, USP is defined as the factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that the prod- uct or service is different from and better than that of the com- petition. The USP of lasers are as follows: • Non-surgical minor procedures. • No drill. • No anaesthesia. • No pressure on or contact with the tooth. • Easier healing. • Less need of analgesics and anti- biotics. Six Sigma approach of pedonomics Six Sigma is defined as the set of techniques and tools for pro- cess improvement. It was intro- Dental Tribune International ESSENTIAL DENTAL MEDIA www.dental-tribune.com AD ” Page 12

Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition No. 12, 2016

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