DMD Staff

Smartphone apps to make your next vacation easier, the rise of millennials in dentistry, tips on improving your business acumen and last-minute trip ideas for Memorial Day Weekend: These three stories are among the five most popular on our website this week. Catch up on what you might have missed while you were busy in the operatory.

4 New Travel Apps to Make your Next Trip Easier

 Apps can make traveling easier. Four new apps remove the stress of buying airport food in time for your connecting flight, booking a day rate at a hotel, selecting lodging with your travel companions, and walking to places you want to see in a city. Download these apps now to streamline your next travel experience.

Millennial Dentists are Blazing New Pathways

 Millennial dentists are growing up quickly and changing the face of the industry. With a focus on technology and patient experiences, they’ve issued a challenge to older more established dentists: Adapt, or get left behind.

Build Your Dental Business from the Ground, Up

 Regardless of the literal structure of your dental practice, you need to picture it as a building with two towers. One tower represents your clinical abilities — the skills you learned all throughout dental school. The other tower represents your business acumen. Which of these towers have you devoted more of your attention to? Odds are, it’s the former. To be successful in the dental business, you need to devote time toward expanding your business skills. You can start with this suggested reading list

Memorial Day: 5 Last-Minute Getaway Ideas

 Haven’t made Memorial Day plans yet but don’t want to pay high rates on hotel rooms, rental cars and airfare? Check out Hotwire.com’s deals on popular destinations such as Florida, Nevada, California and Texas.

What Young Dentists Need to Know about Private Practice

 Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S., is the principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants, as well as the dental consulting firm, the Pick Group. Pick has made his career in dentistry by becoming a dental entrepreneur. As a result, he’s learned a few lessons along the way. In this clip, Pick explains what young dentists who are entertaining the possibility of private practice need to know.

Articles

Smartphone apps to make your next vacation easier, the rise of millennials in dentistry, tips on improving your business acumen and last-minute trip ideas for Memorial Day Weekend: These three stories are among the five most popular on our website this week. Catch up on what you might have missed while you were busy in the operatory.


The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending May 20, 2017

Mark Kleive, D.D.S., is a dentist in private practice, based in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He is also a proponent of incorporating digital photography in the dental practice as a means of increasing case acceptance. In these two clips, Kleive discusses how digital photography can lead to increased case acceptance in your practice, as well as the right way to begin using cameras with your team.

Interview Transcript (Modified for Readability)

“What makes cameras so effective at increasing case acceptance is that patients oftentimes for the first time have a new and heightened level of awareness of, this is what my current conditions actually look like. And they’re way more likely once they have awareness to say, OK, so what do we do about this.”

	How to Make Dental Photography Work in Your Practice

“The best way for dentists to incorporate a digital camera into their office system is to pick out the appropriate camera for their team and create a system in their office like a new-patient system where they’re going to take these same six photographs on new patients that come into the office. As soon as they develop some skill at taking those six pictures and incorporating them then they can bring them to other patients and other procedures in the office. But my encouragement is for people to consider taking six photographs on new patients, or half of the new patients for something to begin with so that they can begin to incorporate the technology into their practice.”

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Videos

Why and How You Should Be Taking Digital Photos in Your Dental Practice

Chris Bentson is a partner at Bentson Copple & Associates — a consulting firm that specializes in orthodontics. Bentson explains his views on the business outlook for orthodontics in this clip. He says that the long-term outlook is bullish, noting that only 2.9 million of the estimated 70 to 100 million orthodontic patients are treated each year. Furthermore, Bentson says digital workflows are enabling orthodontists to work more efficiently.

“The outlook for orthodontics, long term, I think is very bullish. We only treat 2.9 million orthodontic cases in North America a year. Consolidation is actually going to get the message out to consumers and expand that market. There’s an estimated 70 to 100 million people in America that could benefit from Orthodontic treatment, and we’re only treating 2.9 million. With the pathways to digital workflows, we’ll be able to do that much more efficiently. I think it’s good for the specialty. I think it’s good for orthodontics long-term. The way we practice may be different. We may have to do higher volume, different price points. We may have to do it as employee doctors versus owners as a majority of us, but long term, it’s very bullish. We’re going to treat more people orthodonitically than ever before, going forward.”

