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What’s My Practice Worth?
By Tom Snyder, DMD, MBA The old rule of thumb–that general dental practices sell for 60 to 65% of last year’s gross receipts–is not always accurate. There are many factors that can impact your practice’s value. AREA DEMOGRAPHICS This has the most significant impact on a dental practice’s value. If you live in LA County, your practice may command a value of up to 100% of last year’s gross revenue. Conversely, if you practice in rural mid-America, it may be in the 50% range of last year’s gross revenue. In the Northeast, practice values are in the 70% to 75% range. Why the disparity? Supply and demand. In large metropolitan
Digital Sensors - Not All Are Created Equal
By John P. James, DDS When I switched from traditional film to digital radiographs, I looked forward to all of the benefits of digital imaging. I didn’t realize then that not all digital imaging systems are created equal. My first digital sensors were a popular brand, which we upgraded to their newer version. None of the sensors seemed to produce the sharp images I was accustomed to with well-made film. After that, I switched to cheaper sensors. Unfortunately, my patients reported discomfort because of the sensor’s edges, and the image quality was not improved. After a few months, still unsatisfied, I thought back to the DEXIS™ images I had
Protect Data with a Security Risk Assessment
By Thomas Grover, Henry Schein TechCentral The terms data loss and data breach are enough to send chills down the spine of any dental practice. And with good reason. The legal fees, remediation costs, restitution, fines and negative media exposure can be hard to recover from and can have a lasting impact on your practice. In short, not only do you need to protect your bottom line, but also the privacy of your patients and your reputation. The serious risk associated with a data loss or breach is exactly why HIPAA mandates that you conduct an annual Security Risk Assessment (SRA). A properly conducted SRA is the first step
Practice Considerations for Technology Integration
By Gary Kaye, DDS, FAGD The world is going digital, and dentistry is no exception. As practices strive to stay up-to-date, digital technology can be incorporated into practices to enhance and simplify procedures, helping dentists to achieve the maximum return on investment in more ways than one. Newer technology allows dental offices to offer advanced, more streamlined services, accept more patients and provide treatments with greater efficiency. Integrating technology into a practice requires a combination of clinical and management skills and should not be undertaken without careful planning. Since technology is an investment of time, money and human adoption, a detailed, sequential plan of action can help a practice realize
Three Things Every Dental Practice Must Have
Dental consumer spending, which began to slow in the early 2000s, is expected to continue to lag for the next three to five years. PPOs and changes in dental insurance have created intense pressure on practice profitability. The rise of group practices and corporate dentistry have increased competition for the solo practitioner. When adjusted for inflation, dentists’ average net income has decreased since its peak in 2005. Clinical expertise is no longer enough to be successful in dentistry. To run a profitable practice, dentists need to be small business owners whose product is dentistry. Today you are not just the dentist, you are the CEO, CFO and COO
Veteran Dentist Reaps Benefits of New Office Joy Dental Center
JOY DENTAL CENTER - BAYTOWN, TX Dr Faye Bishop-Cumberbatch Dr. Faye Bishop-Cumberbatch was thrilled to open her new office, Joy Dental Center, a general-dentistry practice in the outskirts of Baytown/Mont Belvieu, Texas, but it took her 27 years to decide to build it—from the ground up! So, what would motivate a seasoned, well-established dentist to tackle a project of this magnitude at that point in her career? In a word...opportunity. > "From the very beginning, Dr. Cumberbatch wanted to invest in the best > equipment and technology available," explained Mr. Konesheck. This rural but growing community, located about 30 minutes from Houston, had started to experience new development with numerous
Expanding High-Quality Care: Carolina Practice Feels Like Home
STEPHANIEGRAY HACKNEY, DDS, PA - WILMINGTON, NC Doctors build new offices for many different reasons. Sometimes, it is because of a lack of space or infra-structure for new technology. In Dr. StephanieGray Hackney's case, her move to a new location in Wilmington, North Carolina was, indeed, motivated by expanding the space, but there was something much more pressing. Her existing office setup simply did not represent the quality of care and the personal attention she provided to patients in her general dentistry practice. "It is really a branding story," explained Henry Schein Director of Equipment & Technology Ryan Steck, who worked with Dr. Hackney on the move from her
Is Your Practice Secure?
