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On March 11, 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan. Millions of people were glued to the images of the maelstrom that ensued. Few maintained that level of interest as the Japanese started on the less glamorous path of recovery.

April 2010 | Dental Products Report Handling the patient complaint

Sometimes it’s just not worth it. If a client is driving you and your staff crazy, there comes a point when you just have to end the professional relationship. Whether it’s the number of remakes or the late payments that have you pulling your hair out, you have to know when and how to let go. The dentist who just won’t listen

Health in Reach announced earlier this week that it would be merging with its largest competitor, PriceDoc. Both services offer an online platform where consumers can go to compare prices on dental services. Both companies will now operate under the Health in Reach corporate brand, and Health in Reach CEO Scott Sangster will remain in the top executive role.

Google Places is out. The search engine giant announced Wednesday that it has updated its local search platform with Google Plus Local, which will interface with Zagat, in efforts to encourage interaction on their social network Google+.

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.

I’ve been using the Planmeca's ProMax since early 2010 when I expanded my office. The Planmeca sales rep presented it to me and when I saw what the pan could do I really liked it. Because I was modernizing my office and expanding it, I thought adding the ProMax was the natural way to take it, to move into digital and go paperless. What would you say are the ProMax’s main benefits?

July 14, 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com web exclusiveWhen patients jump the border

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.

The DPR Technology Census has been a cornerstone of the DPR Editorial Calendar for a number of years. Part of what makes the tech census a must-read year after year is the fact that it helps dentists benchmark themselves. It's not always about what technology is available, but who is using it, who plans to use it, and what barriers to entry exist.

July 29, 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com web exclusiveWhen patients know more than you The Internet makes it easy to find details on dentistry and oral health, but does access to m

Jane Pak, CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners, spoke with Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Bill Dorfman to put together a top 10 list of the most useful small business tips for dental practices.

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.”

The recent merger between Health in Reach and PriceDoc will allow dentists and prospective patients to connect and for those prospective patients to compare prices on dental care before booking an appointment. The online platform allows dentists to offer cost-saving deals to consumers who are paying for dental care out-of-pocket.

In the current market, communication between the dental lab and dentist is more important than ever.

Japanese dentist Hideki Watanabe has invented a sculpted pot that will automatically stir its contents as they heat up. Watanabe came up with the design for the Kuru-Kuru Nabe (the "Round and Round Pot") while experimenting with dental plaster at his dental practice.

DPR Friday, Dental Products Report’s weekly product news broadcast, is a 2012 Telly Winner, taking home a Bronze Award for top Internet/Online Program, Segment or Promotional Piece.

Ready to move your career up a notch? Xlear, a company that has been a CareerFusion sponsor for 5 years, wants to help you get there.

During the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2012 event earlier this week, ZocDoc CEO Cyrus Massoumi talked about the professional online booking platform for doctors and the focus point of its success: providing a solution for health care professionals.

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.

Internet use worldwide is continually expanding as more social media sites pop up, and companies continue to expand their presence on the Web. Smartphones are getting smarter, and many people have opted to purchase tablets such as the iPad, all of which allow instant access to the Internet and a universe of Web-based apps. This activity creates opportunities but can create a multitude of challenges for those who have websites.

For a practice to run smoothly, we office managers need to know how our dentists feel about the following types of questions and we need to be clear on what the dentist’s guidelines are for the practice. So Doctor, what is your office policy for financial arrangements? When do you feel it’s appropriate to send an account to a collections agency? How do you want your emergency patients scheduled?

Would you like to know how much other dentists in your area are charging for a crown? For an extraction? For a cleaning?

DentalEZ Group has added on a showroom to its StarDental manufacturing facility that provides a way for dental professionals to see how they can create a customized operatory with a full range of ergonomic dental products.

There was no shortage of major announcements from the host company of the recent Astra Tech World Congress, held May 9-12 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The event was the last major use of the Astra Tech name as the DENTSPLY-owned company was recently reorganized into the newly created DENTSPLY Implants brand. Abutment news

Your most valuable patient is not the the one who wants to shout his or her love for you and your services from the rooftops. Your most valuable patient is the one who left your practice dissatisfied and vowing never to return. According to Ron Hurley, consumer advocate and author of the book Unscrewed: The Consumer’s Guide to Getting What You Paid For, disenchanted customers can tell you, as no one else can, where you are utterly failing.