Renee Knight is a freelance writer and editor who's been covering the dental industry for 15 years. 

Renee Knight

 There are so many dental products on the market these days, it can be difficult to know what is best for your patients and fits best into your practice. It can all be a bit overwhelming at times, but your patients are depending on you to provide the best possible care, and that means you have to take the time to find products that help make that happen.

There are a lot of great products out there, so how can you make sure a new, or even an older, product you’re interested in is the best option? Start by taking the time to do some research, said Dr. Tanya Brown, Consultant and Speaker for 

.
	
	Really get to know a product before you make a switch or decide to implement the latest and greatest into your practice. Learn about a product’s successes and its failures. Talk to colleagues in your area already using the product about their experiences and talk to your sales reps about what they’re seeing and hearing. Read articles, look at the 

 and attend hands-on CE classes. Ask for samples and try the product out for yourself. Make the effort and both you and your patients will enjoy the benefits.
	
	Your 

 are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.
	 

Articles

Offer the best products possible. There are so many dental products on the market these days, it can be difficult to know what is best for your patients and fits best into your practice. It can all be a bit overwhelming at times, but your patients are depending on you to provide the best possible care, and that means you have to take the time to find products that help make that happen.

Friday’s Patient Tip of the Day – Week 3

 It is your job to educate your patients. You’re the one patients depend on to tell them about any dental problems they might have and what options they have to fix those problems.

If you want your patients to accept treatment you’re going to have to earn their trust, and that certainly won’t happen if you try to sell them products or treatments they don’t want or even really need.


	You move from educating to selling when you charge staff members with selling a certain product or service to patients and offer rewards for each sale they make, said Dr. Ann Boyle, Provost and Vice Chancellor Professor, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine. The discussion in your office should be about what type of care you can provide your patients, not how many implants you can sell in a week or how many patients you can get to buy this whitening product.
	
	The difference is in how you talk to patients. You need to tell your patients their choices, but when you start sounding like a car salesman trying to push a used car off the lot, your patients will look at you differently and start to tune you out. Not only will they refuse the product you’re selling, they won’t get the treatment they need-unless of course it’s from a dentist down the road who focuses on educating rather than selling.
	
	Your patients are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.
	
	 

Don’t sell to your patients. It is your job to educate your patients. You’re the one patients depend on to tell them about any dental problems they might have and what options they have to fix those problems.

Tuesday’s Patient Tip 

We tell you what they might be saying behind your back.

Your team keeps the practice running. It is your support and without each member, you’d pretty much be lost. You appreciate all that they do, and you’re confident they know that.

Problem is, they may not know that. They may 

feel under appreciated and unclear of expectations

. Beyond that, even though it’s unintentional, you’re probably doing something that makes it more difficult for them to do their jobs and to do them well. You may be comfortable with the day-to-day routine you’ve developed over the years, but you have to stop and think about how your actions, or inactions, may affect the team-and ultimately your patients.

Not sure if you’ve fallen into this trap? Here’s a breakdown of some of the ways you might be slowing your team members down, and what you can do to get out of their way.

 If you decide the morning huddle is just for team members and not the doctor, you’re telling your team the morning huddle really isn’t that important, said Lois Banta of 

Members of the team will rise to the level of the doctor’s expectations, and if you don’t even care enough to show up to the huddle or roll in 10 minutes late most days, why should they take it seriously? It also shows a lack of leadership, something your team members really need. 

“It’s like the head coach not being at the game until the game starts,” said Penny Reed Limoli, owner of the 

You have to be there and ready to go when the team is, Limoli said. If you constantly show up late for the huddle or take extra long lunches, your team members will begin to do the same, and that of course throws the entire schedule off track.

 You know your team members are doing a good job, but do you ever take the time to tell them? Not holding annual performance reviews can become a huge source of frustration for your staff, Limoli said.

Staff members need to know what they’re doing right and where they can improve, and performance reviews or growth conferences are key to making that happen.

“These frustrations can affect how team members perform because there’s confusion about the direction they need to go in their job,” Banta said. “If the doctor is not communicating expectations, the team is left to their own devices to run the practice like they think it should be run. It’s like the doctor telling his team to read his mind.”

