Renee Knight

You don’t want to be the first. While there are no documented cases of a clinician acquiring a disease from laser plume, the possibility is there. That’s why it’s so important for you to wear the proper mask when using a laser.

An associate or hygienist you’ve worked with for years has decided to leave the practice, and not on the best of terms. This colleague may feel slighted or angry for one reason or another, and will use those negative feelings to justify trying to convince your patients to leave as well. This colleague may not even feel any animosity toward you or the practice, but still might feel entitled to the patients you’ve both worked with for years.

Whether you’re moving to a new office space or adding digital radiography to the office you’re currently in, there’s plenty to consider before you get started. From cabling to computer systems, you need to think about what makes the most sense for your team and your practice.

Of course you want to help when you can. You want to be flexible and make sure all your patients get the care they need. But you also have to be careful. Most of your patients, if not all of your patients, are good people, people who need your guidance to ensure they maintain the best oral care possible. Because of that, it’s easy to let your guard down and maybe even become a little too trusting. Even though people generally are good, there are some you need to watch out for, the ones who are always looking for ways to walk away with something for nothing.

If you’re not communicating with your lab technician, you’re losing money.

You’ve noticed one of your patients has lost a lot of weight and seems to have trouble focusing during appointments-assuming she shows up. Or maybe another dentist in the practice spends a lot of time in his office with the door closed, only to come out acting much differently than when he went in.

You want to be friendly with your patients, to build a rapport that helps keep them loyal to you and your practice. What you don’t want to do is become too familiar or so comfortable with your patients that you end up taking it too far, and saying something that leaves them feeling uncomfortable and maybe even looking for a new practice.

The whiter, the better. That’s how some people feel about their smile. They want their teeth white and bright, even if the white they’re going for doesn’t look natural. Although it’s rare, there are patients who will go to great lengths to get what they feel is the perfect white smile, from overdoing the whitening strips to over brushing to trying to buy more product from you than they really need. 

It all started with a scared little girl who found comfort in a puppy. The little girl, Maya, came to Dr. Allan Pike’s pediatric dentistry practice in Portland for a pulpotomy, a procedure they needed to get done right away. But things weren’t going well, at least not until dental assistant Julie Dubansky offered to bring in her puppy, Madison. That seemed to calm Maya down, and was the beginning of what some of Dr. Pike’s patients drive as many as three hours to experience: Dog day at the dental office.

Sometimes it’s worth the risk. That’s what a Wisconsin-based dentist decided when one of his patients asked him out. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea at first, but after talking with her more and realizing how much they had in common, he changed his mind. “I thought about it for awhile before I responded to her interest in me,” he said. “I was hesitant because I was worried that if it didn’t work out, I would lose her as a patient and there could be some negative ramifications.”

Now that their college days are behind them, recent graduates are ready to shift their focus to the job market. But interviewing can be stressful-especially in today’s economic climate-and these new grads need something to boost their confidence as they meet potential employers.

The technologies you use in your personal life can benefit your professional life as well. We have talked with dental professionals who have already put the latest technologies to work in their practices.

The Lab IDOC Dental Lab is a full-service dental lab with 40 employees. It opened in Garden Grove, Calif. 12 years ago and specializes in smile design cases, implants and overdentures. Joey Hamernik is IDOC Dental Lab’s Vice President. The Product

Lisa Holzkopf was always indecisive when it came to making major changes to her smile. She had what she describes as “smaller than normal front teeth.” They had to be shaven down after she chipped her front tooth on the edge of a swimming pool during her high school years, and one tooth slightly overlapped the other one. When she first talked to Dr.

If a patient walks out of your practice annoyed, that patient likely isn’t coming back. And these patients may not even tell you they’re irritated with you or one of your team members; they may smile and nod until they can finally leave, all the while thinking, “man, I need to find a new dentist.”

The further you get into your career, the easier it is to become complacent, to make yourself believe there’s no point to invest in new technology or that the pains that come with practicing dentistry are just part of the job. But no matter what your age or how close you think you are to retirement, you have to continue to grow. You have to stay curious and passionate about what you do, whether you’re planning to retire in 5 years or 20 years.

This is an important decision.

Meet the men and women behind some of this year’s biggest product launches.

You’ve gone through the extra training. You’ve talked to specialists and even spent some time in their practices observing and learning. You’ve put the time in, and now you’re ready to add a new specialty service to your list of offerings.

The take-aways Treatment planning should involve the entire team, including the patient, lab technicians and specialists. Today, there are plenty of high-tech options to help you get your patients to the smile they want. You have more control than ever before.

Sports Dentistry Dr. Alexander Della Bella Team dentist for Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds and the East Coast Hockey League’s Cincinnati Cyclones Imagine your patients walking into your practice to find a local professional athlete sitting in your waiting room.

If you want to get the most out of your relationship with your dental lab, you have to ask the right questions. You can’t just assume that a lab uses a certain type of material or that it’s certified; you have to ask to find out for sure. And you can’t assume your new lab technician knows exactly what you’re looking for in a lab. Not only do you have to ask questions, you have to lay out your desires and expectations as a client.

Information provided by Kerr Corp. Powered by Demetron™ Technology, the Demi™ Plus LED Light Curing System, featuring a number of design enhancements, is the next generation in premium curing lights. It combines sophisticated engineering with a design that improves performance and delivers consistent cures.

You know how important it is for lab technicians to be involved from the beginning. The more the lab technician knows and the more input he or she can provide the clinician early on, the better the outcome for the patient. After all, you are the one creating the restorations, the restorations patients are depending on to transform their smile.

Information available at esthetxhd.com With three different opacities, users can build realistic restorations from the inside out to replicate natural tooth structure and achieve a high polish in 15 seconds.

In his new book, Teeth in Mortal Combat: How to Unleash your Basic Instinct for Survival, Dr. Sawicki argues that enhancing the Qi, or life energy, of the mouth may boost jawbone mineral density, increase blood flow to the brain and improve overall balance and muscular strength.

November 3, 2010 | dentalproductsreport.com

It's time to come together. With everything we know and are learning about the oral-systemic link, dentistry can no longer be the missing piece of to the health care puzzle, an entity separate from the rest of the health care team. That simply isn't good enough for your patients. You have to become involved in your patients' overall health, and that means building relationships with their medical doctors.

These toys inspired you to brush your teeth at night, maybe even got you thinking about a career in dentistry. They reflect what was happening in the world at the time, and they bring back childhood memories. And now you can see them all again at the National Museum of Dentistry.