780: Why You Shouldn't Ignore Sleep in Your Dental Practice – Dr. Mark Murphy
In episode 780 of the Best Practices Show podcast, host Kirk Behrendt sat down with Dr. Mark Murphy, who is the past Executive Director of the International Academy of Sleep (IAOS) and currently is Lead Faculty for Clinical Education at ProSomnus Sleep Technologies and serves on the Guest Faculty at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry and as a regular presenter on business development, practice management and leadership at The Pankey Institute.
If you have ever spent time at The Pankey Institute or followed practice management consulting, you know Dr. Murphy brings a rare combination of clinical expertise, deep business acumen, and a quick-witted, human approach to dentistry. In this wide-ranging conversation, Kirk and "Murph" explored the dramatic technological evolution of sleep airway management and laid out the exact blueprints dentists can use to transform sleep medicine into a highly lucrative revenue center.
For Smile Source members looking to expand their clinical impact and diversify their revenue, the message was unmistakable: Do not ignore the sleep airway.
Dental sleep medicine isn't what it used to be. Dr. Murphy recalled the early days of fabricating archaic, bulky oral appliances using standard laboratory materials. While those early devices successfully held the lower jaw forward to open the patient’s airway, they were often cumbersome for patients and viewed with skepticism by the medical community.
Everything changed around 2014 with the advent of precision digital manufacturing. Dr. Murphy compares this shift to the transition from bulky, old-school cell phones to the first smartphone.
Today’s modern oral appliances are:
Because of this shift into a precision medical model, physicians and sleep specialists are increasingly recognizing oral appliance therapy as a trusted, frontline methodology for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), creating a significant bridge for doctor-to-doctor referrals.
How does dental sleep medicine actually fit into your practice business model? Dr. Murphy outlines two distinct pathways based on your vision and commitment.
If you want to treat the occasional patient and prefer not to deal with the complexities of medical insurance, you can follow a straightforward screening model.
If you want to treat sleep apnea as a distinct business entity, the economic upside is staggering. Delivering 20 devices a month can generate $720,000 a year in incremental revenue. Because sleep medicine typically operates at an overhead of less than 50%, you retain more than half of that production.
To successfully scale to this level, you must cross the chasm from standard dental workflows into the medical ecosystem:
|
Operational Focus |
The Dental Approach |
The Scalable Sleep Medical Model |
|---|---|---|
|
Software & Records |
Dental PMS |
EMR / EHR (Electronic Health Records) |
|
Payer Mix |
Dental Insurance / Cash |
In-Network Medical Insurance & Medicare |
|
Referral Source |
Internal Patient Screening |
Local Sleep Physicians, Cardiologists, & PCPs |
|
Billing Competency |
In-House Dental Billing |
Specialized Medical Billing Partners (e.g., RESTful) |
Pro Tip from Dr. Murphy: Don't try to build a medical billing department from scratch on day one. When scaling your sleep business, utilize a dedicated medical billing partner. Once your sleep revenue surpasses $500,000 to $600,000 annually, it may then make financial sense to bring that competency in-house.
According to industry data, as of 2024, nearly 100,000 dentists have taken a basic continuing education course in sleep, yet the vast majority are not actively practicing it. They get stuck between knowing how to manufacture an appliance and knowing how to run a sleep business.
To help clinicians gain momentum, Restfull powered by IAOS (formerly the International Academy of Sleep), offers CE programs designed to provide an immediate return on investment. Dr. Murphy recommends these programs.
Smile Source members can also use the guidance and services of Smile Source vendor partners:
Invoking a lesson from Lewis Carroll, Dr. Murphy reminds us of the conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat at the fork in the road. When Alice doesn't know where she wants to go, the cat wisely responds that it doesn't matter which road she takes.
If you want to be successful in dental sleep medicine, you must define your vision, choose your path, and commit to the journey. If you are ready to move beyond the occasional appliance and build a highly profitable, predictable medical model, you don't have to go it alone.