Your patients need to understand, for real, what can happen if they do not follow through with your recommended treatment. If you accomplish that, then you have done your job educating the patient. From that point forward, it’s on the patient and the front desk. The following education techniques will help you get there:   TRIGGER WORDS & “YET”   Trigger words initiate a process or course of action. The term “trigger word” derives from the use of an explosive gun in days gone by to start a race. “Yet” is a trigger word. Patients may not notice gum disease yet. The patient hasn’t...

Base pay plus commission seems to be the best and most popular system. This protects the hygienist if the front desk drops the ball on the schedule, but also gives the hygienist a reason to go the extra mile. Always use adjusted production or actual collections when calculating a hygienist’s bonus because this is the amount that can actually be collected. The general rule of thumb is that any commission kicks in when production (or collection) exceeds three times the hygienist’s base pay. Also, if the day does fall apart or there's an open hour, the hygienist on base pay can...

The industry standard for periodontal procedures is between 30-35% of hygiene production. Periodontal maintenance (D4910), of course, follows SRPs. It is not preventive. It is after-care. 

Here is a quick formula I use in my dental consulting to determine how efficient your hygienists are:

1. Take active patients and multiply by two (go back 1.5 to 2 years for active patient count).