And remember, don’t save all your compliments for these reviews. Positive re-enforcement is key to keeping your staff happy. When you see a staff member doing something right or going above and beyond to help a patient or a team member, be sure to let that team member know you’ve noticed.

“Team members need to know where they stand with the doctor,” Banta said. “They need more acknowledgement than just an annual raise. The No. 1 reason staff members quit a practice is they feel unappreciated. Any appreciation will go a long way.”

 If one of your team members is having a problem and wants to talk it over, he or she should feel like you’re approachable and available, Banta said. Keep the communication lines open, and don’t depend on body language to get your messages across.

“Dentists need to have more interactive and proactive conversations with team members to communicate what they need,” Banta said. “The head in the sand approach is never going to work. Many times a team member finds the doctor intimidating by how they come across with body language. If body language is angry or mad, it will affect the team’s demeanor. Emotions can run high in a practice with the unsaid and not just what is being said.”

Dealing with sexual harassment in the operatory

 It’s Monday and you’ve decided you should attend that tradeshow later this week or take a much-needed long weekend trip to the lake. While making these types of last minute changes to your schedule doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, it can really cause trouble for your staff members, Limoli said.

If you’re not going to be around to treat patients, that means your schedule coordinator will have to call all those patients who had appointments on the days you’ll be out and re-schedule them.

As you can imagine, changing appointment times won’t make your busy patients happy, and your team members are the ones who will catch the flack for it. Not to mention the fact that it takes time to make all those changes and fit these patients into an already tight schedule. If you want to keep your patients and your team happy, plan out these trips far in advance, Limoli suggests.

Not clearly communicating the treatment plan.

 No matter what kind of insurance a patient has or what you think that patient can afford, you have to present the best possible treatment option, Banta said. You can’t diagnose to the insurance company’s needs.

Don’t present just what you think the patient wants, or overwhelm him with so many options the treatment he really needs gets lost in the shuffle. This not only hurts the patients, but also causes confusion for your staff when it’s time to schedule appointments or set up payment plans.

Keeping incompetent team members on staff.

 It’s an uncomfortable situation. You hired someone to be on your team and felt confident he or she would be a great addition to your staff. But for one reason or another, it just isn’t working out.

All too often, doctors ignore this situation, but both Limoli and Banta agree that isn’t an option. If you have staff members who aren’t doing the job they were hired to do, that means your other team members are picking up the slack. This affects everyone on the team, and only leads to frustration and resentment.

If there’s someone on the team who’s holding everyone else back, you have to do something about it, whether that’s having a serious conversation about what that team member needs to do to improve or parting ways with that employee.

Having to let an employee go is never fun, but there are ways to make this less common in your practice. Make sure you have an office policy guide that you enforce, and that new hires are clear on your expectations, Banta said. Job descriptions should be clear from the beginning if you want new team members to succeed and feel like a valued member of the team.

“If everyone gets along, it results in better treatment acceptance,” Banta said. “Patients don’t feel this underlying current of dissatisfaction. They feel like everyone is working toward the same goal.”

. It’s great to update your practice with new products, new software and new technologies, but before you make any purchases, you should talk with your team members about what it means for them and the practice. Get them excited about what’s ahead and what it can do for patient care.

But you can’t stop there. You have to train your team members on any new products or software that you expect them to use, Banta said.  If you want your team to excel, you have to provide them with the basics; you can’t expect them to just know how to use that really cool practice management system you just had set up. Getting them training will make them feel comfortable faster, and will limit the amount of mistakes they make while they’re adjusting to a new system or product.

  Now that you know what you’re doing wrong, what can you do to help? First, try getting some feedback from your team, Limoli suggests. Encourage them to give you honest feedback, and use what they tell you to set goals for change.

It’s also helpful to think about the kind of boss you’d like to be and to set standards, Limoli said. Be accountable for any goals you set and stay positive.