By: Thomas Grover | Henry Schein TechCentral Your practice and its data is a target for cybercriminals. Research indicates patient health information (PHI) can be 10 to 20 times more valuable on the black market than credit card numbers.1 Understand the Risks Without a combination of proper security protections, your practice is at risk: * Financial penalties: violating HIPAA regulations can result in penalties from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. * Patient loss: In an August 2013 Harris Interactive survey, 40% would look for a new dentist if their personal information was stolen from their current dentist.2 Multiple
Practice-Changing Imaging in 3D
By Daniel Klauer, DDS, DABCP, DABCDSM 3D IMAGING: EXPANDED APPLICATION TRANSFORMS DOCTOR’S BUSINESS Technology is doing amazing things in our fast-paced world. Who would have predicted that, in dentistry, we would see our patients’ anatomy in 3D, but also from all angles with a low radiation dose? The i-CAT™ 3D cone beam unit and Tx STUDIO™ software (Imaging Sciences International) is a technology that has changed the way I practice. With the Internet, patients can easily research dental options and dental practices. They want to understand the procedures being offered and know we are giving them the best possible dental care. We wanted to add CBCT to more effectively place
It’s About Time and About DEXIS
By Gregory Zollo, DDS After 37 years of practicing dentistry, I decided to change my image. By that, I mean that I improved my radiographic images by switching from film to digital X-rays. I wanted to make the best choice, so I invited representatives from three different companies for demonstrations. One interesting aspect stood out in my mind. When discussing digital systems with my dental colleagues, many had switched from other brands to DEXIS™. But I didn't hear of anyone who switched from DEXIS to another system. DEXIS™ Platinum sensor technology produces clear images at a wide range of exposure settings. And the ClearVu™ image enhancement tool provides even
Multispecialty Practice Builds New Office for Superior Patient Experience Racine Dental Group
Racine Dental Group - Racine, WI The sheer size of Racine Dental Group is likely what visitors will notice first when they pull up to the sprawling 58,000-square-foot building. This modern office, set on five acres on the growing west side of Racine, Wisconsin, has three floors and offers care from dentists in nearly every specialty—all under one roof. The patient care is comprehensive and state of the art, but thanks to advanced equipment and the vast experience shared between its 19 doctors, Racine Dental Group is also quite efficient, with every part of the large practice integrated so a patient can move seamlessly between doctors. The patient experience
Studio Dental Mobile Office Rolls Into San Francisco
Even in San Francisco, a city known for creative thinking and innovation, Studio Dental is a fresh new idea. This general dentistry practice, founded by Dr. Sara Creighton and executive Lowell Caulder, is a mobile office that parks in different downtown locations so urban professionals can simply walk outside their offices and receive dental care in minutes. Studio Dental opened in June 2014 and now has 1,200 new patients. The concept came out of something Dr. Creighton noticed about her own friends in the Bay area — they wanted to go to the dentist, but often didn't make time. She decided that one way to serve more people
Technology That Can Change Lives
As an orthodontist, I have the opportunity to change lives. I have another facet to my practice as well — evaluating both young and adult patients for airway issues. Find life-changing cases by Dr. Kaspers and others at stories.i-cat.com. Indications for use at www.i-cat.com/IFU An i-CAT™ 3D scan is the perfect adjunct in airway screening, giving clinicians a full picture of the head and neck anatomy. With i-CAT's 3D imaging software, Tx STUDIO™, I can view the airway areas, obtain precise anatomical views and measurements, and even see airway volumes with color-coded constriction values. I can share these scans with other dental and medical professionals to help create a multi-disciplinary approach
8 Dental Offices Worth the Wait
Waiting is just a part of life. We wait in line, wait for the bus, wait in traffic, and wait for the weekend. It’s not always fun - but sometimes, a business will do something special to make your wait just a little easier. That’s what we’re highlighting today, in our review of dental offices that have gone above and beyond, and created waiting areas that are truly worth the wait. Forget about ancient magazines and elevator music: these dental waiting areas are unique, fun, and make your visit to the dentist much more enjoyable and relaxing. Kudos to these eight practices for really focusing on the
Consumerism in the Dental Industry: Understanding The New Dental Consumer
In today’s environment of consumerism, patients have higher expectations. They are more price conscious and have immediate access to oral health information. They are shoppers who, with a few simple key strokes, can find the average cost of any dental service in their area through websites that compare the costs of specific procedures by zip code. Shoppers can accept the rate found on a website, negotiate for an even lower price, or pay cash and receive an even better discount. In recent years, the dental industry has taken on more of a “consumer” focus. This shift is due, in part, to a number of influences: (1) increasing competition among
All In
By Michael Koceja, DDS “All in.” We hear this term all the time. It signifies that we are making a total commitment to what we are undertaking. No turning back. Unfortunately, with technology we sometimes fail to go “all in.” We spend thousands of dollars, and our new technology ends up in a cabinet, closet, or on eBay. We have to extend that concept on a daily basis when practicing Dentistry, evaluate why we purchased the technology, and use it until it becomes an integral part of how we practice. An example is incorporating diode laser technology into our practices. A laser can help with many different procedures, but
