The Practice That Runs Beyond You (E.167)

“My team is my legacy. It’s not me anymore. Sleep is a team-driven procedure within the practice.”
– Dr. Meghna Dassani

Brief Overview of the Episode

This episode connects two conversations that most dentists rarely hear in the same room. The first is about self-leadership, boundaries, and the cost of trying to lead from an empty cup. The second is about building a real clinical system around sleep apnea care that does not depend on the doctor carrying the entire burden alone.

Dr. Meghna Dassani shares how personal loss, hard-earned leadership lessons, and years of implementation shaped her approach to both life and practice. What emerges is a sharper definition of an investment grade practice: one where the owner is not the bottleneck, the team owns the workflow, and better patient outcomes create stronger referrals, stronger culture, and stronger long-term value.

What This Episode Reveals

• Burnout is not just a personal issue. It is a leadership issue that affects team culture, consistency, and growth.
• Self-care is not soft. It is operational. When the leader is depleted, the practice feels it.
• Clinical expansion works best when it is systemized. Sleep apnea becomes scalable when the team can identify, educate, and support the workflow.
• A practice gains real enterprise value when knowledge, trust, and execution live beyond the doctor.

What You’ll Learn

• How self-leadership shapes better decisions, stronger boundaries, and more stable leadership inside the practice
• Why repeatable SOPs reduce decision fatigue and make clinical growth easier to sustain
• How Dr. Dassani built sleep apnea into a team-led system instead of a doctor-dependent service
• What it takes to earn trust and referrals from the medical community over time

If This Sounds Familiar

• You feel like too many decisions still have to run through you
• You want to expand services, but you know your systems are not ready
• You are tired of carrying the emotional and operational weight of the practice alone
• You know there are missed opportunities in airway, sleep, and diagnosis, but your team is not fully aligned around them yet

Next Steps

• Book a clarity call with Victoria Peterson to identify where owner reliance, decision fatigue, or missing systems are limiting the value of your practice
• Audit your current workflows and ask a hard question: could a new team member follow them clearly and consistently on day one?
• To learn more about Dr. Meghna Dassani’s sleep education and coursework, visit sleepmasterycenter.com or connect with her on Instagram at Dr. Meghna Dassani

If you want help seeing your practice accurately, book a 30 minute clarity call with Victoria.

Get honest about where leadership, communication, and systems are creating drag in the practice. Stop trying to solve internal problems with external tactics.

 

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Victoria Peterson: Welcome back to another episode of the Investment Grade Practice. As you know, this is foundational for independent private practice owners who want to remain competitive in this consolidated market, and within the four quadrants of building an investment grade practice sits this. In the center, the doctor, the owner, the leader that sets the tone.

[00:00:23] Victoria Peterson: And I can’t think of a better person to come on the show and really highlight what it takes to become self-governed in your emotions and to become, um. Uh, just to really lock in your self-care game so that you have the fuel both mentally and physically to show up every day for your team. Please help me welcome Dr.

[00:00:46] Victoria Peterson: Magna Dasani from Houston, Texas. Hello, Magna. 

[00:00:50] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Hello. What a kind introduction. Thank you so much. It is an honor to be here. 

[00:00:58] Victoria Peterson: I, I can’t remember a [00:01:00] time when you weren’t in my life. Question. 

[00:01:02] Dr. Meghna Dassani: It certainly seems like that, doesn’t it? 

[00:01:05] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. It seems like I popped into dentistry and you were, you were there, but I would, I would guess it’s been a dozen years or so 

[00:01:13] Dr. Meghna Dassani: and you know, I was, uh, talking about it to somebody earlier this week about when I took over my practice 15 years ago.

[00:01:21] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I took it over with the intent. My girls were three and five when I bought my practice, and I took it over with the intent of. I wanna spend more time with my girls. Boy was I wrong. That first year my entire team quit. Literally the day I took over the practice, the entire team quit. Uh, I had to bring on a fresh new team, and that first year was pure hell until.

[00:01:52] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I attended a PDA meeting. I remember meeting you and Bruce and calling my husband at the end [00:02:00] of day one and going, I think we can do this. ’cause I literally wanted to return the practice. I’d asked him was like, could they take it back? Because it was a lot, right? You have young kids, it is a lot. You didn’t realize what you were getting into.

[00:02:12] Dr. Meghna Dassani: So thank goodness for good mentors that always have your back. So yes, it’s been 15 years since I have known you guys. 

