78 Australasian Dental Practice November/December 2016 special | REPORT Functional design: The anatomy of a Myobrace ® Centre By Dr Chris Farrell BDS, CEO & Founder of Myofunctional Research Co. I n late November, corporate health care provider Bupa issued a press release announcing a £835 million purchase of leading UK private dental provider Oasis Dental Group. The acquisition allowed Bupa to become a major player in the UK dental market with more than 1800 clinicians in 420 clinics treating more than 2 million cus- tomers. 1 This centralisation of the dental industry is not unique to the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia, we are also seeing a trend moving away from the sole practitioner model of the past into multi- site practices with specialist services. As the dental profession marches inex- orably towards corporatisation and health fund owned practices, profit margins in the private practice have continued to dwindle, often making it difficult for new graduates to plan an independent career path in the same way they would have in the past. However, for forward thinking dental practitioners willing to buck a cen- tury’s worth of anecdotal tradition and embrace modern, scientifically-based and biologically sound orthodontic treatments, the professional horizon has never looked so bright. Myo- functional Research Co.’s Myobrace System, which sits at the vanguard of these 21st century treatments, offers practitioners the opportu- nity for increased patient volume and financial benefit. By allowing increased patient flow through the practice with a wider range of patients and delega- tion of treatment to trained auxiliaries while requiring less chair-side time per patient, compared to traditional Figure 1. Myobrace Centre practice layout - for optimal patient flow and effective delivery of Myofunctional Orthodontic treatment. Dr Chris Farrell
Transcript
78 Australasian Dental Practice November/December 2016
special | REPORT
Functional design: The anatomy of a Myobrace® CentreBy Dr Chris Farrell BDS, CEO & Founder of Myofunctional Research Co.
In late November, corporate health care provider Bupa issued a press release announcing a £835 million purchase of leading UK private dental provider Oasis Dental Group. The acquisition allowed Bupa to become a major player in the UK dental market
with more than 1800 clinicians in 420 clinics treating more than 2 million cus-tomers.1 This centralisation of the dental industry is not unique to the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia, we are also seeing a trend moving away from the sole practitioner model of the past into multi-site practices with specialist services.
As the dental profession marches inex-orably towards corporatisation and health fund owned practices, profit margins in the private practice have continued to
dwindle, often making it difficult for new graduates to plan an independent career path in the same way they would have in the past. However, for forward thinking dental practitioners willing to buck a cen-tury’s worth of anecdotal tradition and embrace modern, scientifically-based and biologically sound orthodontic treatments, the professional horizon has never looked so bright. Myo-functional Research Co.’s Myobrace System, which sits at the vanguard of these 21st century treatments, offers practitioners the opportu-nity for increased patient volume and financial benefit.
By allowing increased patient flow through the practice with a wider range of patients and delega-tion of treatment to trained auxiliaries while requiring less chair-side time per patient, compared to traditional
Figure 1. Myobrace Centre practice layout - for optimal patient flow and effective delivery of Myofunctional Orthodontic treatment.
Dr Chris Farrell
November/December 2016 Australasian Dental Practice 79
orthodontic methods, significant financial benefits can be achieved for the patient as well as the practitioner. Addition-ally, parents are increasingly seeking out more effective and non-invasive methods of correcting their child’s malocclusions and Myobrace caters to this demand by offering the opportunity for early interceptive orthodontics, along with other health and development benefits for the growing child.
However, effectively and efficiently delivering this service to achieve the best possible outcomes does have its fair share of obstacles and these have become a critical focus of specialist orthodontists. Vehement criticism of myofunctional ortho-dontics, from traditionalists within the profession, is not new and foremost among their claims is that because compliance is difficult to achieve and children will not wear removable appli-ances, the treatment does not work. Another criticism is that myofunctional therapy is too time consuming and the outcomes are very unpredictable.
When viewed through the lens of outdated treatment concepts or the capacity of a conventional dental or orthodontic office to effectively offer myofunctional treatment, these criticisms do hold some weight and braces are in fact an effective means of mechanically straightening teeth. However, despite their mechanical excellence, traditional orthodontics fails to address the aetiology of malocclusions and because of this, these treat-ments are severely limited by factors such as extraction of healthy teeth, root resorption, exacerbated TMJ disorder and the necessity for permanent retainers to prevent the teeth relapsing after treat-ment. Therefore, because of their increasing awareness of these limitations, parents, who are often able to draw on their own neg-ative or ineffective treatment experiences, are forcing the agenda and driving demand for more biologically based approaches. To satisfy this parental demand and deliver optimum and consistent results using myofunctional orthodontics, the difficulties with compliance, uncomfortable appliances and consistency of results had to be overcome.
A focus on more functional appliance design and clinic layout design, developed to compliment the Myobrace proto-cols of education, communication and child motivation, has alleviated the efficiency limitations inherent in using traditional practice layouts, while enabling the practitioner to provide a high-quality, health orientated service at a lower cost. The packaging of habit correction, arch expansion, airway cor-
rection and dental alignment into one integrated, functionally designed system, which is easily implemented into the practice with complimentary layout changes, has the ability to provide Myobrace practitioners with the opportunity to thrive in an uncertain professional climate.
