All Blog Posts (638)

I took a call just yesterday from a patient upset at the $75 fee to replace her son's ortho retainer. Her son recently got his braces off, came in for the appointment to make the retainer, but didn't return for 2 months to get the retainer. Not surprisingly, the retainer didn't fit and the orthodontist charged her $75 to make a new one. She felt we didn't inform her of how quickly…

'Tis the season for award shows and celebrity watching. The SAG awards were on last night. The Academy Awards will be handed out in a few weeks, and the Golden Globes were televised recently. TheraBreath took the opportunity at the Golden Globes to promote its natural oral health products.

"TheraBreath was proud to take part in Connected's Celebrity Gifted Suite at Ben Kitay Studios in Hollywood during the Golden Globes," an article states. "Each celebrity received a TheraBreath gift…

A quick review of our hiring process so far:

In Part 1: Where place ads? we reviewed how to attract candidates for your dental position. In Part 2: Telephone interviewI shared the questions and approach to eliminating unqualified candidates. Today, we…

Where will you invest your marketing dollars this year? Which are your best sources for adding new patients into your practice? Which are the worst? Which ones should you drop and just save your money?

Now is a great time to take a look at your new patients that came to your practice in 2011 to find out how they were referred to you. You need to  see what’s working and what’s not. In Dentrix, you will run 2 reports to find out. The first is the Referred by Patient Report. The…

It’s January 13 (yes … Friday the 13^th) and I’m writing my editor’s note as our country is once again preparing to climb the heights of Mt. Tebowmania this weekend as the Denver Broncos travel to face the New England Patriots in the AFC playoffs.

Even if you’re not a football fan, chances are you’ve heard of Denver quarterback Tim Tebow this season … or maybe more specifically this past week as he led the Broncos to an upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first…

Is your practice growing?

Active patients: the lifeblood of a dental practice. If your active patient volume is growing, you have decisions to make: is it time to hire another hygienist? Are my secretaries keeping up with the phone calls coming in? Do I need to add an EFDA? On the other hand, if your active patient volume is shrinking, you have different decisions to face: is it time to cut back on staff hours? What additional marketing programs can we begin? What topics do I need to…

And it isn't pretty. The wrestling legend and former Heavyweight Champion of the world underwent surgery this week because his dentist left a tack in his mouth when Hogan underwent an implant procedure last October. The pain in his mouth became so bad Hogan finally had a CAT scan, which revealed the tack. I won't even go into the stitches here. You can read about that in the article.

Read more on wrestlezone.com. …

The latest celebrity dental shout out comes from Charlie Sheen, who gave Dr. Kevin Sands of Beverly Hills (where else?) kudos for his new grill.

"today spent w/ brilliant cosmetic dentist Dr Kevin Sands! the grill now perfect for Fiat, DirectTV

& Anger Managment! Smile world! cs"

Sheen posted on whosay.com, a site for celebrity thoughts and photos. Sheen is currently the spokesperson for Fiat and Direct TV, and has a new cable show coming up, Anger Management. It's…

Doctors and their staff often over look the fact that patients are evaluating them and the practice from the moment they walk in your office. Patients are very aware of the environment they are in and notice everything from the appearance of the carpet in the waiting room to the personal conversations that the staff are having.

There are a few key things to be on the watch out for that greatly impact a patient's perception of your practice that has nothing to do with "quality…

First, a disclosure. I supported the recent suggestion from the National Transportation Board that the usage of cellphones should be prohibited among drivers.

For years, we've been making smokers go outside to light up. Second-hand smoke and distracted driving kill innocent bystanders. What's the problem?

Nonsmokers probably don't like the idea of being forced to pull over to make a phone call — cramps their style too much.

Ah, yes. There's…

Recent Harris Poll Says Patient Demand For Dentistry In The Future Will Drop.

Recently one dental advocacy group, Oral Health America, commissioned the Harris organization to conduct a survey indicating the future spending of Americans for dental services. Not surprisingly, the survey indicated that a sizeable segment (about 35%) of those surveyed said that they were planning to reduce their spending on dental…

Why, at the dentist's office, of course. With six kids and her own pearly whites to take care of, it's just a given the Jolie-Pitt clan might spend a bit of time at their dentist's office.

The dental office is where Jolie was with some of her brood when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. She has been nominated for her directorial debut for "In the Land of Blood and Honey," while Brad Pitt has been nominated for an acting award for "Moneyball."

I assume the dental…

Why Does Conventional Practice Marketing Backfire? On Reason Is Because Doctors Did Not Judiciously Respond To A Milestone Event  Some 40 Years Ago! Today, This Lapse Is Causing Havoc In Healthcare.



    “A little neglect breeds great mischief.”

        Benjamin Franklin,

        Poor Richard’s Almanac, circa 1745.



The Planned Federal Deregulation Of The Industry…

Virtually unknown among the occupational community of dentists and their business handlers, the recent events were literally the most important events in the private practice of dentistry since Chapin A. Harris, MD, DDS started the profession back in the 1840s. These dramatic events changed dental practice forever. Yet, most dentists and their practice management advisers are not fully prepared to cope with the threats and to capitalize on the opportunities.



Interestingly, the…

In A Professional Service Business, Such As A Dental Practice, In The American Healthcare Industry, It’s Either Feast Or Famine.



This claim means that all professional service businesses in the healthcare industry are hypersensitive to the annual industry rate of growth.



In other words, small changes in the rate of industry growth mean big changes in the revenues flowing into all organizations depending on the organization’s size and it’s market…

Here's yet another story of a celebrity altering her teeth because she can. 

Rihanna, the 20-something singing sensation from Barbados whose 60 million singles and 20 million albums make her one of the best selling artists of all time, just did dentists a nice publicity favor by posting a video of her getting fit for a new custom grill for her upcoming video shoot.

It's a laid back video of the tech working on the impression material while Rihanna looks on with admiration. They…

A recent $2.5 million ruling by an Oregon court against a woman who blogged frequently may send up some red flags and serve as a dire warning for all of us who take to the Internet to give our opinion.

 

Click here to read the article



Crystal Cox, the blogger who was ruled against by the court, says that this judgment "should matter to everyone who writes on…

Air Techniques is offering a FREE, CE webinar: Imaging for Better Diagnosis and Patient Eduction, presented by Marty Jablow, DMD, tonight (12/07/11) at 7:30 p.m. (EST). This one-hour webinar will earn you 1 CE and will cover the following topics:

• The differences between…

... And this one comes from Boy George. You read that right. Boy George, of Culture Club. Boy George, of "Karma Chameleon" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" pop song of the '80s fame, the "androgynous" dresser who just hit the big 5-0. His Twitter page says he's "Buddhist in my aspirations, catholic in my complications!" whatever that means. 

He's on Facebook and Twitter promoting ... are you ready for this ... his new Oral B toothbrush! "My new Oral B toothbrush is rockin'" he…

Patients are the lifeblood of any practice. Without them, the practice does not exist. Promotions and big advertising budgets can drive large numbers of new patients to the practice, but the key to success is retaining those new patients. Here are some simple ideas to keep your patients satisfied and coming back.

Great patient service creates loyalty and builds your patient base. It is also about creating a positive experience that patients will share with their friends and family.…