[00:02:21] Victoria Peterson: That’s unbelievable. And we were just talking about your daughters. I remember them being itty bitty and now they’re off to college seniors in high school, we 

[00:02:29] Dr. Meghna Dassani: were not allowed to do that.

[00:02:30] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I don’t know why they decided to grow up, but, 

[00:02:35] Victoria Peterson: oh, that’s great. Well, you know, along the way you’ve become a great mentor and I think for our PDA alumni, there’s no. Bigger mark of success or pride that we as a team have than when our doctors turn around and give back to this industry that we all love. So you wear a lot of hats.

[00:02:57] Victoria Peterson: I wanna start with. [00:03:00] With, um, your passion for self-care and recognition, particularly amongst female dentists who sometimes struggle to find their voice, um, struggle to set boundaries. Like, you know, Hey, I just wanna take a salt bath. Can I take five minutes? Like, that seems like a big ask sometimes when it should just be, dude, I, this is my half hour.

[00:03:24] Victoria Peterson: Leave me alone. Right. Um. So I wanna talk about the making of her and I, I wanna go, I remember during the pandemic, I think it was, you had a Facebook thread called Nourish. 

[00:03:38] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Yes. 

[00:03:39] Victoria Peterson: Is that still go? I remember washing my carrots on Sunday so I could post pictures to you. 

[00:03:44] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I remember that too. And you tag me.

[00:03:46] Dr. Meghna Dassani: It’s like, look at what I have. 

[00:03:48] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. I love, I love washing produce on the weekends. It’s my favorite thing. So talk to me about the, the roots and where you are today and your passion [00:04:00] for, uh, the making of her and the podcast that you host. 

[00:04:04] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, it’s been a journey for sure. You know, I’ve been in dentistry, oh boy, 20, no, 32 years now.

[00:04:12] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um. From way back when, when I was a dentist in India, and like I said earlier, the isolation that happens in being a practice owner, don’t get me wrong, the Facebook groups and the community that we build online is amazing, but what I have found is whenever there is a problem, we bring it to our tribe and.

[00:04:41] Dr. Meghna Dassani: There’s always a ton of support. I know I’ve leaned on you when I need it to. Um, and people always show up, but we tend to not be able to celebrate our wins a lot of the time because what’s there to celebrate? Like, am I trying to rub it in people’s [00:05:00] faces? You know, the narrative that we all build and as I’ve, you know, worked with.

[00:05:06] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Women, dentists, even MDs, pe, let’s say, women in healthcare. The consistent theme I keep getting from them is not one of, oh, I’m stressed or overwhelmed. Although, yes, that does happen, but it is one of loneliness. 

[00:05:20] Victoria Peterson: Hmm. 

[00:05:21] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And that has been a huge calling. It’s been tugging at my heart. Now, there’s something that we need to do and address as.

[00:05:34] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Women, um, to where, how can I show up for other high achieving women who you look at them from the outside and you would never think that maybe they’re struggling to make payroll, or maybe they just open that second practice and everybody’s going, what do you have to worry about? Look at you. You’re so successful.

[00:05:56] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Two businesses, your children are thriving, but [00:06:00] only she knows. Which she knows. And, um, I read a statistic that today, actually this morning, that says 27%, the burnout rate for women doctors is 27% greater than that of their male colleagues. 

[00:06:17] Victoria Peterson: Wow. 

[00:06:17] Dr. Meghna Dassani: That’s huge. That is huge. So that’s what the making of her is all about.

[00:06:22] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, I get to be both. I get to be mom and boss. I get to be the clinician as well as the CEOI shouldn’t have to choose. And a lot of times it’s implicit as well as explicit where we feel like we need to choose and there really shouldn’t be a need to. 

[00:06:42] Victoria Peterson: Yeah, it’s, it’s a matter of, of perspective and, you know, I’ve struggled with that, um, of being willing to be vulnerable enough to reach out and connect.

[00:06:55] Victoria Peterson: And to find that community of peers amongst women, and I’m [00:07:00] sure you’re like that too. I’m so glad that you’ve created this for high achieving women and, you know, uh, women along every strata from like a. I mean, I, I mentored down all the way to dental assistance and hygienist because I started out that way.

[00:07:19] Victoria Peterson: But what they’re facing as employees within a structure are a little bit different than an associate doctor would. Experience versus an owner, doctor or a partner. And in my case, uh, an employee owned company with employees across 17 states. You know, it, it’s just, it’s a special group and you, there’s loneliness on every rung of the ladder unless you, um, have the courage and the tools and the space to reach out.

