This is Laura Diet with the Becker Dental
and Ds podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Bella
Perez Torres
director of hygiene strategy in operations at Aspen
dental management.
Bella it's a pleasure to have you on
the podcast today.
I'm honored to be here.
Now I'm looking forward to our conversation. I
know we're gonna touch on a recent
mission trip you did to the Philippines and
talk about some of the great experiences you
had there as well as your insights on
the dental field and what you see ahead.
But before we dive in, I was wondering,
could you tell us a little bit about
yourself and your background?
Yes. Absolutely.
So I actually started my dental career 20
years ago. I know it's been that long.
Of an ortho dental assistance in being around
adolescents with or oral hygiene is what piqued
my interest in the dental hygiene,
which is loved to a fantastic career, and
as of today, working at Aspen dental,
I have grown within the organization and within
my profession,
not only being the director of hygiene strategy
and operations for over 1600
dental h janice throughout
a thousand location, but I'm also active in
my professional
association with the New York, Dental H genesis
association as well.
Well, it's great to hear. You know, And
certainly amazing to have of those types of
positions in a career where you've been able
to continue to grow and advance in the
dental space.
Now I wanted to ask you about the
admission trip. Can you share a little bit
more about the trip and some of the
great experiences that you had?
Sure. I would selected to join 11 other
clinicians for the dental missions trip to the
Philippines.
And the Philippines I have over a... Thousand
island too, and we primarily
served children in the islands of Bat and
Lena bak,
Which the small islands, and they don't always
have a lot of access to care or
to anything. Actually, most of their commute is
through, boats, to go from 1 island to
another island for resources, which can create a
challenge to find even healthcare in in those
environments
what we did in those communities
is we partner with a local, dental or
dentist, who was appointed by the local mayor,
and
to give us a little bit of the
insights of what we needed to do and
also
shared with them what we were prepared to
do as well making sure that was appropriate.
Kinda to do in those community. So 1
of the things that we discovered is she
came with these forms,
their screening forms
but they were in a different format that
we were used to operating in the state.
So
we had to quickly learn and navigate,
their system,
which is more on, I believe it's called
the world's federation system and kind of
preliminary did some screenings assess what the children
needed, and then set them off to the
different health care or dental professional groups to
deliver that care. That way, we're not were
able to document
for the adult state and local authorities, what
was done to the children and it's also
followed them along their school records.
So it was pretty
fun.
But it's also challenging. If you can imagine
it was during the dry season in the
Philippines so heat and humidity
was quite a challenge for us, as well
as some of the ability to access certain
an electricity or even
materials for us to be a lot more
effective in our approach. That's fascinating. And it
sounds like quite a trip, of course, very
meaningful for patients who were able to see
in populations
that you are serving, but, like you said,
huge challenges in being able to provide that
type of care.
I I'm wondering what were some of the
biggest issues that you face you were there,
What were some of the things that
really
continue to stay top of mind for you
as your kinda provide care in a place
like the Philippines.
Yeah. So some of the materials we brought
were I'm glass I am on Nervous... Stored
material, which in an air conditioned facility typically
has a setting time of 3 minutes. In
our environment, it had a 30 second. Setting
time. So,
you could imagine we had to pivot and
adapt quickly and work quickly
to apply as much as we can. So
we're not being wasteful for the the products
as well,
because we didn't have... You know, we only
have so many that we can use to
wide care.
Additionally, what's kind of interesting is
our hands began to flat
and we actually had to apply baby powder
to done our glove, which back in 20
17, the states have banned powdered gloves. So
this kind of
interesting to kinda reflect on some of these
old practices,
bringing it because of the unique environment we
were working in, but it helped. You know,
it help dry out the sweat, and we're
able to apply the gloves without it getting
out to stick to ourselves. Additionally, it's important
that we've
made relationships with the community, You know, it's...
Their community. They know what they need the
most. And, of course, we come with positive
intention and helping them. And also learning a
little bit more about their culture and being
immersed in, you know, dining, eating some of
their cuisine,
authentic cuisine,
also trying to communicate with,
or some of the challenges
because I wanted to provide us much care,
but to a degree with their consent or
at least their local dentist
consent as well who's provides some some directions
on how we can best. Manage the children.
