New company Sleep Impressions just launched a dental sleep network with insurance contracts to bill in-network.

“Despite the attraction to dentists and patients, dental sleep has been limited, until now, by the cost of the custom oral appliance and by a disconnect with sleep medicine professionals. Sleep Impressions eliminates both road blocks,” says Mara Retzlaff, Sleep Impressions COO and co-founder, in a release. Sleep Impressions brings together dentists trained and experienced in treating sleep apnea with a network of sleep physicians and an accredited sleep testing company. This symbiotic relationship ensures patients are evaluated, diagnosed, and, when appropriate, treated with an oral appliance, Sleep Impressions says.

Many patients find the cost of dental appliances cost prohibitive. By making it possible for the patient to utilize their medical benefits to obtain a dental appliance, Sleep Impressions eliminates this barrier. Sleep Impressions is contracted with most major medical insurances and can bill for the appliance in-network, minimizing the out of pocket expense for the patient. Sleep Impressions takes care of the contracting, insurance authorizations, and claim submissions, allowing the dentist to focus on treating the patient.

For dentists, dental sleep medicine means understanding new clinical processes and administrative protocols. Sleep Impressions offers training for dentists and their staff on identifying sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy, protocols, and documentation. Training takes place in the dentist’s office, providing participants a hands-on learning environment. After the training, you retain access to dental sleep mentors, as well as on-line courses. “New procedures can be difficult and frustrating to implement” says Tom Gotsis, DDS, Dental Director of Sleep Impressions, “but as a mentor, I will answer questions during your first few cases, addressing situations before they become discouraging issues.”
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The Sleep Impressions’ sales team markets to a national network of physicians, connecting them to one of the trained dentists in their area.