[00:07:47] Victoria Peterson: So what are some of the principles that women that are in your group learn to, uh, like, learn to discover and embrace? 

[00:07:56] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Self-leadership is the first one. And you know, you talked about self-care earlier [00:08:00] and self-leadership encompasses that self-care. I cannot pour from an empty cup no matter how much of a boss babe, I might be.

[00:08:10] Dr. Meghna Dassani: You cannot pour from an empty, this is where, you know, you said, oh, the five minutes for salt path. Or like, let me just go in and like breathe right for three minutes before I do anything. So that self-leadership starts there. How can I. Walk my talk. 

[00:08:28] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:08:29] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And I liken it. The best way I can connect it to what we do in dentistry is I cannot be the dentist that walks into an operatory and fusses at the patient for not flossing or not brushing.

[00:08:41] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, this is my self-care version of Did you brush your teeth today? 

[00:08:47] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:08:48] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, it. Nothing is more important than refilling your cup because I cannot be a good mother to my children. I cannot show up 100%. [00:09:00] I cannot be a good leader. Gosh, I’ve been on that side of the line. I’ve been where I was the boss from Hell 

[00:09:08] Victoria Peterson: yeah.

[00:09:08] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And it’s because I was trying to pour from an empty cup, so I think. It all comes around to what can you do and be as a leader. Mm-hmm. That’s when you are able to show up, guide, mentor, lead your team. Mm-hmm. Your family, whoever it is that’s in your life. 

[00:09:29] Victoria Peterson: I love that so much and it’s right there in the center of building an investment, great practice because, um, one of my mentors and elders Connor Soer always says, focus more on building your internet, I-N-N-E-R, your inner net, your connection to source your faith, your intuition, your knowing.

[00:09:50] Victoria Peterson: Read your body, read your emotional currents because it’s all information that’s telling you things and you can catch yourself before [00:10:00] that, well, one’s dry versus scrolling the internet like, oh wait, Magna’s got a really good tiff. Let’s see what she does. Maybe that’ll work with me. You know, don’t trust ai.

[00:10:12] Victoria Peterson: Uh, although I will say, Lizzie, my chat. T Assistant has helped me fes my house.

[00:10:26] Victoria Peterson: You know me, I’m married to a retired, uh, custom home builder. And so home builders build, live in a, in the model home for two years, and then you move. So literally in the 15 years we’ve been married, we’ve moved nine times. So I don’t get super attached to a house and I don’t always have time like he. A stamp on it ’cause it’s built to sell.

[00:10:48] Victoria Peterson: But this particular house we’ve been in three years now and he promises me we’re gonna stay until at least 2029. So after two years of living here, I thought there’s still primer [00:11:00] white paint on the walls. Like they got, they got the old color out, but they didn’t put the new color in and the, and the house was just begging for it.

[00:11:07] Victoria Peterson: So AI was really good for that. Really great for that. But you can’t, um. I’m not saying that AI can’t be beneficial in, in top therapy, like if you, if you have it set up correctly, but that doesn’t replace human connection and it doesn’t replace you learning how to get comfortable being quiet with yourself.

[00:11:32] Victoria Peterson: Is that where you find most of your leadership breakthroughs come? Is in the quiet or in the talking or some mix of all of it? 

[00:11:41] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I think when I focus on the self-leadership, I am an extroverted introvert. I need my me time. Um, I absolutely need that time to fill my own cup, and my morning routine is non-negotiable.

[00:11:59] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um. [00:12:00] Waking up to meditate, journal, spend time grounding in nature. Like, it doesn’t matter how cold it is, I will step barefoot into the yard. Mm-hmm. Um, or as my grandma used to tell me, go hug a tree. Tell a tree your problems, because it’s all energy. You know, I was talking to someone earlier and they were like, well, all this energy stuff, it’s all woo.

[00:12:22] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And I’m like, I don’t know. Let, let’s talk about this like. Can you warm your food in the microwave? Do you see those waves? Does it still happen? Dental x-rays, can you see the x-rays? But we still get an image. It’s energy. So if you cannot ground your energy, if you are just all one big ball of like, ah, in your head, it’s not going anywhere.

[00:12:47] Dr. Meghna Dassani: So for me, yes, I do have to. Go within. Um, I do a lot of my meditation and a sauna. I have a infrared sauna, so I like to think I’m killing two [00:13:00] multitask, two birds with one stone. Yes, 

[00:13:03] Victoria Peterson: that’s busy. That’s, uh, that’s productive self-leadership. 

