Today we got a three-fer at MedicalNewsToday.com: Three articles on sleep disorders and how treatment relates to the dental field. Topics covered included dental students ill prepared to treat sleep apnea, sleep disorders hard to diagnose in kids, and nasendoscopy in predicting treatment results. More and more, we’re hearing about sleep disorder treatment by dentists – probably because an estimated 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder and about 20 million have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Many of these folks hate the CPAP. Today, dentists can offer a simple, non-invasive, comfortable alternative with OAT (oral appliance therapy).

Just checkout this post excerpt from the Sleepnet.com message board:

I have just been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea within the last month. I had two sleep studies done. One with and one without the CPAP machine. Since my diagnosis I have been given the CPAP for a one month trial. I am depressed, angry and frustrated. Everyone keeps telling me to just use the CPAP machine. I am using it for the one month trial because my insurance company requires it. I have already had trouble with the machine. [Read more →]

What does Frank Sinatra have to do with your practice? Follow his lead and you may see your case acceptance numbers rise dramatically. Using the Sinatra Principle, Ken Runkle presents 4 Proven Steps to increasing case acceptance that will have more patients saying “Yes!” right away.

Read the entire article.

Listen to the companion audio portion at The Paragon Podcast.

These days, access to information is everything. For dentists, practice marketing in the Internet age is evolving constantly and quickly. TNT Dental, the premier dental website and marketing company, has taken dental marketing to the next level with TNT.mobile.

It’s all about the apps.

Fact: In only nine months, iPod app downloads topped one billion.

What is an app?

App is short for application. A website app is a downloadable version of a website that’s completely user friendly on a cell phone that has Internet capability.

Dr. Lance Timmerman of Seattle has a custom website with TNT Dental. The website features email contact forms, a blog by Dr. Timmerman, video introductions by the dentist, a before-and-after gallery, and many other cutting-edge features that promote conversion – turning web visitors into active patients.

Always on top of state-of-the-art marketing trends, Dr. Timmerman now has a practice website application from TNT.mobile.

Check it out:

[Read more →]

On the Internet these days, videos are a hit. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the planet. If you’re not using video testimonials on your website, you’re missing out on potential customers. For years, marketers have known that the best advertising is word of mouth. Good patients usually refer other good patients. That in itself is reason enough to invest in some good video testimonial for your website. But wait, there’s more:

Video testimonials seem real.

In the post “Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work,” Holly Buchanan of Future Now tells us that testimonials hurt your marketing strategy if people don’t think they’re real.

How’s this for “real?” Dr. Harry Chambers of Oregon, a Gresham dentist, has a great example of video testimonials on his website by TNT Dental. The videos depict his real patients in his real practice telling their real stories. [Read more →]

Human molar scaffold by Dr. Mao of Columbia University Medical Center

Here at DentalBlogs, we were giddy to bring you news about scientists making prosthetic sheep bones from wicker. We thought that might have been the absolute coolest thing ever. We jumped up and down while typing blog posts (thank goodness for spell check) that told you about stem cells that promote implant stabilization. We love to bring you exciting news from the world of dentistry every day. But nothing – nothing – has tickled our fancy as much as the new report from Columbia University Medical Center.

Nine weeks. New tooth. No prosthetic. Seriously.

[Read more →]

If you’re a dentist looking for electronic health record (EHR) software for your practice, you’re going to come across at least 300 options in the market today. And if you’re looking for a dental-specific EHR, you’re going to have even fewer options.

Even fewer of those options are going to run on a Macintosh computer. For those dentists that are interested in going Apple in their office, there are three options:

• Software designed specifically for Macintosh computers;
• Web based EMR; and,
• Running a virtual machine.

Chris Thorman of Medical Software Advice breaks down these options in one of his latest blog posts. You can read it all at his blog: Mac EMR Software | A Guide to Medical Software for Apple Computers.

After the 15^th annual conference of The Speaking Consulting Network, Linda Miles, Founder of SCN is proud to announce the sale of SCN to Lois Banta of Banta Consulting, Inc.

Lois is looking forward to the growth of SCN by expanding to other healthcare professionals for the 2011 Dallas conference and beyond.

The Anaheim conference drew attendees from 28 states, Canada and Australia.  The May 20-22, 2011 Dallas conference goal is 300 speakers, consultants, authors, VIP meeting planners, editors from healthcare journals and sponsoring partners from healthcare companies.

Lois along with her committee chairs, Katherine Eitel, Laci Phillips and Bob Spiel look forward to sharing in the success of SCN with all speakers, consultants, authors and healthcare companies wishing to stay in the forefront of their profession.  VIP meeting planners look to The Speaking Consulting Network to fill their rosters for successful meetings.

Linda’s long term goal for SCN was finding a successor/owner that exemplifies SCN’s spirit.  Linda Miles congratulates Lois Banta who has attended 14 out of 15 conferences and is a natural fit.  She will insure the success of SCN for years to come.

The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies has announced that Cadent’s iTero will be the exclusive digital impression technology for the Core II and Core III programs. Other programs, Core V and Core VII, will use iTero for restorative applications. LVI students will work on live cases with the iTero trainers and LVI instructors. Read the press release here: http://www.cadentinc.com/company/pressroom.html.

If your practice is not doubling every ten years, you may have missed opportunities along the way.  How much have missed opportunities cost you?  Where would your practice be today if you had seized a few more opportunities over the last few years? Ken Runkle has uncovered 5 Rules related to the high cost of missed opportunities.  Learn them now and empower your practice to take advantage of opportunities for substantial growth today.

Download the pdf here:

MissedOpportunities

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Two weeks ago, I attended the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry’s annual meeting in Dallas. Traffic is up, people are happy, and the positive atmosphere I noticed in January and February has continued. It’s especially good to see because there are more dentists at the AACD meeting who focus on elective procedures in their practices. The  temperature showed that things in even cosmetic dentistry are looking up. When you see patients coming back for elective services, it indicates consumer confidence and a positive trend. [Read more →]