“The biggest force changing the shape of orthodontics, in my opinion, would be the consolidation that’s happening not only across the specialty but also dentistry in the main, which really means we’re having groups come in that can manage, hire, establish employee relationships with doctors, market to the community, provide back-end office services and let the doctors do what they know how to do — and that’s diagnose and treat cases.  

This started in dentistry at an accelerated pace. It’s ahead of the specialty right now. There’s a lot of noise around consolidation, and I think as we go forward over the next five to ten years we’ll see up to half or more of orthodontists in the country being employee doctors.  

I’m agnostic as to whether consolidation is good or bad. It just is. And there’s no stopping it. There’s been some movements in dentistry or the specialty of orthodontics in practice modality ways that have come and gone. I don’t believe this is going to go away. I think it’s a business reality that we need to embrace. It expands opportunity for the consumer, I think. It therefore will grow the orthodontic market. And it gives millennial doctors who really want this employment relationship a great opportunity, as well as older doctors who want to stop fighting for the phone to ring to sell to a DSO, but continue to work for them.  

It’s not good or bad. It just is. And it expands the opportunities for consumers and doctors.”  

Chris Bentson is a partner at Bentson Copple & Associates a consulting firm that specializes in orthodontics. Bentson explains his views on the business outlook for orthodontics in this clip. He says that the long-term outlook is bullish, noting that only 2.9 million of the estimated 70 to 100 million orthodontic patients are treated each year. Furthermore, Bentson says digital workflows are enabling orthodontists to work more efficiently.


Assessing the Financial Outlook for Orthodontics

Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security. 

Q&A: How to Stop Data Theft, Embezzlement in Your Practice

Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security. His companies, Dental Risk Concepts and Prosperident, have ferreted out numerous dental practice fraudsters. Here’s what Little had to say on the subjects of data security and practice embezzlement at the Hinman Dental Meeting.

What’s the most common way patient data gets stolen

“Password security. As simple as that is, and as long as we’ve been dealing with passwords, it is amazing how lax we still are in our password security. I would say, first and foremost, make sure you have secure passwords. But what’s amazing is I go into so many dental offices and they’re either not using passwords, or everyone in the office is using the same username and password because it’s more convenient that way. The problem is anybody can then get access to that computer — potentially even a patient.”

What makes dental charts so appealing to identity thieves

“On the black market right now, a medical chart or a dental chart is selling anywhere from three to 10 times more than a Social Security number. The reason is, in that medical chart is not only a Social Security number, but addresses, birthdays, and everything else that an identity thief needs. But there’s also medical and dental insurance information, which opens up an entire world of insurance fraud. That’s one of our big issues there as well.”

What are some red flags of embezzlement going on in a dental practice

“The embezzler will intentionally sow dissension so that the embezzler is the only one not causing a problem in the office. That makes the doctor trust the embezzler even more. But really, for most doctors, the number one warning sign is that they’re either getting a lot of [various money-related] complaints or patients complaining about their incorrect statements and billing issues. Typically, most doctors really notice it when they start seeing their cash flow go down.”

If you suspect embezzlement is happening, what’s the next step

“The key to a successful investigation is to make sure nobody walks into the office to conduct the investigation. It’s essential that this be done in stealth because if the embezzler ever suspects that an investigation is going on, they’ll almost always try to destroy evidence, and we don’t want that. We want an investigation to be conducted fully behind the scenes, and that way the doctor will knows for sure if it’s occurring.”

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Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security. His companies, Dental Risk Concepts and Prosperident, have ferreted out numerous dental practice fraudsters. Here's what Little had to say on the subjects of data security and practice embezzlement at the Hinman Dental Meeting.

The Dentist’s Money Digest® editorial team made trips recently to the 

American Association of Orthodontists Annual Session

 in San Diego, California. In addition to interviewing key opinion leaders in the general dental and orthodontic fields, editors also covered continuing education sessions. Here are five quick tips gleaned from the expert speakers.

 At the 2017 Hinman Dental Meeting, Martin Jablow, D.M.D., discussed apps for dental offices. Keep your patients entertained with a practice Netflix or Amazon subscription. Hiring new staff or assistants? Use Dental Dictionary to bring them up to speed on terminology. Maybe you’re fresh out of dental school and can’t remember the steps to a procedure. Dentistry ProConsult will give you a tutorial. 