[00:13:09] Dr. Meghna Dassani: But yeah, I, I do have to have that time. Yeah, 

[00:13:13] Victoria Peterson: I do the same thing. I wake up, I take a deep breath, I pull all of myself back in from dream time.

[00:13:18] Victoria Peterson: I step outside with copay my dog, and I look up to see is it cloudy, is it rainy? That’s how you know, the weather forecast on an island with all these mountains. Uh, and, and then you’re just. You’re grounded. And you know what Mother Earth loves all that frenetic energy that we have. It’s like we give off CO2, she gives us back oxygen.

[00:13:37] Victoria Peterson: We give ’em all that frenetic nervous energy. We get grounded and, and the earth is recharged as well. So I I’m totally, we, we should do a whole podcast on the metaphysics of leadership. Absolutely. We could probably nerd out on that one. So, uh, I look forward to being a guest on your podcast. Shortly, which will be wonderful.

[00:13:59] Victoria Peterson: And at [00:14:00] the end of this, I want you to give us show notes on how people can find out more about your community for support with high achieving, uh, females in healthcare. I love that you’ve expanded that to all healthcare practitioners. ’cause I think that’s so needed. Um, speaking of your mentorship and giving back.

[00:14:21] Victoria Peterson: I remember hosting a Blue Sky event that was our annual client reunion. And in that particular year, you’ll have to remind me when this was. Um, we brought in all the leading dental sleep apnea, um, like John Rems who invented the REMS device and all of these things. Bruce was very much an innovator of bringing together leading edge clinicians, and we started talking about sleep.

[00:14:47] Victoria Peterson: I wanna say. 13 years ago, 

[00:14:52] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Rob. That sounds about right. I know my girls were little then. Yes. 

[00:14:55] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. And you really just went all in. [00:15:00] I still have. My airway is life. Um, coffee mug. I still have the lunchbox. Like your marketing is so cool. I still have my, was it girl boss, uh, hats that you had? Like everything you do, you just, you create some great swag around it, but you also create amazing SOPs and workflows.

[00:15:22] Victoria Peterson: So talk to us about your work and mentorship around sleep apnea, because we still have a lot of clients who are. Have been in it for years, but could take their game to the next level, or they’re just starting out. So I wanna hear your perspective on this. 

[00:15:38] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Yeah, for sure. You know, I’ve always said one of my superpowers is implementing something into the practice, creating a system around it.

[00:15:45] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Give me a new. Procedure and I will make sure we create and implement a system where it is repeatable. Mm-hmm. Um, and every new team member is able to integrate it seamlessly into the practice. And the same thing happened with, um, [00:16:00] sleep apnea. You know, my journey into sleep started with a personal loss.

[00:16:05] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And it was at that time that I decided we’re, if we can’t prevent any of this ever happening again, we’re gonna do it. Um, we started with treating adult sleep patients. Added pediatric sleep apnea into it. And um, it’s been a fun ride. It’s been a fun ride. So many lives impacted. Um, my funniest story is like, we’ll, even.

[00:16:32] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Tell our uh, UPS guy that he probably has sleep apnea based on what his neck size and you know, how he breeds and all of that. He’s a big 

[00:16:40] Victoria Peterson: boy. 

[00:16:42] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Well, yeah. Very thick neck as an open mouth postures constantly. And not because he is wheel anything heavy and we’re like, have you had a sleep study? Sure enough he did.

[00:16:52] Dr. Meghna Dassani: He turned into a patient of the practice. Um, but it’s just lives were impacting because you. When [00:17:00] you see wives drag their husbands into the practice crying because they witnessed them stopping, breathing, worried they’re gonna lose them. And, you know, follow-up visits are, she’s still crying because she can’t believe he’s finally not stopping breathing at night.

[00:17:19] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And you’re like, okay, maybe, maybe just, maybe we’re doing something right. So it’s definitely life changing. But what is also more important I’ve found, is that treating sleep within the practice is now become my teen’s legacy. Um, it’s not me anymore. You are the doctor. Yes. But sleep is a team driven procedure within the practice and.

[00:17:45] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Everybody either knows somebody or has someone in their life that they love, that is affected by sleep apnea. The assistant whose child still wets the bed at 12 years old, the hygienist dad who had a heart attack and [00:18:00] hates his CPAP, um, and now suddenly it’s personal. And the training and the education and the awareness that you can give them is truly, that’s what’s driven.

