How to Set Up a Pediatric Dental Practice
If you've graduated from dental school with a specialty in pediatric dentistry, or pedodontics, then you may want to open your own practice. Opening a pedodontist's office is very similar to opening a general dentistry practice. Assuming you've already found the ideal site and signed a lease, the following steps ensure the proper protocol in opening a pediatric dental office.
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Instructions
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Steps to Opening a Pediatric Dental Practice
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Obtain your state license to practice by contacting your state's Dental Board of Examiners; apply for your anesthesia license, also, if you will be providing sedation services for children. Contact the DEA and get your license to prescribe drugs and controlled substances. Apply for and receive a business permit for the city in which you will practice. You will need to post all licenses and degrees in the office prior to opening.
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Register your X-ray machines with the Department of Radiation or Department of Nuclear Safety. Upon installation, the local Health Department will visit to ensure proper operation. Register with the Health Department's Waste Disposal program to pick up your amalgam, lead or used chemicals. Adhere to all Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) guidelines.
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Contact the IRS to obtain your Federal Tax Identification number, also know as the Employer Identification Number (EIN). You will need to acquire a separate number for state taxes from the State Department of Revenue. Register with the Employment Security Division to withhold payroll taxes (federal, state, Medicare and Social Security) if you will have employees.
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Obtain business insurances. You need at least professional liability insurance (malpractice), general liability insurance (business), disability insurance for yourself (optional but highly recommended), and if you will have any employees, you are legally required to have workers' compensation insurance.
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Purchase all dental equipment from a reputable dealer. You will need pediatric dental chairs suited for small children along with instruments fitted to the mouths of various sized children from infancy to teens. For a pediatric dental office, you should pick light- and bright-colored equipment.
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Interview all dental suppliers in your local area for dental supplies and order as needed. Supplies geared to pediatric dental offices are picture brochures educating children on oral hygiene, colorful suction tips that enable children to participate in the dental visit and fun wall posters that explain dentistry to children. The toothbrushes and other take-home items you order should be rewarding and fun for children. Supply companies will also stock various stickers and other reinforcements to appease children.
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Purchase all office supplies including computers and printers. Order business cards in bulk as you will need these for marketing purposes. Rainbows, fun teeth images and bright background colors are all typical logos and themes of pediatric offices.
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Visit office supply stores and furniture stores to furnish the entire office. Keep in mind that this is a pediatric office, meaning colors should be bright and colorful, and space should be appropriate for children and their parents. Walls should be decorated with bright paint; hang posters and photos that are educational and easy for a 2- to 7-year-old to understand. Add books and toys to the waiting area to keep children occupied while they wait.
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Purchase dental software and intraoral cameras. Computerize your office; hire a professional to integrate the entire system. Ensure that your software purchase is capable of full integration with external sources. Consider the addition of monitors in each operatory room to entertain children during treatment and integrate a DVD player into the system.
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Hire staff. A pedodontist's office should have staff that excels with children wearing bright and fun scrubs. The receptionist should be well-trained in fielding calls from worried parents. All employees must be trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which is a law that protects all patient information, and understand OSHA protocol. You will need a minimum of one receptionist trained in your software, and a dental assistant licensed to take X-rays.
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Contact various insurance companies and review their fee schedules; become a provider for your top three choices. Decide which managed care programs you will take part in (if any), and provide information for all patient financing options such as CareCredit. Create a schedule for your "Usual, Customary and Reasonable" (UCR) fees.
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Implement marketing programs. Contact all general dentist offices in the area and inform them of your practice; network with all orthodontic practices where the majority of patients are children. Always leave a stack of business cards. Dentist Marketers recommends marketing your practice through local schools, daycares, community centers, and sponsor local events to promote your practice. Utilize any resource that may reach the parents of children.
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Tips & Warnings
Everything from your office decor from the carpet to the walls, business letterheads and business cards should reflect the playful and fun-nature of a pediatric dental office. Pedodontists' offices should not be clinical or designed to impress the parents; the design should comfort and welcome children first.
Do not spend too much capital on equipping every operatory. Two full operatories to start is ideal and can easily be increased as the business grows. The average cost to start a dental practice ranges from $450,000 to $500,000, including working capital; minimizing the number of equipped operatories decreases the cost considerably until your business is running successfully.
