How does Sonicare affect a dentist's income?

[tennischamp822]

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[Andrew324]

How does the title say anything?

 

[armorshell]

Well they gave me a free tooth brush and a free lunch 2 years ago...

 

[ReallyCuteGirl]

Well they gave me a free tooth brush and a free lunch 2 years ago...

A sonicare tooth brush?

 

[phungy]

Colgate gave us two manual brushes and two tubes of paste. Our first Oral-B electric toothbrush is apparently free (heard from upperclassmen).

 

[tennischamp822]

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[Daurang]

It increased my income slightly last year. I bought 20 from a convention at $49 each and sold them on ebay for $100 each...enough profit for a thousand tacos throughout the year.

 

[armorshell]

If brushing your teeth with a freaking stick (http://www.al-mujalbaba.com/semtost.html) was the norm, dentists would be out of business.

Good luck getting everyone in America to buy a $150 toothbrush, Sonicare has certainly been trying for quite a few years...

I don't think I was too clear...

Ever since I have started using a Sonicare toothbrush, I haven't gotten any cavities or anything. If everyone started using this toothbrush, the only business that would remain for the dentist would be hygiene, which is rarely even performed by the dentist.

My question is: will there be less demand for general dentistry/endodontistry if electric toothbrushes become the norm? How would that affect dentist incomes?

 

[tennischamp822]

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[HupHolland]

I don't think I was too clear...

Ever since I have started using a Sonicare toothbrush, I haven't gotten any cavities or anything. If everyone started using this toothbrush, the only business that would remain for the dentist would be hygiene, which is rarely even performed by the dentist.

My question is: will there be less demand for general dentistry/endodontistry if electric toothbrushes become the norm? How would that affect dentist incomes?

Periodontal disease, recurrent caries, trauma (from occlusion or a bar fight), restoration of "ugly" teeth, TMD, etc. etc.........

In addition, the incorrect use of ANY toothbrush will not prevent dental caries or periodontal disease. During my short time in my school's clinic, not a single patient of mine has correctly demonstrated how to use a toothbrush. Food for thought..

Hup

 

[DrJeff]

It increased my income slightly last year. I bought 20 from a convention at $49 each and sold them on ebay for $100 each...enough profit for a thousand tacos throughout the year.

Daurang pretty much hit the nail on the head. You'll buy them at whatever the current price is, and then sell them for whatever you want, typically 10-$25 less than Walmart or whatever retailer in your area is selling them for as a way to encourage your patients to buy them from you instead of the retailer.

One things of note that I have seen directly in my office as a bonus, if my patients who use a sonic brush the vast majority of the time will have better hygiene and less calculus at recall visits, so the recall visits can be scheduled for a slightly shorter amount of time, and if you have enough of those patients per day in your hygiene schedule you can often squeeze in an extra patient and hence increase billing