[00:18:12] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Sleep within our practice at this point, I don’t think we’re doing any marketing for sleep. All of our patients come from either referrals from our patients that we’ve helped, or more importantly from the MDs surrounding our practice who see the results we get. And 

[00:18:30] Victoria Peterson: it’s, that’s what I was gonna ask you about because you started when it was common to be rejected by the ET.

[00:18:38] Victoria Peterson: Oh God, 

[00:18:39] Dr. Meghna Dassani: yes. 

[00:18:40] Victoria Peterson: So talk to and talk to me about how immersed you are in the medical community now. What, what has helped them to wake up? 

[00:18:49] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, you gotta kiss your frogs before you find your prince.

[00:18:56] Dr. Meghna Dassani: But I tell doctors the same thing. You know, as dentists, we go [00:19:00] through dental school and there is no education what’s, or at least there wasn’t when I went to school. I now see more and more schools adding it, but there’s so much you have to learn in the four years. There’s no way you’re getting a comprehensive education on treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

[00:19:16] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Well, the exact same thing happens with our MDs. There’s only so much time they get to learn about. Dentistry or about sleep apnea. A lot of people aren’t, a lot of the MDs aren’t even screening the way it should be. Like for example, for tongue ties. I have seen my own pediatrician ask my daughters, stick your tongue out.

[00:19:34] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Oh, she doesn’t have a tongue tie. Both my girls had tongue ties. 

[00:19:38] Victoria Peterson: Oh wow. 

[00:19:38] Dr. Meghna Dassani: The screening isn’t there. 

[00:19:42] Victoria Peterson: Yeah, 

[00:19:42] Dr. Meghna Dassani: and you just have to show up. You have to talk to them, you know, refer them patients, Hey. I want my patients screened. I understand this is work you do. How can we help these patients? It’s not about [00:20:00] send me your patients or whatever that may look like, but the awareness and a lot of rejection, it, unfortunately, it’s the truth.

[00:20:09] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um. In today’s day and age, it’s a lot better because there’s so much more awareness. I remember when I started, like what, 13, 14 years ago when I went to my pediatrician to talk about this and true story, we left the practice after she said, you’re a dentist. Why don’t you stick to cleaning teeth? 

[00:20:31] Victoria Peterson: Oh, 

[00:20:32] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I had to give her grace, myself, grace.

[00:20:35] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I’m like, you know, you don’t know what you don’t know, and we’re gonna leave it there. 

[00:20:40] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. Wow. You know, it’s, it’s come so far here in Hawaii. We have, um, some good healthcare systems and some not so great healthcare systems. And for the most part it’s just, um, you know, there’s some great coist trained doctors, I [00:21:00] mean.

[00:21:00] Victoria Peterson: The mix of everything, but the connection is not here yet. And I see a functional physician, a naturopathic, we do the peptides and the IVs and the brain, cognitive therapies, all of that, uh, regenerative stuff. And I don’t know, I’ve been a patient there a couple years now, three years now, and about a year ago she goes, you’re in dentistry.

[00:21:22] Victoria Peterson: I went, yes, I’m, and she said, so. What about my daughters and I think they have sleep apnea and I went to a conference and there was a dental speaker and so I think anybody that is doing great, I like, I hope you stay on the speaking circuit and you go to medical conferences because that’s where they’re hearing about it and she said, so.

[00:21:42] Victoria Peterson: I needed somebody to scream my daughters. There’s nobody on the big island, like nobody. So she flew them to Oahu, uh, where she found a sleep, uh, pediatric sleep dentist. And now she’s flying both her daughters there four times a year. And she’s like, this gets [00:22:00] expensive. Can’t we set this up on the big island?

[00:22:02] Victoria Peterson: And I said, sure, let’s, let’s find a dentist and I’ll get ’em, if they’re interested, I can train them. I can send them to the right people to get this path. In terms of continuing education, like, you know, all the continuums you can take, my perception is, is that sleep apnea is not the most expensive to implement or, or to get educated on.

[00:22:24] Dr. Meghna Dassani: It isn’t. Yeah, no, you’re right. Um. There’s also a lot of, most of all of this can be learned virtually. 

[00:22:31] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:22:32] Dr. Meghna Dassani: You know, I moved to a virtual model January of 2020. I don’t know why or what prompted it. Of course we know March the World Shut Down. Yeah. Um, and we’ve only just gotten back to in office, I think five years later, six years later, I had my first in office, like over the shoulder event.