If leadership is something you struggle with, Banta suggests taking classes or hiring a coach. Maybe set up a team building exercise or leadership classes for the entire team. Learn the best ways to communicate with your team members, and set up weekly meetings to address any issues that have come up in the practice or to celebrate the victories from the past week.

A happy team is key to a successful practice. Great leadership, good communication and proper training for your team will ensure a very enjoyable and productive practice. All it takes is a little effort on your part to make your team members, as well as your patients, notice a positive difference.

“Creating an awareness is half the solution. Once you are aware, that’s the stepping-stone to do something about it. If you walk along in the practice unaware that’s a recipe for disaster. If you ignore the problem that’s a recipe for disaster,” Banta said. “There’s so much unsaid that creates the underlying current of’ I’m not happy I’ m going to leave’ rather than address it. Leadership is a learned skill. It’s actually the stepping-stone to make everything else in your practice run successfully. Good communication, leadership and training on going and everything else is gravy.”

Do you know what your staff really thinks about you?

 is a crown and bridge lab that specializes in implants and cosmetics. Kristie Rocco opened the lab at the Wohlford-Ting house in Escondido, Calif., with her husband in 1981. The family-owned and operated lab has 18 employees and uses the most modern technologies and techniques to provide doctors and patients with high-quality restorations and customer service.

This Web-based dental lab management system offers unlimited access, convenience, and communication tools. There’s no need to install software or upgrades, and labs can access Evident from any computer that is connected to the Internet. The software features automatic backup with no disruption, and you can easily email documents. Other benefits include: there’s nothing to install; it can be used on Macs or PCs; the software integrates with other technologies such as phone, email, and email-to-fax; you can use the system from anywhere, and updates are automatic.

Beyond that, Evident has documentation and protocols to assist any size laboratory with DAMAS, FDA, and ISO compliance. Evident can save dental labs hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars a month with the Evident Dentist Gateway and credit card processing. All streamlined and intuitive to the user, these tools are designed to help any dental laboratory save money.

After a visit from a lab consultant, Kristie Rocco realized it was time to upgrade her 

At the time, Rocco’s lab management software was pretty basic, so basic it wasn’t doing much of anything to help manage the lab. The software lacked many beneficial functions that could really boost the lab’s efficiencies and productivity. The choice was clear. Rocco took the consultant’s advice and began the search for a new lab management software.

She soon narrowed her choices down to two companies with similar offerings. Evident’s customer service and level of knowledge won her over, and she began using the company’s cloud-based lab management software last December.

“We decided to go with Evident and we’re very happy we did,” Rocco said. “Right away they walked us through the basics and we were able to import a lot of our old database into their database even though they were totally different.”

As with any transition like this, there were a few kinks along the way, Rocco said, but the team at Evident was helpful and happy to help her troubleshoot. The team even helped her correct some billing errors that came up in the first month. Rather than her going through her client list name by name to find the source of the glitch, a process that could have taken days or even weeks of her time, Evident helped her figure out the problem and correct it. They helped her find a solution and find it quickly, saving her and her lab a lot of time and money.

The management system is customizable, something Rocco sees as another benefit no matter what size lab you have. But before you can truly get started, you have to take the time to look at your lab and really think about what you want your lab management software to accomplish. You have to think about billing, how you want your 

 to perceive you, how you want to do your reporting. You have to decide what software features will help make your lab more efficient and more productive.

“You have a lot of choices,” she said. “You can make it as simple or complex as you want.”

One of the software’s best features is its ability to create production reports, she said. The employees now have a schedule that shows them who is accountable for what every day. Rocco can look up a case and find out exactly who’s working on it and where it is in the process. That means if a doctor calls for an update on a case’s status or to request a quicker turnaround time, she can quickly and easily get that information and determine if that’s possible. Before she’d have to search through the lab to find the case before she could update the doctor. 

“The reports can give other information into how active accounts are if we’re increasing or not increasing use in certain lines of materials or products we’re using,” she said. “For me, the detailed information I’m getting on my labor cost going into the product, what I’m charging for it and my PNL information is probably what I’m most happy about at the moment.”