Cloud computing apps are handy, but they may be sapping your practice’s internet connection, said Steve McEvoy at the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Session. If you’re using Dropbox to share patient files among practice computers, the constant uploading and downloading, multiplied across however many computers you use in your practice, could be causing intermittent internet slowdowns. That’s what your server is for. Use it.

What do you do when your practice receives a negative review? If your usual answer is “grouse about it,” then you need to take a different approach. Social media marketer Rita Zamora told Hinman attendees that you should have a negative review crisis plan in place. Have a standard response on hand that you can use to reply — succinctly — to negative reviews.

Armor Dental rolled out a new product, called Mouth-Mate, at the AAO Annual Session, to help braces-wearers brush. Its flexible head can help patients retract lips and cheeks to reach hard-to-brush places. But Mouth-Mate also has applications outside of orthodontics. The device’s flexible rubber heads, which come in different shapes, can cover oral wounds so patients can brush comfortably after surgery.

 Want to increase case acceptance? Don’t ask your patients, said dental-practice specialist Lois Banta at the Hinman Dental Meeting — inform them. You’re the doctor and you have the clinical expertise. It’s up to you to recommend the best course of treatment. Let the patient decide what they do and don’t want to do. The patient should be made to feel in control of their destiny, said Banta, the CEO of Banta Consulting Group.

The Dentist's Money Digest® editorial team made trips recently to the Hinman Dental Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia and the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Session in San Diego, California. In addition to interviewing key opinion leaders in the general dental and orthodontic fields, editors also covered continuing education sessions. Here are five quick tips gleaned from the expert speakers.

Meeting Minutes: 5 Takeaways from Recent Conferences

Robert Pick, DDS, explains what young dentists who are entertaining the possibility of private practice need to know.

“In my first year of practice, the biggest lesson was dental school does not prepare you for the business world of dentistry. And I’m one who went straight into my own practice with a partner. I never was an associate. We did it cold. I made every mistake in the book financially, business wise with my team. You are unprepared. My advice to young clinicians is, be an associate for a couple of years. Learn the ropes. If you’re going to go out and become a dental entrepreneur, hire the right consultants and find the right mentors to get you where you need to go.”

“My lecture today was [titled] Powerful Secrets. Somewhere in the middle, a slide comes up, ‘Here’s what most dentists read’ It’s Dentistry Today, Dental Economics, The Journal of the American Dental Association, The International Journal of Periodontics and Restorative Dentistry. And that’s great. You have to keep up with that.

But we’re running a business today. And there’s business journals and motivational journals that also have to be read. I believe Harvard Business Review is absolutely fantastic. Right below that, Success. Success Magazine is absolutely amazing, you will never be disappointed. Every one of my team members gets it. I bought it for them as an annual subscription.

Below Success, Money. And it goes from there. There’s Entrepreneur, Fast Company. These business journals, if you read them, you’re going to gain a lot just by reading it. And your whole practice elevates.”  

Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S., is the principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants, as well as the dental consulting firm, the Pick Group. Pick has made his career in dentistry by becoming a dental entrepreneur. As a result, he's learned a few lessons along the way. In this clip, Pick explains what young dentists who are entertaining the possibility of private practice need to know.

Mitchell Gardiner, D.M.D., has had a great deal of experience as an expert witness in dental malpractice cases. Among the many things this experience has taught him is that successful defense of dental malpractice suits involves the entire dental team — not just the doctor. In this clip, Gardiner, who is also a clinical instructor in restorative dentistry at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, explains how your team can help you.

“My experience really goes to the court. I’m a general dentist and I’ve been practicing for 40 years. But I’ve had about 25 years as an expert witness in the court of law. I oftentimes see that when dentists get sued, there are ancillary people on their team that get called in to testify: hygienists, assistants, sometimes front-office staff people. When I read all of the materials in a case to give an opinion about it. The actions of a lot of the people in the office can help and defend a dentist. I decided, with the caseload I have had from experience, that I’d like to teach that so that entire staffs — dentists and their staffs – get a feel for what’s important on a day-to-day basis in a dental practice.”