We didn't have parents there in 1 of
the school locations, so we definitely needed to
lean in on
the local rep zen there to ensure that
we're able to perform limited duties that ultimately
giving the patients the best outcome thinking at.
Zen
It's great to hear. You know, in such
an important, aspect of care and healthcare care
is that dental care in the oral Hygiene.
So being able to partner with the communities
and the the patients and our families when
it's possible, you know, it really it seems
like it would make a big difference.
Now when you're thinking about down dentistry more
broadly,
and your work here in the states? What
are some of the biggest issues you that
you're following in dental. What's really top of
mind for you? Down what's interesting is I
follow a lot of technology and innovation, Not
so much in the dental space, but also
in the medical space. A lot of times
medical,
the medicine world, they tend to be a
little more
more of a not afraid to pioneer a
lot of this technological
advances that eventually will trickle down to the
dental setting and then dental practice. So I'm
thinking, you know, working for a forward thinking
organization. I look more at a broader scale.
What's happening
across healthcare care profession as a whole not
only nationally, but globally?
And then are there certain things that might
impact the dental profession. Can we adopt some
of it Can we get ahead of it
or let's explore possible solutions that will help
improve
patient outcome and the overall practice of efficiency.
The other item I'm looking at is the
dentist and dental hygiene compact. As you could
tell her a lot more states are looking
looking into the compact,
is gonna help alleviate a lot of the
workforce challenges,
as well as how clinicians prefer to operate
in these different states, which Now, of course,
the workforce trend is a big topic. You
know, it's hard to increase access to care
in areas that need at the most when
there's a shortage of providers.
In those location. So looking at some of
the workforce trends in the healthcare profession and
the dental professions if top of mind. And
here it has been
what 1 of the things we've done is
we really
listen into what's happening in the workforce and
try to also be
a little open to adopt or implement some
of these things. For instance, you know, since
the pandemic, the gig economy has shifted a
lot of, dental h to
staffing agencies for temp agencies.
Well, we looked at seeing why are they
doing this? Typically, if you really look back
at why clinicians are opting tempting agencies versus
having a committed employer,
part of it is that flexibility.
And
listening into that flexibility,
made us I'll realize that we need to
be a bit more open minded for part
time workers or those who just wanna work
at weekends.
So
listening to some of our contingent
workforce,
partnering with some of the staffing
agencies out there, but also of being open
for
per diem rolls, as well as part time
rolls,
which includes benefits for them as well.
Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
You know, as you are talking through the
workforce piece of it just now, it really
resonates with what we're hearing a across industry
trying to understand, you know, but is really
motivating and important to team members in making
sure that I'm you're able to build a
a strong workforce regardless of how it's comprised
Now when you look ahead, what are you
most excited about right now, what makes you
nervous?
Oh, well, I told you about technology for
innovation nicely.
I get bored with a what status quo.
So I'm always looking to see what's out
there. And what are we doing today so
we can make it better. I think with
the technology and advancements, it kind of forces
us to learn quicker
and also adapt to some of these changes
because change is gonna happen
irr. So it's important as us as clinicians
to really
continue to expand our learning and our professional
development to be prepared for some of these
changes that are coming a lot faster than
they did 20 years ago. So that excites
me. The flip side of some of the
innovation and technology
is
getting people to adapt to it. You know,
The the... It's very hard when you have
mastered a scale for so long
to change your approach to something
different. Right? Because there's a learning curve with
adopting any type of new methodology
or technology.
There's... You'll have to slow down to really
learn the craft all over again. And so
change management and implementation has been of this
struggle
for our
clinical
clinicians and practice environment, and it's so important
for them to also
give back feedback. Like, if it's not working
for you, how how can we make it
better? You know, We definitely need to be
on the forefront of things? Because last thing
you want is
your skill set becomes antiquated, and you're not
gonna be able to use it in other
practice setting because everyone else has moved on.
