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Entries from March 2006

Moving NO INTERNET !!!

March 12th, 2006 · No Comments

I am moving this week. My new place does not have Internet! Cox, or somebody, screwed up. It is supposedly coming soon. In the meantime I feel helpless. Blogging may be light as a result.

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Tags: Just for Fun

Can anyone help Kate?

March 12th, 2006 · No Comments

“Dear Dr Hedge,  I am a researcher with Tiger Aspect, one of the UK’s leading TV production companies. We are producing a one hour program for the Discovery Network about the state of America’s teeth.  Although many people in the US are now concerned with improving the aesthetics of their smiles rather than worrying about […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Arizona Meeting.

March 12th, 2006 · No Comments

I will be presenting this week at the Arizona Meeting, now called The Western Regional Dental Convention, look it up here [1].
I am on all Day Friday March 17.

[1] http://www.azda.org/convention/convention.asp

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Tags: Just for Fun

Glossary of Internet Terms

March 11th, 2006 · No Comments

Following are some selected Internet Terms.
 
Bookmark – A bookmark is a placeholder for pages on the World Wide Web. When you instruct your browser to bookmark a page, you can return to that web page at a later time by selecting the bookmark from you browser’s menu.
Browser – A browser is a software tool with which you can navigate and experience the World Wide Web.
 
Bulletin Board – A bulletin board is a digital bulletin board where users can post messages and reply to messages posted by others.
 
Cookie – A small piece of information sent by a server to your local computer. The cookie allows you to enter the service, look about and go to another web site, and then come back to the original web site without having to enter your login and password.
 
FTP – FTP is an abbreviation for File Transfer Protocol, which is an agreed-upon method for transferring files between computers on the Internet. An FTP site is a server with an address on the Internet that has been set up to use the FTP to store and transfer files.
 
HTML – HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML allows a person to define what goes in a web page, what the page does, and how it looks in a web browser, as well as what the words say, how to draw the pictures or play the sounds, where the links go and more.
 
http – http stands for hypertext transfer protocol. http is the very first part of a web address that says, “I am a web address,” and tells the computers on the Internet to use the “hypertext transfer protocol” to send information to and from your computer.
 

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Tags: Websites & Internet

Pixels to Resolution

March 10th, 2006 · No Comments

What is the best resolution your monitor is capable of? If it is new and fairly high end it may go as high as 1600 x 1200. Do the math; 1600 x 1200 = 1,920,000. That is just less than 2 megapixels (A megapixel equals one million pixels).
That means if you pay the big bucks for a high resolution camera and then take images at the highest resolution most of it is wasted. For example if you display an 8 Megapixel image on a 1200 x 1600 monitor then over 75% of the image is tossed out.
Get a good camera for the quality optics and features but don’t waste bandwidth on high resolution images. For most dental uses a 2–3 Megapixel image is great.

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Tags: Cameras · Hardware

Front Deskless Hygiene

March 9th, 2006 · No Comments

In a Front Deskless paperless office the dental hygienist’s role changes. For example it is easy for the hygienist to just make an appointment and avoid the need to walk the patient up to the front so they can wait in line to schedule. However the best part of Front Deskless hygiene is improved patient care. Who better and what better time and place to schedule the next continuing care appointment than the hygienist chairside, while the patient is motivated to improve their dental health. The hygienist knows exactly when the patient needs to come back. He/she also knows exactly how much time this patient will need, if they are a gagger or smoker who needs extra time or are they a healthy 21 year old who needs very little time.
Another great plus is that the patient is motivated. They are acutely aware of any problems the doctor or hygienist may have found. They are usually sincerely anxious to take proper care of themselves. There will never be a better time to schedule the next appointment. Compare that to the typical motivation a patient experiences when the little smiley elephant recall post card shows up six months later. The patient must still believe there is a need, after all nothing is bothering them, they must find time in a busy life and then make the effort to call and schedule. The old send a card and hope system will never be as effective as scheduling chairside when the patient is anxious to make an appointment.
Another great service for both the hygienist and chairside assistant is instant access to patient data. For example what do you do when a patient asks, “When is my husband due and what do the kids need done next?” With a traditional front desk paper based data center you can’t really give an answer. You can have the patient go up front, wait and go find all the family charts, look through them for the answers. With electronic data and chairside computers as the data center the answer is easy and instantaneous. The result is better communication, better service and ultimately better dental health for our patients.

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Tags: Just for Fun

Six steps to developing a high tech dental office

March 9th, 2006 · No Comments

1. Begin with the End in Mind: Have a plan and a goal before you start
2. Establish a technology infrastructure: Integrated practice management software
Computers networked in the treatment rooms
3. Add the “Big 2”: Digital images
Digital radiography
4. Non-dental programs: Word processing
Checkbook
Anti virus
5. Add advanced dental applications: Patient education
Digital shades
Computerized probes
6. Keep a future focus; be open to evolving technologies: Internet
Wireless
Voice Activation

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Tags: Administrative · Just for Fun

G2 Sneek Peek

March 8th, 2006 · No Comments

Here is a first look at the all new Dentrix version G2 to be released this spring. The following screen shots are preliminary and the final versions may vary.

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Tags: Administrative · Just for Fun

ROI Digital Panoramic

March 8th, 2006 · No Comments

The newest digital panoramic x-ray units retail for about $30,000. That’s a lot of money however when you examine the Return on Investment it is a slam dunk.
If your office has 2000 patientsAnd you take a pano every five years then 1/5 of 2000 = 400And if you get just 4 new patients a month Thats 48 more448 panoramic x-rays at $90 ea.=$40,320   in One Year! 
Plus you eliminate the cost of film, developing chemicals and the need for a processor. If you don’t have a digital panoramic x-ray unit….why not?
My favorite is the Kodak 8000, other brands in the same price range are the Gendex, Schick and Suni.

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Tags: Radiography

Memory card trouble shooting

March 8th, 2006 · No Comments

It is easy to take for granted that your memory card will perform perfectly every time you shoot a picture.  There is nothing more frustrating than shooting pictures and not being able to download your images.  If this has not happened to you yet don’t worry, it will if you don’t follow some easy steps […]

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Tags: Digital Photography · Uncategorized