Not long ago I went to a car dealership. Before leaving I picked up a beautiful full color, information clad brochure that looked expensive. Very nice and informative. Another day I took my dog to the veterinarian. During the visit the technician entered information into the patient record and after the doctor finished I was … Continue reading Dental Office Time Management and Patient Care Series: Patient Packets
In our practices we all encounter special needs patients. Patients presenting with MS, ALS, CP, Alzheimer, Parkinson's or other conditions are challenging and many dentists excel in managing them and providing quality care. But what about the special needs patient’s family? Do we always remember to care for them also? We should. Families of special needs patients are … Continue reading Caring for Special Needs Patients and their Families: Before the Appointment and Arrival to the Office
Imagine that you want to fly to L.A.: You open your smartphone and click “fly to L.A.” The app notes your location, driving time to the airport, provides flight options, accesses your award mileage program, rents a car, reserves your favorite hotel and makes dinner reservations in L.A. The software knows your preferences for traveling times, price … Continue reading Dental Office Time Management and Patient Care Series: Automatic treatment planning!
Let’s just admit that periodontal charting is not the most fun thing to do. Here’s a short list of why: It soaks up valuable clinical time It is done as much for legal reasons as clinical reasons The clinical use of the data is limited Many clinicians only chart pocket depth (PD). But, unless one notes both … Continue reading Dental Office Time Management and Patient Care Series: Ultra Fast Periodontal Charting
Dental Symphony was reviewed in the February 2014 edition of the Journal of Dental Education (JDE). We are pleased that they found Dental Symphony to be “an innovative program that can enhance the experience of patients and dentists in the private practice setting”. ePatient was found to be “easy to use and very helpful for patients who … Continue reading Journal of Dental Education Software Review: Dental Symphony
We move now to step 2: The Examination (Chair Side Forms). All dentists know how to complete an examination so it is not necessary to go into that, except to remind the reader that there are only two types of consultations for new patients according to the ADA’s CDT codes. Keeping this in mind makes … Continue reading Dental Office Time Management and Patient Care Series: Patient Examination
Here is an interesting article illuminating the challenges for dentists who treat special needs patients. In these tough, yet important cases, use of IV sedation is a great tool, as Dr. Foleck is aware. In the right hands it is reasonably safe and effective. However, it requires full knowledge of the medical history and pharmacology … Continue reading Challenges in Special Care Dentistry: IV Sedation
Observing the delivery of dental care is, for the dentist, a solitary clinical experience. In fact we want our work to be imperceptible. Because of this, patients do not even know to tell their friends about the marginal integrity of their restorations. They do not brag about how you prevented a pulp necrosis following an … Continue reading Dental Office Time Management and Patient Care Series: Patient Intake
11/25/14 UPDATE - The American Public Health Association (APHA) has published the 20th edition of its “Control of Communicable Diseases Manual” as a key resource for public health professionals fighting infectious disease. In advance of the book’s release and in response to the emerging Ebola outbreak, APHA has made the Ebola-Marburg virus chapter of CCDM … Continue reading Protecting your patients and practice from the Ebola virus
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