Education regarding the aetiological causes of malocclusion and how to effectively correct these is the foundation that Myobrace treatment is built on. Thus, this reliance on education strongly influences the design layout as well as functionality of a Myo-brace Centre. While the reception and waiting areas may seem familiar, when moving further into the practice, significant differ-ences between a Myobrace Centre and a traditional orthodontic practice quickly become obvious. Myobrace practice layouts include areas purposely designed for consultation, education, treatment and record taking. These separate spaces are ergonomi-cally designed from the floor up to ensure maximum efficiency of the tasks they are intended for, while still maintaining a non-threatening, child-friendly environment intended to put patients at ease so they can more easily focus on their treatment.
Consultation/Education room
Rather than explaining to parents the aetiological factors causing their child’s malocclusion, as well as how Myobrace
can correct these and the effects this correction will have on their child’s health and development in a treatment area, the consulta-tion/education rooms provide a user-friendly space to deliver this education. Using MRC’s digital education systems, these rooms cater for everyone involved in the education process and optimum Myobrace Centre patient flow ensures the patient/parent will be directed from the waiting room to either the consultation/educa-tion room or the Activities Centre in as short an amount of time as possible, minimising waiting time in busy office/school periods.
Activities area
The activities area is the hardest working space in the Myo-brace Centre. The area is designed to appeal to children by
providing a user-friendly space to help them examine their indi-vidual dysfunction and learn about how this impacts their health and development as well as the steps required to correct it. The space features multi-media devices and mirrors set in an envi-
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Figure 2 and 3. The Consultation Room provides a user-friendly environment for easy delivery of education to parents and patients.
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ronment where the child can comfortably access innovative and interactive educational material, including the 19-stage Myo-brace Activities App and MRC’s nine-part diet and nutrition educational series. While parents have access to the Activities Area, the space is designed purely with the child in mind and includes low-set screens and chairs as well as colourful graphics to provide cues that foster compliance and help the patient understand the treatment. A key feature of the Activities Area is the automated education systems. This instructs and educates the child about how they can correct their own habits that are causing their own malocclusion. While the dental practitioner will direct the treatment and education program, generally a Myobrace Educator or other trained auxiliary will be responsible for ensuring patient education and compliance during their time spent in this space.
Treatment room
Because one of the philosophies underpinning Myobrace treatment is the avoidance of extractions and braces where
possible, while allowing teeth to develop naturally, the Myo-brace Centre’s treatment rooms are designed differently to those found in a standard dental surgery. Rather than traditional ortho-dontic treatment, the user-friendly (for both practitioner and patient) areas are designed purely to deliver the myofunctional
orthodontic technique. Using colours and graphics intended to appeal to the child, as well as storing dental equipment out of sight, ensures the patient feels comfortable and can more easily focus on their treatment, which helps to foster compliance. Additionally, because the patient/parent will often raise ques-tions about their treatment during time spent in these spaces, the treatment rooms include digital education systems to efficiently answer these questions.
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Figures 4-7. In the child-friendly activities area, children learn and practise activities that focus on correcting their poor myofunctional habits.
Figure 8. Appealing graphics with dental equipment out of sight, Myobrace Centre treatment rooms are designed purely for delivering the myofunctional orthodontic technique.
Robina, Gold Coast, Australia
Upper Coomera, Gold Coast, Australia
Clifton, New Jersey, USA
Clifton, New Jersey, USA
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Records room
Records to highlight progress or lack thereof are an important part of the Myobrace treatment process and photos or models
need to be taken at the start of treatment, then every three months or whenever there is an appliance change. Rather than use the treatment room for this, which hinders optimum patient flow, a well-equipped records room provides this function and is an essential part of the Myobrace Centre.
Patient flow
Optimum patient flow is an important part of the Myobrace Centre’s operation and effective utilisation of spaces
designed for a specific role or function, ensures the patient can progress through the centre in the most efficient way possible. A substantial factor in the reduction of traditional practice flow limitations and promotion of more efficient practice operation is the functional separation of clinic space. Additionally, because some of these areas can be staffed by trained auxiliaries, the den-tist or orthodontist’s time per patient can be reduced, allowing for a greater patient load. The elimination of older techniques used to deliver myofunctional therapy as well as providing treatment information via child-friendly, interactive and animated multi-media removes the need for traditional myofunctional therapists.
Myofunctional Research Co (MRC) has designed the Myo-brace Centre to accommodate the requirements of 21st century myofunctional treatment for the paediatric patient. Because they feature functionally designed clinic layout systems as well as the use of less complex dental equipment, designed specifically to effectively and efficiently deliver myofunctional orthodontic treatment, practitioners who implement MRC’s systems into their practice are provided with the greatest opportunity to gen-erate increased profit. Additionally, this design is easily scaled to multiple practice outlets, which suits owners of multiple practice groups looking to expand their scope of patient ser-vice with an increased revenue potential, without the need for more dental practitioners.
Hundreds of practitioners around the world have now adopted MRC’s myofunctional orthodontic systems and Myobrace Centre design, at various levels. MRC has assisted this through its Myo-brace Certified Provider Program.
To find out more information about how to begin implementing The Myobrace System and begin experiencing increased patient volume visit myoresearch.com.
Figures 11-12. The Myobrace Centre layout system allows for simultaneous patient education and effective utilisation of space for optimal patient flow.
Figures 9-10. A well-equipped records room is an essential part of the Myobrace Centre.