[00:22:52] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Yeah. In March. Right. And. You can learn all of this, what to do, how to [00:23:00] do it from home. There’s no reason, no excuse. And like you said, it’s not crazy expensive. 

[00:23:07] Victoria Peterson: Well, we’re gonna talk offline. Um, that’s. In the time that I, since you and I have, I’ve connected, one of the things that’s emerging, it started emerging last year, was the Clinical Calibration Institute, which took a lot of the PDA concepts about diagnosing the risk factors and how to talk about that, and all the hygiene consulting that I had done and Michelle Hudson had done, and, um, Kim Koch and Carrie’s biology and carry free and all of that.

[00:23:33] Victoria Peterson: I mean, we just had so many wonderful mentors in our sphere. And part of Bruce’s legacy, I said, you know, I wanna just create a white paper. I was really so naive. I said, I’m gonna, I’m gonna do a white paper and I’ll just put links on there for doctors, like, if you wanna talk about Carrie’s risk, here’s some things you could show your patient.

[00:23:55] Victoria Peterson: Or here’s a course you could take and. I, I spent six months. I [00:24:00] couldn’t put together the white paper. I couldn’t put together the links, and so I went to the people. I said, Ken, why can’t I find any courses that you’ve done online? He goes, I’ve never done any online. So he did a four hour course for us on Carrie’s biology and all the stuff we had seen.

[00:24:17] Victoria Peterson: In person, like sip, you know, gulp don’t sip. And why athletes get more cavities because of all the fructose and, and all of those gyms. So I’d love to talk to you about, you know, bringing more sleep apnea there because our. Our mission at the Clinical Calibration Institute is not to teach you every skill you need about that.

[00:24:39] Victoria Peterson: It’s to send them back to people like you or John Nader or Ken Smith and all the great educators out there about sleep. What we are is a diagnostic thread. Are you looking for it? Do you have an Epworth scale? Does your team know about this? Does your hygienist pick up a probe? Do you read [00:25:00] x-rays? Do you take x-rays?

[00:25:01] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And what conversations are we having around it? 

[00:25:04] Victoria Peterson: Yes. Yes. So what do you, is your team aligned in your diagnostic standard? That’s what I got really passionate about. So passionate that when I asked new doctors, I, I said, I don’t even wanna know what your percentage of perio is. I wanna know. I want you to go back to your last 10 patients and tell me how many perio charts were completed.

[00:25:26] Victoria Peterson: Like that’s where it starts. And so you would be a wonderful gift. All we’ve done is said, what are the components of the comprehensive dental exam? 

[00:25:36] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Right? 

[00:25:37] Victoria Peterson: So back to the point of the physician that said, Hey, little lady, dentist, why don’t you get back there and clean teeth? No, the comprehensive exam is.

[00:25:47] Victoria Peterson: Biological, it is caries, it is risk factors, it is airway, it is function, it is perio and I’m, I told my team that I will. Probably [00:26:00] step back from active active work and be chairman of the board visionary in July of 2029 because that will mark 50 years since I told my parents I was gonna quit high school and become a hygienist.

[00:26:12] Victoria Peterson: Yes. I want part of that legacy to be that we have a source for these diagnostics in one place that people can very cost effectively come and train their team. Um, because without it, we’re not going to save lives. We pick and choose our CE based on what time of year it is and how many credits I need for my licensure and other reasons.

[00:26:36] Victoria Peterson: Um, you rise 

[00:26:38] Dr. Meghna Dassani: previously also changes how we treatment plan and a lot of dentists don’t get that like. If your patients are clenching and grinding a night guard is wonderful, but that’s a bandaid. Are we asking the why we’re scientists at the end of the day? Yeah. Hygienists, dentists, that’s we’re scientists.

[00:26:58] Dr. Meghna Dassani: We gotta figure out the, why [00:27:00] is this happening? Instead of, lemme stick a bandaid over it. So 

[00:27:04] Victoria Peterson: what have you found when you have apnea patients that come to you and they go, well, I’ve got this bike guard that I’ve been wearing. I mean, are they grinding through that? Is it. 

[00:27:13] Dr. Meghna Dassani: They either are grinding to it, but more commonly, and a lot of most doctors or hygienists will agree with this, we’ve all had the patient that needs a night guard paid for, it comes in for their next follow-up and like, are you wearing your night guard?

[00:27:30] Dr. Meghna Dassani: I can’t seem to keep it in. I always find it on the side of the bed under the pillow, whatever it is, why are they taking it out? 

[00:27:37] Victoria Peterson: Right? 