Another benefit? Rocco, and any of her employees, can access the system from home. All they need is access to the Internet via a computer, iPad or smartphone and they can get into the system. She doesn’t have to worry about a big server or having to call the IT department when something goes down. It’s all there on the cloud whenever she needs to access it.

“You don’t need to get a computer geek to get you online. This is pretty simple to set up,” Rocco said. “Your smaller lab could set this up in a week and a big complex lab, if two or three people were put in charge and put their heads together, they could also get set up in a week.”

Evident constantly updates the software and introduces new modules, and they don’t charge you extra for each one, Rocco said, another great benefit. The system is fairly inexpensive, and with all the features it offers labs will quickly see a nice return on their investment.

Beyond that, this is a system you can tweak to meet your needs. Rocco wanted to see how much time each employee was putting into each case so she worked with Evident to set that up in her system, and now that’s something she’s able to do. Once you understand how to use the system and work with their customer service to set your ideas in place, there’s really so much you can do with this software, she said. They’re always willing to help and give you different options until you find the one that works best for your lab.

And she’s not done yet. Once she gets Evident’s credit card processing in place she’s going to add 

 to her system. This feature enables doctors to log in for the most up to date information on their cases and to pay online. This just gives her another easy, effective way to communicate, something that is so key to this industry.

So far, Rocco is pleased with her new lab management system and encourages other labs to give it a try, regardless of size.

“It’s something you can grow with,” she said. “There’s always new things that you can do with it.”

Real Time ROI: Evident’s lab management software

 If you create a positive environment in your practice, your patients will notice. They pick up on whatever vibe you and your team members give out, and no one wants to feel tension or negativity during their visit to the dentist. Keep a positive attitude and your staff members will follow suit.


	How can you keep it positive in your practice? Try some positive reinforcement with your team members, said Lois Banta of Banta Consulting. When you see them doing something great, like helping another team member, let them know you noticed. Maybe take it a step further and write a positive message or a thank you on a Post-it note to the team member you saw go above and beyond. This positive reinforcement encourages more positive behavior and a happy, tension-free environment.
	
	The No. 1 reason staff members leave a practice is because they feel under appreciated, and if you have a lot of turnover on your staff not only will your patients notice, it may affect the quality of care they receive. A “nice job” or “thank you” goes a long way to keeping your staff members happy and wanting to excel at their current job, and that can only benefit your patients and your practice.
	
	Your patients are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.
	 

Praise your team. If you create a positive environment in your practice, your patients will notice. They pick up on whatever vibe you and your team members give out, and no one wants to feel tension or negativity during their visit to the dentist. Keep a positive attitude and your staff members will follow suit.

Monday's Patient Tip of the Day - Week 5

If you or any of your staff members have a negative attitude or if there’s tension on the team, it’s safe to say your patients have noticed.

No one wants to be around negativity, and if your patients are sensing a bad vibe chances are they’re thinking about finding a new dental home.

August Book Review - How to create a caring culture to transform your patients into advocates for your practice

You have to address negativity immediately, said Lois Banta of Banta Consulting. Don’t give problems a chance to fester into something bigger. Notice your team members gossiping about each other? Remind anyone involved gossiping isn’t OK in your practice. 
	
	Of course, staying positive means you can’t just focus on the negative. If you see an employee go above and beyond to help a patient or a team member, or you have an employee exceeding performance goals, reward that employee. Let your team members know if they do something positive for the practice, it’s not going unnoticed. Show them they’re appreciated and you’ll have happy team members, and that’s something your patients will notice.
	
	Your patients are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.
	
	 

Keep it positive. If you or any of your staff members have a negative attitude or if there’s tension on the team, it’s safe to say your patients have noticed.

Monday's Patient Tip of the Day - Week 3

 All your patients are different. They each have their own personalities and fears. That means you can’t use the same approach for every treatment presentation; you need to adapt to their style, said 

If you’re an outgoing person who uses a lot of hand gestures when you speak, but the patient you’re talking to is quiet and a little on the shy side, tone down your 

. Talk slowly, lower your voice and let the patient know it’s OK to think his or her options over. If you’re on the quiet side and about to present to a more talkative outgoing person, try to pump it up a little bit and match the patient’s enthusiasm.

and no one expects you to, but taking the time to learn how to adjust to your patient’s personality type will go a long way in increasing your patient acceptance. A dental consultant can help you learn how to make these modifications, modifications that will make your patients feel more comfortable and more likely to listen to what you have to say.
	
