Do you remember the tale of the Great and Powerful Oz? Sure, you may remember how he appeared to Dorothy and her friends once they arrived in the Emerald City, but do you remember how he got there? A simple magician from Kansas, he was blown to Oz in his hot air balloon. Dorothy used a house; he used a balloon. They both ended up over the rainbow.

Once he arrived in Oz, the former sideshow magician was seen as an all-powerful wizard. It wasn't that he had changed, but rather what…

I’m a big fan of the magazine Real Simple. My favorite is the ‘New uses for old things’ section where they take something you use every day for one thing – and then come up with a unique way to utilize this item. Here are the Hall of Fame favorites by Real Simple just for fun.

So, with Real Simple’s inspiration, here are my dental practice…

Have you ever watched a yoga video? Filmed in a serene nature setting, speaking in a calming voice, the yoga master easily lifts one  leg up behind her while leaning forward with the opposite arm. Slowly, smoothly, easily holding the pose for minutes at a time.

Have you tried yoga personally? I tried this exact pose and I could see my reflection in the window and burst out…

It’s that time again in my practice – time to hire a new secretary.  Oh the joys of interviewing, hiring, orientation and training!

The good news is that we have our hiring process down to a science. Even better news, it’s run by the staff, so the dentists just have to meet and interview the candidates when they’re in for an observation – the staff takes care of…

It’s December 21, 2012, and I’m sitting at my desk. I’m still here. My friends are still here. The Internet is still working. The lights are still on. I just checked with a friend of mine in Australia and he’s still here (even though the day is almost over for him). I just checked the weather and there are no immediate signs of solar flares or 100-foot waves. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve survived the apocalypse. As one of my friends texted me this morning, this has to be the lamest…

Have you had a patient complain about their dental work lately? Is your patient angry and asking for their money back? Are you angry because you know you did the best possible work and this patient is being completely unreasonable?

May I introduce a wonderful solution?  Peer Review through your Dental Society.

If you try to go toe-to-toe with your…

One of the challenges of group practice is to keep all dentists providing similar high quality care. It’s true in dentistry “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” – or to put it a bit harshly, “one bad apple ruins the bunch.” For dentists that practice in groups, using an internal peer review process is a wonderful way to maintain quality.

My practice conducts an internal peer review process every six months. We evaluate three teams:

• General…

The library (heart of ADA) and its unknown future is just another outcome and consequence of ADA’s mismanaged policies and defunct leadership as it continues to thwart the underlying empathic core response to the oral healthcare needs of Americans.  ADA’s self-serving leadership continues to overlook the need of alternative providers such as denturists, dental health aide therapists, dental therapists and independent practices for dental hygienists in addressing solutions to…

Thanksgiving has always been, and will always be, one of my favorite holidays. It’s a time for great food, family, and football (you have to love the NFL triple-header). It’s also the kickoff to the holiday season (including all of the fun that Black Friday holds for those of us who like to get up at 3 a.m. to throw elbows with our fellow shoppers … but that’s a whole other diatribe).

Thanksgiving is also that one day that is set aside for us to count our blessings and give…

We recently purchased new direct digital xray sensors for my group practice. This is the first major technology purchase in our practice for a handful of years and we took the time to do our 'due diligence' to compare the products and make the right choice for our practice. If you're facing a new technology purchase, here are some ideas on how to evaluate competitive products, train your staff and then follow up to make sure you're making the most of your purchase.

How to evaluate…

“You don’t know what you’ve got, until it’s gone.” That old song applies to my office right now. I have an employee that only handles our daily deposit. She enters payments from all insurance checks, personal payments and EFTs from insurance every day and then takes the cash to the bank. She has worked for me for years and we have a lovely arrangement – she is paid at a relatively low rate and has almost total flexibility with her schedule. As long as she comes in every day to take care of…

OK, maybe Ryan, the baseball Hall of Famer, doesn't think it's wrong to quit chewing tobacco, but he certainly doesn't seem very pleased that one of his star players chose to quit in the middle of the season.



Josh Hamilton, an All-Star outfielder for the Texas Rangers (Ryan's former team and the team for which he currently serves as president), made the decision to kick his tobacco habit during the 2012 baseball season. Ryan said his decision to quit had a "drastic effect" on…

Want new patients for your practice? Video patient testimonials are a powerful way to improve your Google ranking and increase conversions on your website. According to Pixability:

Video gets results

• Video in email increases click-through rates by 96%
• Press releases that include video have a 500% increase in views
• Video on your website makes you 53 times more likely to show up on the first page of Google search…

If you're heading to San Francisco, click on the links below for information you can use in the City by the Bay...



For new products to see at the ADA Annual Session, please click here.



For an Insider's Guide to San Francisco, including tips from locals on restaurants and activities,…

If you're missing teeth and afraid to smile because of this, or you're tired of wearing embarrassed dentures, then you may well be considering splashing the cash on some implant dentistry.



What is an implant?



A dental…

Get $100,000 with this ‘credit card’

Have you received something like this in the mail? A credit card glued to a form letter inviting you to start spending $100,000 on the doctor's name alone just by calling to activate the card?…

Wowza!  I hope you had as much fun as I did this summer!  I explored lots of fun topics including empowerment, leadership, avoiding burnout, preventing isolation and replacing limiting beliefs around career and family!

I look forward to continuing the dialogue with you in the upcoming Dental Influencers Empowerment Series 2012 –

It is a FREE gathering of professionals (via your computer or telephone) who are collaborating and creating a HUGE shift in our professions – some of…

Have you ever heard of Dental Informatics? Described as the intersection of patient data, computer science and dental providers, it’s an approach focused on providing higher quality patient care through better management and use of information. Evidence-based dentistry is built on…

Gotta love American ingenuity. Even in the vacuum of space, astronauts were able to overcome a problem using "out-of-the-box" thinking ... and a blue toothbrush.



From Yahoo! News ...



Spacewalking astronauts triumphed over a stubborn bolt and installed a critical power-switching box at the International Space Station on Wednesday, reviving electrical…