In the modern era, it is critical for practices to build relationships with their patients. Retention, increased case acceptance, and new patient referrals are all results of establishing and maintaining strong patient relationships. Yet, today it is more difficult than ever to get and stay in touch with patients. Sending postcards to and calling patients seems to be the norm for most dental practices, yet it is very time-consuming, expensive and becoming less and less effective.

Many dentists have embraced the digital dental practice. Paper-based systems have been replaced by practice management software, intraoral cameras, and digital radiography systems. One of the biggest benefits of these systems is the ability to share data with our patients and our colleagues. Unfortunately, many dentists fail to realize how easily this system can breakdown. I was recently speaking with Dr. Mike Sagman, a dentist in Newport News, Virginia. Mike was lamenting the fact that a...

Welcome to The Digital Dentist, a new monthly feature of Dental Economics. Of all the components of a dental practice, technology seems to be changing the most rapidly. New practice management software, imaging software, digital radiography, cameras, and a host of other advances have altered the landscape for dental offices. The goal of this column will be to keep dentists current on the latest developments, to assist dentists who are moving towards the “paperless” office, and to help...

In the last column of The Digital Dentist, we took a brief overview of the options available with data redundancy and backup. One of the most common requests I get from dentists is help them develop a protocol for backing up their data, so I would like to discuss this in greater detail. There are a few important concepts that need to be addressed first...

In the past two columns of the Digital Dentist, we looked at methods of preserving data within our networks, specifically looking at data redundancy with mirrored-hard drives, and a backup protocol. As recent events with the Blaster and So.Big virus have shown, our private office networks are increasingly at risk of attack from other networks and individuals, and protecting our computers from these attacks is crucial for every office. To ensure our networks are safe, it typically involves...

Most dentists who went through dental school in the 1980s and 1990s were reminded about the “golden age” of dentistry, which occurred back in the 1960s and 1970s. While there is no doubt that this era was a time of prosperity for dental practices, the modern dental practice has evolved significantly from that time. While many dentists concentrated on restorative dentistry and cosmetics were starting to become a reality, dentists today have developed many other skills that are necessary...

In many advances over the past few years, it has been noted that the technology has been the driving force in this process. This is as true in other fields as it has been in dentistry. In the early 1990’s, intraoral cameras were all the rage. In the lat 90’s, it was digital cameras. And, at present, no other topic seems to generate greater interest that digital radiography. While entire books can be written on the subject, the goal for this article is to briefly review the three different...