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Mitchell Gardiner, D.M.D., has had a great deal of experience as an expert witness in dental malpractice cases. Among the many things this experience has taught him is that successful defense of dental malpractice suits involves the entire dental team, not just the doctor. In this clip, Gardiner, who is also a clinical instructor in restorative dentistry at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, explains how your team can help you.

A Dentist's Best Legal Defense is Their Dental Team

Gary Zelesky explains the importance of making time to focus on individual members of your team.

Ask Yourself, Is My Dental Practice Productive or Busy

“I don’t have the time.” It’s a common refrain among all professionals when asked why they don’t make changes within their organizations. If you find yourself saying this, you need to ask yourself, am I productive, or just busy? Gary Zelesky is a professional speaker on the subject of passion, specifically, how to use it to drive business success. In this clip, Zelesky explains the importance of making time to focus on individual members of your team.

“First of all, every dental practice, 99 percent of them have a huddle, where they take that moment and everybody’s there. You want to take 15 minutes out of that huddle and make it personal for one of the team members. 

Trust me, dentists have so much time. The reason they say they don’t have much time is because many people — I look and I go to practices, I see this — people are busy, but they are not productive.

Productivity is intentional, busy means I am taking care of all the fires. Maybe they need to get an organizational coach in there to say, ‘We need to get more strategic with the time that you have.’

We have the time. We just need to take the time.”

I don't have the time. It's a common refrain among all professionals when asked why they don't make changes within their organizations. If you find yourself saying this, you need to ask yourself, am I productive, or just busy? Gary Zelesky is a professional speaker on the subject of passion, specifically, how to use it to drive business success. In this clip, Zelesky explains the importance of making time to focus on individual members of your team.

Yes, dentists need to read major clinical publications in order to keep their practice up to par. But what about business journals? Entrepreneurial dentists need to feed their minds by reading about business, says Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S. and principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants. In this clip, Pick describes what dentists should be reading in order to keep their practices growing.

RELATED: More Advice from Robert Pick, D.D.S.

Why You Should Take Criticism from Your Dental Team

Why Your Dental Practice Needs a Unique Selling Proposition

Delegate Responsibility of Your Dental Practice’s Social Media

Below Success, Money. And it goes from there. There’s Entrepreneur, Fast Company. These business journals, if you read them, you’re going to gain a lot just by reading it. And your whole practice elevates.”

Yes, dentists need to read major clinical publications in order to keep their practice up to par. But what about business journals? Entrepreneurial dentists need to feed their minds by reading about business, says Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S. and principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants. In this clip, Pick describes what dentists should be reading in order to keep their practices growing.


A Reading List for Entrepreneurial Dentists

The loss of patient data is a serious matter and can leave a dentist facing thousands of dollars in HIPPA fines. The good news is, many of the oversights that lead to violations are easily avoidable. In this clip, Pat Little, D.D.S., F.A.G.D., C.F.E., CEO, and Founder of Dental Risk Concepts and Prosperident, describes the common oversights he sees dentists making that often lead to the loss of patient data.

Video Transcript (Modified for Readability)

“More common things that I see in a dental office where breaches can be even more common is taking laptops of patient information home with them, backing up to a hard drive. And I’m a big believer in backing up to the cloud, but I still like external hard drives. 

Mobile phones, a lot of times they have texts to patients or information on mobile phones.

The problem is that if they’re not encrypted and secured properly, if they go home and their car is broken into, or they’re lost, or they’re dropped, or they’re left at one of the team member’s homes all of a sudden someone can get to that device and get all kinds of patient data. And we don’t want that at all. 

RELATED: More Advice from Pat Little, D.D.S.

The First Thing Dentists Should Do to Stop Identity Theft

Why Dental Charts are Especially Appealing to Identity Thieves

How Patient Data Gets Stolen in Dental Practices

It’s also amazing when I go into offices, just how many times I see open charts. But even passwords that are stuck on sticky notes that are sitting right up on the monitor. Not secure at all. 

I’ve seen reception areas where the office manager or someone working up front had to step out for just a second to go to the back and sitting right within reach are patient charts. Or, sometimes, their personal cell phones. And we have seen video surveillance of people coming in to an unattended front desk, literally reaching over and picking up either charts or some sort of electronic device and then walking out.

Those are breaches and huge HIPPA fines just waiting to happen.”