So it's important that we're helping supporting the
development of our of our providers and our
opt team members. So they're able to practice
to the top of their scope.
So those are kind of like, my
chance she did some of the were the
things that make me nervous is, can we
help our team members to embrace some of
this change
in a way that's gonna impact
everyone and benefit everyone.
For patients and the practice.
That makes a lot of sense. You know,
I can imagine it takes a lot of
patience in in time and energy to really
make that
and and work with a variety of folks.
I know some... You know, typically are the
early adopters and some are are very much,
you know, on the the slower end of
things. But, like you said, being able to
have those tools in technology,
you know, to to augment and, assure that
you're able to work at your top of
your abilities
seems like a really exciting prospect for the
future.
Absolutely.
No. In looking at your your career, we
talked a little bit about some of the
different experiences that you've had and you've been
able to grow
tremendously over the years.
I'm wondering in your perspective, what does it
look like to make a meaningful career dentistry?
How do you carve that space out for
yourself? First, you gotta have purpose. You know,
why we in Dentistry in the first place.
And if you could figure out your purpose,
that's gonna guide you to develop a meeting
career.
It's interesting because my role has been very...
It's been all
uniquely developed.
Because it was in need at the time
of our
organization. And all the skills that I had
prepared myself over the years and helping
others, whether it's patients or providers or even
people in my community
has helped me kind prepare
for some of the roles that I have
today. So building a meaningful career, honestly is
gonna be helping and serving people
out to achieve optimal health. That's kind of,
like the center of it all. And how
you do that to is also from that
continuous learning and
development side of things too. What can we
do better than what we're doing today constantly
challenging
ourselves
it whether you're in the practice setting or
outside, you know, in a dental missions trip.
It's still kind hovering over the same
and a purpose. And then lastly, I would
say would be the building
relationship side.
Can't do this alone. You know, you definitely
wanna be strategic
to connect with
specific people that might be
experts in this certain an area,
gain their feedback and kind of work together
because if you can get more of them
mastermind,
together to share great things can only happen
from that. Not only leave the mastermind,
also the frontline workers, right? Especially when you're
going to implement
technology.
They're the ones who gonna be using it,
get their feedback. The adults love to be
part of the solution in general.
So if we can get more this cross
functional,
relationship building from, you know, bottom to the
top team members
it will be really gonna provide a meaningful
career
for all.
I love that having that kind of continuous
feedback and ability to
understand, you know, where you need to grow
and how you need to
adjust and evolve of the times is such
an important aspect of being a leader.
Before we wrap up here, looking ahead, what
do you think of the most effective healthcare
leaders will need to be successful over the
next 2 or 3 years especially seeing how
some the different trends in healthcare care are
evolving whether it's workforce or technology
or, you know, really just the
economic environment overall. What you see as being
essential in order to lead in the future?
It's gonna be obviously happy influential communication that's
could help with some other behavior
changes, but ultimately remembering here why. Why do
we need to do something different. Could why
are we
operating the way we operate?
People are very... You know, I I believe
providers are very purpose driven.
You know, they are looking for why do
we do what we do? Tell me why
I need to change, make a sense to
me so that I am motivated.
To do that change. And there's the saying
that we often
share amongst our team members, being clear is
being kind. So having those clear objectives,
on what is the purpose of what we're
trying to achieve? And what's in it for
those that are gonna be involved in? You
know? They always wanna know. What's a different
for b?
So making sure that leaders are not only
the forefront of technology,
but of having effective
communication,
outlining the...
The objectives in a way that's gonna be
patient centric too. I think you know, clinicians
are more sensitive with patient centric,
language versus, you know, production. A business centric
language. It depends where your audience is too.
It's gonna shift your language. But ultimately, I
think having those
communications, a creating a collaborative
environment
where people can thrive in is what's gonna
be
very beneficial for health leaders to succeed in
the future.
I love that. Thank you so much Bella
for joining us on the podcast today. This
has been a fantastic discussion, and I look
forward to connect with you again soon.
Alright. Thank you. Loretta.
Acting