The best way to save money with technology is to use the systems you buy effectively. That means good, ongoing training for the staff and the dentist. It means abandoning old paper based systems which take up valuable staff time. It means entering treatment from the moment it is diagnosed to the moment it is paid for. It means learning to use the computer data to more effectively manage the practice. It is quite possible for a good technology system to completely pay for itself in less than a year.

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It is useful to think about computer security in relationship to physical office security. A computer password can be thought of as a lock and key.
The first level of security, the windows logon, is like the key to the office door. If you don’t have that key you can’t get into anything.
The second level is application passwords. These are like keys to the filing cabinets. This key allows you to get into the charts. However there is still a locked drawer in the Dr.’s office
The third level of security is like the key to the locked drawer where the cash and checkbook is kept.

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An interesting (ugly but cool) product is the Power Squid.I am constantly frustrated by bulky plug in transformers hogging all the space on my power strip. Right now I have eight of them under my desk connected to the cable modem (2), speakers, routers, phone chargers and so on. The squid makes all of the outlets from the power strip or surge protector available.

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Line Pairs per Millimeter (lp/mm). This is a measure of resolution, which refers to pairs of lines pressed tighter and tighter together until they eventually merge into a single line. The more lines that can be pressed into a millimeter and still be seen as individual lines, the higher the resolution. Digital radiography sensors can acquire images ranging from 8 to <20 lp/mm. The unaided human eye can distinguish about 10 to14 lp/mm. Is that extra resolution lost? Not really that’s where the software takes over.
Pixel and Megapixel. Pixel is short for picture element. Basically it is a dot on the computer screen. The dots are arranged in rows and columns and are so close together they appear to be connected. The dot can be a shade of gray or a color. A typical 800 x 600 image has 480,000 pixels. The more dots that make up an image the better the resolution. A megapixel is simply one million pixels.
8 bit or 12 bit. A bit is short for binary digit. In graphics the term refers to the number of different shades or colors a single pixel can display. An 8 bit image is 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x2 x 2 x 2 or 2 to the 8th power. If you do the math that comes to 256. Most monitors display an 8 bit image meaning each pixel could be one of 256 different shades of gray. A twelve bit image is 2 to the 12th power or 4,096. True color is 24 bits which allows for 16 million different shades. At most the unaided human eye can distinguish 100 shades of gray. Is the extra detail useless? It depends on the software.

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The most amazing imaging technology now available to dentists is cone beam CT. Imagine the difference between looking at a photo of an object, like a car for example, and handling a complete model of the same car. The photo only allows you to see one side of the car. The model allows you to see the car from any direction and determine depth and relationships which would be impossible using just the photo.
CT stands for Computed Tomography which is a short version of CAT, Computed Axial Tomography.  A CT scan is a diagnostic imaging method in which a computer is used to generate a three-dimensional image of the internal of an object using a series of two-dimensional X-ray image slices taken around a single axis of rotation.
Cone Beam refers to the type of X-Ray projection and is important because it allows users to image a small well defined volume such as the lower face and mouth. Dr. Dale Miles [1], one of the leading US experts in Cone Beam CT analysis notes, “These devices allow oral radiologists to acquire images of only the head and neck region of the patient, at greatly reduced absorbed x-ray doses compared to conventional medical CT, with full 3D volume rendering capability.”

[1] http://www.learndigital.net/

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Process ?

The paper way

The digital way

Enter it

We use paper and pen to write on a chart, fill out a prescription, make notes or draw on the dental chart.

We use a mouse and a keyboard to enter the same information.

Capture it

We use film exposed to light in a camera or x-rays which is then processed to create a photograph or a radiograph..

We use a sensor which is exposed to either light in a camera or to x-rays which then create an image on the computer monitor.

Scan it

We take a piece of paper which has important information and we make a copy and put the paper copy in the chart folder.

We take a piece of paper which has important information and we make a digital electronic copy which becomes part of the digital record.

Import it

We add information we have received from someone else, such as an insurance EOB to the chart folder.

We never see a paper EOB we just import this information in a digital format directly to the patient’s digital record.

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It’s a new dawn and a new day in dentistry, a far cry from the mid-’80s when strict regulations prohibited advertising a dental practice. But is dental marketing a double-edged sword? Dentists are experts at clinical care; marketing is another story entirely. How is a dentist supposed to approach the giant, [...]

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