Ed Rabinowitz

A recent study of 11 dental offices found that E. coli was found on 70 percent of patient chairs, and 25 percent of reception area counter tops. But a culture of safety can lay the foundation for an efficient dental practice, where both the dental professionals and patients feel comfortable.

Describing someone as having a great personality when setting up a friend on a blind date can be an ominous sign. Personality, fine, but what does he or she look like? But when it comes to hiring dental practice employees, finding someone with the right personality is often a preferred tradeoff to coming in with the right skill set.

She grew up in the Bronx. Her father was a butcher. And she had designs on becoming a medical illustrator. That career didn't materialize as she just fell into dentistry. But art remains a major part of Geri Robin's life, and she sees her dental career as an extension of that love of art and related aesthetics.

Does your practice have a compliance plan in place? Is there a designated compliance officer to make sure everyone is in compliance? What about documentation? Is it as complete and holistic as it needs to be? If you are unable to answer a resounding 'Yes' to any of these questions, your practice could be in jeopardy of a dental insurance claims audit.

If you are planning a marketing campaign any time in the near future, the key is to try, test, retry, retest, and so on. In other words, it is an ongoing commitment you have to give your efforts time to perform. Very rarely is successful marketing a one-and-done approach.

Randi Tillman has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare with a background in both the insurance and biotech industries. She understands both the payer and the provider perspective, and is passionate about addressing the needs of underserved populations.

Michael Florman, DDS, a practicing orthodontist in Los Angeles, is considered one of the top Invisalign providers in the country. But he's not satisfied with that achievement alone. As the founder and CEO of EverSmile, he continues to develop products that solve problems while helping adults and children develop good oral hygiene habits.

With dental school graduation in the rearview mirror, new paths filled with challenges and opportunities await. But where will those paths lead, and which one should you take? The first steps in a career journey can be scary, but networking with peers and finding a mentor for guidance can help graduates make beneficial career choices.

Today's consumer is more educated. And it doesn't matter if we're taking millennials or septuagenarians, people are more educated and discerning about the products and services they purchase. Given those changing lifestyles, it's important for dentists to have their finger on the pulse of consumer preferences.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and in an inclusive practice environment could be anyone. The challenge for dentists is to not only be aware of their own leadership skills, but to also encourage the development of those skills in others. Because without leadership, a practice has no direction and little to show in the way of outcomes.

How many dental practices are within a 5- or 10-mile radius of your own? Probably too many, if you're being honest. So how do you differentiate yourself from the competition? Before you start setting grandiose goals, take a closer look at who you are and your practice culture. Aligning those two are key if you're to become the go-to dentist in your area.

As an advocate for parents and small children, LaQuia Vinson uses her own experiences as a mother to show empathy and compassion to her patients. But she also finds time to clear her mind by watching hours of real estate-oriented reality TV.

Easing patient fears of dental visits is of primary importance for all practices. If patients are fearful and those fears lead to canceled appointments, that results in a loss of revenue - not to mention a disruption to the practice schedule. But by slowly acclimating patients to the practice environment, dentists and their staff can ease fears and build a solid level of trust with their clientele.

Dental membership programs are not concierge medicine. With the latter, primary care physicians limit their practice to focusing on a few hundred up to perhaps 1,000 patients. Dentists, however, can offer membership programs to all their patients in addition to, or in place of costly dental insurance that might not afford patients proper coverage. These programs can help dentists grow their practice while increasing revenue.

George Wu always loved drawing with a pencil and paper, but he never thought that would translate into crafting the reconstruction of a patient's mouth. Blending his two passions, Wu sculpted his career into a newly opened ClearChoice office in greater Los Angeles. And he uses his artistic insight to benefit every patient he meets.

Mistakes happen but when mistakes occur or there's an oversight, are employees owning responsibility? Are they accountable? Developing a culture of accountability within a dental practice can improve productivity and employee morale, and have a healthy impact on the practice's bottom line.

Monica Garnache, DMD is a well-respected dentist and mentor to other dentists, but her career in oral health almost never happened due to her love for classical music. It was a challenging transition that was years in the making, but today she looks back and acknowledges she couldn't have asked for anything better.

What's the rate of case acceptance at your practice? Most dentists won't know the answer to that question. But understanding case acceptance and what it takes to move a patient from presentation to accepted treatment plan can have a major financial impact on your practice.

Disruption can be defined as a disturbance that interrupts an event, activity or process, and that is exactly what a growing e-commerce site plans on doing to the dental supply purchasing market. Starting in California and branching outward, the state dental association is helping members lower costs associated with dental practices and patient care.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video might be the equivalent of a book. But more importantly, video can add another dimension to your dental practice that sets it apart from the competition. And it has the potential to educate patients while enhancing the doctor-patient relationship.

Martha Cortes, DDS, is a unique and advanced dentist who owns and operates Sleep Fitness LLC, which takes a holistic approach to oral treatment. But her dental career almost never happened due to a little thing called biochemistry. Fortunately, she took a detour along the way.

Imagine talking to colleagues during a lunch break and telling an off-color joke. It might seem harmless to you, but it might be offensive to somebody else. Respect for people's boundaries, and understanding what constitutes sexual harassment can help avoid costly litigation and create a work culture that addresses everyone's comfort level.

Is the person responsible for billing at your practice current on the new dental codes? There are more than a handful of changes that took place January 1, 2018. And if your practice is still using old codes, that's likely costing you money in the form of lost revenue. But it doesn't have to be that way. Update courses can help your staff stay current and keep your practice profitable.

Jeremy Kay, DMD, is an expert in cosmetic and implant dentistry, and he specializes in complex cases requiring a level of care and expertise beyond the limitations of general dentistry. But that career might never have happened if Kay hadn't recognized he was not going to rise in the national tennis rankings alongside Andy Roddick.

Are you setting goals for collection rates and celebrating when they're reached? What about conducting annual competitive market analyses to compare the costs of services and ensure your practice is competitively priced? Reviewing income, leveraging technology and managing expenses will go a long way toward helping dental practices improve their profit margins.

The Environmental Protection Agency says indoor air is five times more toxic than outdoor air. Some people think it's even worse than that, and dental practices are among the worst contributors. But investing in an air filtration or purification system can go a long way toward keeping patients and staff healthy, and improving productivity.

The Section 179 tax deduction allows dentists to save big on major equipment and software purchases, but is it right for your practice? And while the deduction has been promoted as an end-of-the-year tax strategy, it should more accurately be positioned as part of your practice's overall objective.

The recently installed president of the Academy of General Dentistry initially discouraged his children from a career in dentistry. He told them dentistry is a difficult field, and the only reason you do it is if you love it, and feel you're going to make a difference in the community where you serve. The result? Three of the four have followed in his footsteps.

Charmaine Ng, DMD, has focused on public health over private practice throughout her career. It's a feeling she says has been ingrained since childhood, and one that she not only actively embraces, but hopes to pass on to others.

If it seems that every patient today has his or her own opinion of what ails them and the care they need, that's probably more fact than fiction. Technology has put information at patients' fingertips. What they do with it, and how they interpret it, is another story-one that dentists need to handle in a delicate but informed manner.