	Your 

 are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.
	
	 

Show some personality. All your patients are different. They each have their own personalities and fears. That means you can’t use the same approach for every treatment presentation; you need to adapt to their style, said Kathleen O’Donnell, director of consulting at Jameson Management.

Wednesday’s Patient Tip of the Day

Sure, cost is typically a factor when a patient says no to treatment, but you shouldn’t assume that’s always the reason patients don’t want to proceed, said Kathleen O’Donnell, director of consulting at 


	
	To find out the real reason patients opt to skip treatment, take the time to talk with them about their concerns. Maybe they don’t understand the importance of getting the work done or they’re scared of what all the treatment entails.
	
	You have to pay attention to your patients’ verbal and nonverbal cues if you want to know what’s holding them back from treatment. Money may be a factor, but if they’re educated about what will happen if they don’t go through with the procedure and feel like they have a dentist who listens to and address their concerns, they’re more likely to get the treatment they need. Take the time to explain everything and let them know they don’t have to rush into a decision. Pressuring them isn’t the way to get them to yes; educating them is.
	
	Your patients are your practice. Without them, where would you be? You have to know the best ways to attract them to your practice, get them to accept treatment and make them happy, life-long patients.
	
	That’s where we can help. Check back regularly for tips on how to keep your patients happy, healthy and loyal.

Remember it’s not always about money. Sure, cost is typically a factor when a patient says no to treatment, but you shouldn’t assume that’s always the reason patients don’t want to proceed, said Kathleen O’Donnell, director of consulting at Jameson Management. 

Monday's Patient Tip of the Day - Week 2

You’re good at what you do. Your staff and patients love you. You’re at the top of your game and feeling good about your career-no one can stop you.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling this way, to be confident in your skills as a dentist and small business owner. But you have to be careful not to let that confidence turn into arrogance. If it does, you, your team, and your patients will suffer.

So how do you stay confident without letting it all get to your head? You have to find ways to keep yourself grounded and focused on why you became a dentist in the first place. You have to remember it’s about the patient.

“As dental professionals, we often lose touch with what patients really want and what their concerns are. The more we stay in touch with what our patients and community members are looking for, find ways to explain treatment to them in a way they understand, and look for avenues to make dentistry more affordable, the greater the likelihood we will stay grounded and humble,” said Penny Reed Limoli, owner of the 

. “There will always be a place for full mouth restorations and cosmetic procedures.  At the same time we have to remember the building blocks of dentistry are prevention, pain relief and restoration.”

Maybe you just completed a few really successful, difficult cases and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself and what you have to offer to your patients. You know what you can do, and you can’t wait to show off your skills again. But just because you’re excited about your recent successes, it doesn’t mean your patients are, too.

When you’re presenting treatment possibilities to your patients, don’t get so caught up in what you’re saying that you’re not watching the patient for reaction, said Kathleen O’Donnell, Vice President of Coaching Services for 

. You have to pay attention to their nonverbal clues, the ones telling you they have no intention of going through with treatment.

How to use power listening to understand and treat your patients 

What are some of these signs? They’re not looking you or your team members in the eye. Instead of looking at the 

 you’re presenting they’re looking away-at the floor, at the ceiling, anywhere else but at the photos. If you notice these cues, you can’t ignore them, 

 said. Slow down and let these patients know you can sense they might be overwhelmed or that they seem hesitant. Take the time to find out what their concerns are and address them. Don’t just continue on with your presentation and think of course they’ll accept treatment, I’m a dental rock star. Your 

 will plummet and your patients won’t get the care they need.