The Digital Practice Analysis Tool
The team at Henry Schein Dental is eager to help you find out what your practice’s main challenges are and expose the objective points of data that will lead you toward the best solutions. Henry Schein Dental’s Business Discovery Surveys and the Digital Practice Analysis Tool allow us to gather important information about how to improve your practice’s overall performance. In 2009, we set out to effectively state and address the challenges that were affecting dentists across the country. In order to do so, we surveyed over 13,000 dentists. The results of this survey should not be a surprise to many of you because they represent common issues that
New Office Integrates Technology for Significant Growth
LIBERTY DENTAL & DENTURE–FREMONT, OHIO Dr. Louis Carratola How do you progress from attracting fewer than 35 new patients per year to more than 35 new patients in a month? Dr. Louis Carratola, of Liberty Dental in Fremont, Ohio, attributes it to one thing: his magnificent and very functional new office, which opened in February 2013. The 3,000-square-foot general dentistry practice allows him and his staff to practice exceptional dentistry and offer expanded capabilities such as same-day restorations and conscious-sedation dentistry to patients in a beautiful, state-of-the-art space. Dr. Carratola’s story is not unlike many doctors who chose to build a new office. He took over a relatively stagnant dental practice
Don’t Let Old Servers Hold Down Your Practice
PLAN FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION WITH HENRY SCHEIN TECHCENTRAL BUSINESS SOLUTION On July 14, 2015, Microsoft will no longer support Windows Server 2003. Continuing to run your server on Windows 2003 can have a profound effect on your dental practice. How Will This Impact Your Practice? Your server is the backbone of your network, and it usually houses all of your data, including financial records and Patient Health Information (PHI). Additionally, new software applications and hardware devices may not be compatible with Windows Server 2003. Continuing to run Windows Server 2003 when Microsoft stops releasing updates puts your practice at risk. A solid migration plan to a new server
CariVu™–It Makes Perfect Sense
As a fan of technology, I read dental journals and technology blogs for materials and equipment that can improve the way I approach dentistry. Recently, I discovered the DEXIS™ CariVu caries detection device that uses near-infrared (NIR) transillumination technology. The CariVu device takes transillumination to a higher level. The device detects carious lesions and cracks interproximally, occlusally, and around cracks and restorations through near-infrared light. Dense enamel reflects this light while the porous carious lesions trap and absorb the light. As a result, CariVu produces an image where the healthy tooth appears light and the lesions dark. This results in accurate information without any ionizing radiation exposure. Before CariVu, I tried
Enhancing Ergonomics and Workflow in Microdentistry: OPMI pico with MORA Interface (excerpts)
By Assad F. Mora, DDS, MSD, FACP The operating microscope has been an essential instrument in my private practice since 1992. Once I became hooked on the visual advantage provided by the microscope in my daily practice, I became more aware of the ergonomic shortcomings that, occasionally, made the microscope a difficult instrument to use. For the microscope user to be comfortable when using the microscope, it requires a posture in which muscle tension is minimized and equalized between the left and the right sides of the body and the arms. The ideal microscope position that can be conducive to assuming such posture must allow the operator to be
Supercharging Your General Practice with 3D
In the last year, competition has increased for general practices. The economic downturn has affected production and changed the business of dentistry by driving offices to stronger disciplines when it comes to practice management. More offices have leveraged new technologies, such as digital radiography, to improve efficiencies and move their practice to the next level. However, with the majority of dental offices now going paperless, general practices are posed with new challenges and the need to differentiate their offices from the rest. A clear path for a general practice to get to the next level is to offer a more comprehensive range of services that could potentially include
Airway Analysis in 3D with i-CAT
Serving for seven years in the United States Navy changed my perspective on dentistry. My general practice residency program at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, California, gave me a glimpse into treating the body as a whole and not just focusing on the teeth. As a result, I was thrilled when i-CAT 3D imaging became an option for my practice. It has allowed me to raise my diagnostic capabilities to a new level, expanding into the area of airway analysis. With my i-CAT system, I treatment plan with precise data about the dentition, as well as the anatomy of the nose, all the way down through
Babcock Office Makes a Stunning First Impression–Excellent Periodontist
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Kent Hamilton First impressions count. Most people accept that as fact. Dr. Kent Hamilton did. He knew that his Babcock periodontal practice, one of his three Excellent Periodontist locations in the San Antonio area, did not make a strong first impression. Well-known in the community for the specialty dental care the doctor provided, including implants, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and restorations, his office did not communicate that high level of care and skill. The shortcomings were many. The existing office was dated and run down. There was no digital imaging technology at all. The floor plan was not conducive to efficient patient flow, and it was too