[00:27:39] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Because it is worsening their apnea airflow in some way. So a bandit isn’t always a good fix. 

[00:27:47] Victoria Peterson: I hadn’t even thought about Bat magna. Um, you share a common trait with every dentist I know that looks at risk factors and investigates down the root cause is [00:28:00] that it’s almost never the patient’s fault.

[00:28:03] Victoria Peterson: There’s no shaming, there’s no blaming, there’s just curiosity of, I wonder why that’s happening. I wonder why, why that habit is showing up or lack of That habit is showing up. Yeah. Um, are you seeing this, I’m getting personal now and we’re going over time, but I’m just very curious. Um, I believe that I have sleep apnea, but I can’t get anybody to believe me because I’m petite.

[00:28:30] Victoria Peterson: Story 

[00:28:30] Dr. Meghna Dassani: of my life. 

[00:28:33] Victoria Peterson: So I believe there, there is a, an, there are a lot. And the last dentist that I went to, I, I put it on my medical history. It’s been two years since my cleaning got caught up in life. I’ve got some bleeding gums. Please check me out. I wanna perio for protect tray. I would like to be, um. I wear either breathe right strips or I got a little ripple, um, nasal guard, which helped a lot ’cause I, my cartilage is collapsing as we [00:29:00] get older.

[00:29:01] Victoria Peterson: And it’s cutting off my, my passage and um, and I wanna talk about sleep apnea. We didn’t talk about any of that. We talked about how Invisalign could help me. I was like, Invisalign’s gonna treat my sleep apnea. I’m like, yeah, and you know, you could put any kind of gel you want in your Invisalign tree and that’ll help too.

[00:29:17] Victoria Peterson: And I was like, 

[00:29:18] Dr. Meghna Dassani: oh, yikes. 

[00:29:19] Victoria Peterson: That doesn’t get, that doesn’t get the medicaments, you know, below my gum line and that doesn’t open up my arch or help my airway. So speaking specifically to petite postmenopausal women, because you’ve got this community of her and you are sleep apnea oral physician. Help. Help. I can’t find anybody here who will test me for it.

[00:29:45] Dr. Meghna Dassani: So this is what I call the perfect storm. You know our classic patient profile for obstructive sleep apnea is what I call Fat Uncle Joe, 

[00:29:59] Victoria Peterson: right? [00:30:00] 

[00:30:00] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Adult overweight male. 

[00:30:02] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:30:03] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Let’s not forget the fact that kids can have sleep apnea too. Yeah. As against everybody in between. So the reason I find that slender women are often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed is because you don’t fit the profile.

[00:30:24] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:30:26] Dr. Meghna Dassani: What I find is that, well, yes, you most certainly could have sleep apnea, but typically these women tend to have what is known as obstruct, upper area resistant syndrome, UARS. Your airway is just narrower. 

[00:30:41] Victoria Peterson: Yes. 

[00:30:41] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And when you lay down, things collapse. 

[00:30:44] Victoria Peterson: Yes. 

[00:30:45] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Let’s throw into this mix. The whole fact that we’re pre peri or even menopausal, 

[00:30:52] Victoria Peterson: right.

[00:30:52] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And the hormones. Decide to do whatever they wanna do, and estrogen and [00:31:00] progesterone both play a role in maintaining muscle tone. Right? And well guess what is doing what it wants to do. The hormones. 

[00:31:11] Victoria Peterson: Yeah. 

[00:31:11] Dr. Meghna Dassani: So now I have the perfect storm of a slender female who does not fit the profile, but has all of this added to it.

[00:31:22] Dr. Meghna Dassani: And. Let’s assume this is someone who blood work has never shown, and I know you see a functional doctor so you don’t fall into this, but have never had functional blood work done. Vitamin D levels may not be where we need them to be. Maybe you’re slightly anemic. I don’t know what you’re absorbing, how much you’re eating.

[00:31:44] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Oh, maybe you’re working out and going to the gym because you need to lose those last five pounds or the belly weight that just sits there because of the high cortisol. Because you’re not getting enough oxygen to the brain. Yes. And your brain constantly thinks a bear is chasing it. So [00:32:00] it’s trying to hold on to whatever it can.

[00:32:06] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Yet when this female finds themselves in my chair and I ask them all these questions, check all these boxes, more often than not, I end up having that person in tears because all she’s been recommended is, let’s put you on antidepressants. It’s all in your head. She’s been told she’s crazy, which she isn’t, I promise.

[00:32:29] Dr. Meghna Dassani: But she’s finally feeling heard and seen.