If you’re not used to looking for these verbal cues, you may be missing them, O’Donnell said, and that’s why it’s a good idea to videotape a few case presentations to see exactly how you interact with patients. Ask a patient if it’s OK to tape the presentation, and make it clear you’ll only use the video for internal purposes. If that’s too intrusive try audio instead, again with patient approval.

Once you have one taped, take a look at it during a 

 and give an honest critique of how it went. The entire team should be part of the critique. Have a team discussion about how you can do better, and even do some role-playing during your team meetings to help sharpen these all-important communication skills.

Nobody knows your demeanor, your mannerisms, and your flaws better than your team members. They’re with you day after day, hour after hour, and they see how you interact with patients, and they likely have opinions on what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

If you really want to keep yourself grounded, ask them for their honest opinion on how they think you behave when presenting treatment plans, O’Donnell said. Create an environment where they can comfortably tell you what they think, and take their advice to heart.

If you just attended a CE course and find yourself gravitating toward those dentists who most would describe as cocky, maybe think about distancing yourself from that, Limoli said. Instead, associate yourself with many different types of dental colleagues from different backgrounds, practice sizes, and skill levels.

It’s also not a bad idea to get involved with some type of dental charity or government assistance program, Limoli said, or to join a study club where you can share cases and learn from other dentists’ experiences. Be well-rounded, and don’t just focus on the high-end procedures you can do. Don’t isolate yourself from all the other great things in the dental community.

The most successful dentists are those who are committed to self-improvement and life-long education, O’Donnell said. It’s not just about your clinical skills. Those skills don’t even matter if you can’t get patients to accept treatment. You have to be able to communicate.

Advice on preventing clinical dentistry failures 

Just because you’re good at what you do doesn’t mean you couldn’t benefit from a little help. Whether you’re talking about learning how to better run your business or how to 

, you need to look to outside experts to make sure you’re on top of areas that fall outside your expertise.

The same rules apply when it comes to maintaining your practice and patient management skills, O’Donnell said. If you struggle in these areas, think about 

 to help you sharpen your patient communication skills. You’ll be amazed at how much following some expert advice can help your practice grow.

If you run out of patience when patients ask a lot of questions during a case presentation or you get defensive when they ask questions or opt not to go forward with treatment, you may be crossing that line from confident to arrogant. Limoli said.

If patients see this type of reaction from you, they’re going to grow distant and start looking for a new practice.

“This plants a seed of discontent and they begin to overanalyze everything in their dentist’s office, from customer service to fees,” Limoli said. “In most cases, the overconfident dentist has fees that are significantly higher than their local competition.  Over the course of a few years, the practice begins to see a decline in new patients and a steady stream of patients who have transferred their records to another office, or simply disappear.”

Overconfident dentists also tend to over-commit to patients regarding treatment results, Limoli said, and that only leads to dissatisfied patients. Your patients are paying a lot of money for this work, and you have to be honest with them and yourself about what results they can expect. And if treatment fails completely, you may even have to face legal consequences.

If you’re rushing through case presentations and just assuming patients are going forward with treatment, it’s going to cause a disconnect with staff, O’Donnell said. If you often think you’ve nailed a presentation but the patient didn’t set up the appointment, don’t blame the team member.

“Some doctors can really turn off their teams,” O’Donnell said. “When they don’t 

 that patient they get annoyed, thinking that team member doesn’t have the skills when sometimes it very well could have been the doctor himself or herself didn’t do a very good job at addressing the patient’s concerns and just presented what the clinical treatment was. “

No matter how good your dental skills are, there’s always room for improvement, new technologies to learn, and new techniques that will make your practice even better and your patients even happier. There’s nothing wrong with being confident in your skills, just don’t let your successes go to your head. Stay hungry to learn and remember what really matters: your patients. Don’t risk them going without needed treatment because you didn’t take the time to learn how to communicate or learn a new skill.

”Technology changes, treatment modes advance and it keeps the mind moving,” Limoli said.  “The most dangerous professional, dental or otherwise, is the one who thinks they have nothing more to learn.”

Is there a god in your operatory?

Jeanne Godett, RDH, cannot imagine working without one. In fact, she doesn’t know why any practice wouldn’t use 

 QUATTROcare Plus handpiece maintenance system.

