Dental-Chiropractic Collaborative is a professional dental, functional medicine and chiropractic service dedicated to the education and welfare of our patients who may be affected by snoring and sleep disorders.
Dr. Richard Downs, D.D.S. and Dr. Joseph Zelk have developed the DCC and Sleep Balance Academy to build a cross referral team approach to patient treatment between the professions of functional medicine, chiropractic and dentistry. The strategic partners he has affiliated with will allow for Dental-Chiropractic Alliances to work with durable medical equipment centers, dental sleep labs and medical sleep centers, and innovative medical billing experts with an emphasis on treatment of sleep disordered breathing.
DCC supports this relationship in many ways starting with our educational seminars, ongoing in-office support, social media campaigns, and mentoring from professionals trained in this level of care. Sleep Balance Academy also keeps its members up to date on the latest advances in effective treatment and effective billing solutions on behalf of the doctors for their patients.
DCC and SBA helps Dentists and Chiropractors to:
Recognize which sleep disorders can be treated with oral sleep appliances (OSA).
Education in the recognition of services for chiropractic care for the medical co-morbidities of sleep apnea, the different types and uses of oral appliances, screening for sleep disorders, and interpret (PSG) polysomnogram and (HST) home sleep studies.
Administer home sleep studies (HST) and work closely with a patient's physician or specialists in Somnology to achieve the most effective treatment for a patient.
Manage the dental and medical issues that uniquely accompany sleep related breathing disorders (SRBD) and its impact on teeth, gums, soft palate, tongue, joints, head, neck, spine, jaws, heart, blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, stroke and general health.
Dentists are qualified to fabricate, adjust, fit, monitor and treat problems and complications associated with oral appliances which are used to manage sleep related breathing disorders. Dentist can administer breathing solutions which many times are superior to CPAP therapies and are the first line solution for those who are mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea patients and also those who are CPAP intolerant. Dentists and chiropractors can also treat children in ways that can prevent a lifetime of compromised airways by helping spine and face bones grow properly through chiropractic, orthopedic and orthodontic care.
Chiropractors can treat the posture problems, temporomandibular joint pathologies, muscle pain, forward head posture, and morning headaches associated with sleep disorders non-evasively, and much more. They are uniquely positioned to screen patients for sleep disorders to help improve chiropractic outcomes, total wellness programs and for referral to dentists and other health care professionals for oral appliance therapies and can fit and dispense CPAP and EPAP devises for those who may not be able to use oral sleep appliances.
In some instances, we can handle all of the billing and pre-authorization work for you while maximizing the medical insurance benefits for your patients to minimize their out-of-pocket expenses by automating this billing service to their Medicare and medical insurance carriers. For those wanting to do their own medical billing, we have office medical billing coaching programs and seminars, both online and at various locations.
We provide your dental or chiropractic office with home sleep studies, high sensitivity FDA approved pulse oximeters, side sleep trainers and position monitor wearables, MD prescriptions, referrals and letters of medical necessities. We can supply you with "Freedom of Choice" form examples for those who are Medicare providers to keep you in compliance with Medicare rules when doing cross referrals
We can explain how chiropractors and dentists can set up their own airway sleep diagnostic services company should there be state limits on what they can do in this area under their professional license.
Please contact us with any questions. Many more answers to challenges and implementation strategies are available through DCC. Just ask by clicking the Contact Us button below. We are ready to help.
