Future of Perio?

[DiscoverWeakly]

Just curious about this communities thoughts on the future of perio?

We had on OS faculty recently tell students in his OS rotation that perio is a dying speciality; do you think that is accurate? I understand the thought process with many GP's placing implants, but would there not still be a place for perio in more complex implant cases and more specifically GTR's and additional grafting procedures?

However, on that same note, what is the expected salary for a newly minted Periodontist after residency? I've seen some say that it's dependent on referral base, once you have that you do well, but it takes a minute to build. At the beginning, what are perio docs expecting?

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[lol105]

With more people placing implants... peri-implantiits management and soft tissue management will become more important than ever. I've seen a number of soft tissue problems around implants over the years, ranging from thinning to dehiscence. Who mostly manages these problems? Perio.

Tldr: perio is here to stay

 

[charlestweed]

To keep your perio practice busy, you have to maintain the good working relationship with the referring GPs. You have to reach out to the newer younger GPs in the area because the existing GP referral base will shrink over time. It requires a lot of time and effort. My wife’s perio practice has lost a lot of patients because she stopped going door to door to meet the GPs ever since my son started first grade. Now, my son is a freshman in college.

To make up for the shrinking patient pool at her office, my wife travels to work at different GP offices. She actually likes this more than working for herself. All the GP owners respect her and don’t treat her like an associate dentist. They need her for advice and help in treatment planning difficult implant cases….she teaches them how to take impression and restore implants, especially the full mouth cases. At one office, she does mostly extractions and the GP owner has the license to do IV sedation. It’s a well paid specialty if you have a lot of patients to work on. It’s much easier than practicing general dentistry for sure.

 

[Thehighwind87]

I wouldn't say perio is dying- but it is harder for sure. If I had to choose a specialty that is relatively safe..pays well...and doesn't accumulate MORE debt- I would be saying Endo, Pediatrics, and OMFS. Perio is eh... Prostho-isn't bad...but I mean as a GP take enough CE courses and you can do their work... Ortho isn't bad either- its just the cost of debt + they have their own issue with corp practices doing aligners, and GPs with invisalign etc.... plus their practices run on high volume so high overhead staffing etc. Not every ortho is like that but you know what I mean.

OMFS does implants and so does GP and so does Prostho...so you have to compete with three turfs to get an implant.

GP's are hesistant to refer implant/perio to periodontists because a recall patient that needs a 6 month cleaning- might be converted to a perio recall patient. Of course there are times where periodontist def needs to be doing the cleanings- but as stated GP's are hesistant to lose a 6 month recall patient.

Perio procedures like grafting etc are just not done as much anymore...if the tooth is a goner, just take it out and put an implant.