She’s been using the system since it came out, and said she no longer has to hunt for clean handpieces, only to find dirty instruments she can’t use. Now they’re always ready for her, and not because she spent a lot of time hand cleaning and lubricating the instruments herself; the 

 takes care of that. And because the handpieces are receiving the maintenance they need through this maintenance system, they last longer and that, of course, saves time and money.

“In a dental practice time is of the essence,” Godett said. “You have patients coming in constantly. If you have something you can put a handpiece in and then hit a button and walk away, you’re off and running again.”

The QUATTROcare Plus is an automatic handpiece maintenance system, and you can use it to clean most any handpiece on the market, Product Manager Christine Meaney said. It cleans up to four 

 at once, and finishes the job in less than 2½ minutes. All you need to do is attach the handpiece onto the proper nozzle, close the door and push a button.

“This is literally plug and play,” Godett said. “You attach the handpiece, activate the machine, go back to the patient and then put the handpieces in the sterilizer. By the time you’re done with the patient the process is done. It’s a nice rotation. You’re using one handpiece, one is being sterilized and one is cooling down to use for the next patient. It’s very efficient.”

If practices aren’t using an automatic maintenance system like QUATTROcare Plus, they’re using a spray can with oil for handpiece maintenance. If they used the QUATTROcare Plus instead, they’d get up to 80 psi of air pressure that pushes the oil and the cleaner so it gets deep inside the handpiece and forms a cleaning action to remove debris. Without that compressed air, you can’t be 100% sure you’re getting all of that debris, Meaney said. Not to mention the fact that one of your team members is spending 5 to 10 minutes hand cleaning the handpiece, time that could be much better spent assisting patients.

“The pressure makes a difference. So with that being said an office that’s not using an automatic maintenance system may not be cleaning their handpiece to the level they should be and therefore not getting the longevity in handpieces that they would expect,” Meaney said. “Handpieces are a large investment and when a handpiece is down it’s a problem, so any way you can keep them maintained and working at their optimum level is best.”

Not only is a handpiece maintenance system a quicker, more efficient way to get the job done, it also cuts down on debris flying in the office and the risk of cross contamination, Godett said.

Watch the exclusive video with Product Manager Christine Meaney

The new QUATTROcare Plus has a new chuck care feature designed to keep your handpieces running smoothly and efficiently.

“One of the most important aspects of a handpiece other than the turbine is the chuck,” Meaney said. “If you don’t have proper gripping strength on your chuck there’s an opportunity not to have the tightest grip on the bur or the bur could become loose. It’s just one more step to make sure the entire handpiece is working and maintained properly.”

A majority of the handpieces that come back to KaVo for repair have been poorly maintained, Meaney said. If handpieces are maintained properly, they will perform longer and better. You’ll save money and the aggravation that comes with repair downtime, and you won’t have to buy new handpieces nearly as often.

Many practices don’t properly maintain handpieces because it is so time consuming, which is why an automatic handpiece maintenance system is such an important addition to a practice.

“The assistants and hygienists have to maintain their own handpieces. They are so busy from one patient to the next that they have very little time in between appointments to take care of handpieces,” Meaney said. “So a lot of time this additional manual step of maintenance before sterilization is left for last and not done on a consistent basis. Anything that can help reduce the time it takes to go through the manual protocol and automate the process is going to help.”

The QUATTROcare Plus has streamlined the process at Godett’s practice, making appointments run more smoothly. She never has to look for a clean handpiece anymore, taking one more stress out of the work day, and she doesn’t have to waste time with manual maintenance. The handpieces have a longer life span, and that spreads the cost out over many years. For her, it truly is a no brainer.

“I can’t imagine an office not having one. It makes no sense,” she said. “It’s something that gives you more time on your handpiece and does it without you having to stand there. It makes no sense not to have one from the time efficiency standpoint.” 

Jeanne Godett, RDH, cannot imagine working without one. In fact, she doesn’t know why any practice wouldn’t use KaVo’s QUATTROcare Plus handpiece maintenance system.