[00:32:35] Dr. Meghna Dassani: That’s the gap we need to fix.

[00:32:46] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Wow. 

[00:32:49] Victoria Peterson: You floor me every time, Magna. You really do. I, I came into this podcast firmly in the belief that 80% of most chronic [00:33:00] illnesses can be diagnosed. In the dental chair. Mm-hmm. And you just showed us why. 

[00:33:06] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Mm-hmm. 

[00:33:07] Victoria Peterson: And I, I think the future of dentistry is bright, particularly for private practice owners who have.

[00:33:16] Victoria Peterson: Autonomy, and I understand that you’re supposed to have autonomy in A DSO, but um, there’s a difference between this level of diagnostics, this level of care versus what you were taught in dental school or maybe, um, in other environments where it is more of identification rather than diagnosis. You need a crown.

[00:33:38] Victoria Peterson: I can do a crown. I need to do 26 crowns this week. Here’s my 26 patients for 26 crowns. It’s mostly because the demand is so high. I get it. I’m not blaming anybody. We’re overwhelmed in the system. We, we have only 40% of the people in the the country even see the dentist, and yet we still can’t fill the demand.

[00:33:58] Victoria Peterson: So I understand there’s [00:34:00] a place for, you know, quantity, but there are deep health issues. That can be identified, sourced and quarterbacked by awake and aware oral physicians. 

[00:34:15] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Yeah. Yeah. There’s honestly, there’s not enough people looking at this, not enough people talking about this. There’s so much more to treating sleep in a patient than just making them an appliance or giving them A-C-P-A-P, whatever is right for that person, or sending them off to a doctor for the inspire, whatever that may look like.

[00:34:37] Dr. Meghna Dassani: There needs to be better collaboration between us and our MD colleagues to look at the whole picture. There’s so much more we could be doing truly. 

[00:34:50] Victoria Peterson: And, you know, to our listeners, it may seem like we had two very different topics about leadership and, you know, the [00:35:00] community of, of her, uh, for women and things like that.

[00:35:03] Victoria Peterson: But for me, Magna, you’re on one mission. Which is to help every person who is blessed to cross your path become a healthier, brighter, happier version of themselves. And it doesn’t matter if you’re the dog walker or the CEO, you shine your light on everybody that you meet. And thank you. And just enjoy you so much.

[00:35:24] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Thank you. 

[00:35:26] Victoria Peterson: How can people learn more about your coursework and your communities? 

[00:35:32] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Um, for my sleep apnea courses, all of the information is on the website. Sleep mastery center.com. Um, for everything else come hit me up on Facebook or Instagram. I’m constantly online. 

[00:35:47] Victoria Peterson: You are constantly online. I love it. I love 

[00:35:50] Dr. Meghna Dassani: it.

[00:35:50] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Instagram is Dr. Magna Dasani. Easy enough. Just find my name. Um, but yep, I am very responsive. Always live there. [00:36:00] Happy to help in whatever way I can. 

[00:36:03] Victoria Peterson: All right. Thank you so much, my friend. 13 years and counting here’s to another 13. 

[00:36:09] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:36:13] Victoria Peterson: Yeah, absolutely. So if you’re on your path to becoming an investment grade practice, some of the tips to take away today from Dr.

[00:36:20] Victoria Peterson: Dasani is number one. Document your systems in a way that is repeatable, even for your first day employee because this keeps you from, uh, this keeps you in the center of the leadership circle and out of the management day to day. That’s where decision fatigue happens. That’s where you. You, you dread it when people are walking down the hall and looking at you and saying, Hey Doc, can I have a minute?

[00:36:47] Victoria Peterson: So to get yourself out of the decision fatigue and the mental emotional exhaustion of leadership, take a page onto Dr. Dani’s book. Um, work on your standard operating procedures. Work on the flow that [00:37:00] makes it smooth for your patients and smooth for your team so that you don’t miss these vital components of.

[00:37:06] Victoria Peterson: True assessment for airway and caries and perio. It’s all so much easier to implement when your team is on board. And that’s my big takeaway from you day today. Magna is my practice. My team is my legacy. They’re my practice. So congratulations, you’ve arrived at investment grade level. It can run, uh, beyond you, and, and that’s a key hallmark to an IGP practice.

[00:37:33] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Thank you. 

[00:37:35] Victoria Peterson: All right. Until next time, my friends, stay well. 

[00:37:38] Dr. Meghna Dassani: Bye. Thank you.