dentalblogs.com » Digital Photography

Dental & Medical News: Stem Cells Grow Replacement Tooth in Mouse

Administrator — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:26:37 +0000

This is a breakthrough that could lead to a major overhaul in dental prosthetics and, more importantly, organ regeneration. The Wall Street Journal covered a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which Tokyo University of Science researches implanted a “tooth germ” into a mouse’s empty tooth socket. The “tooth germ” consisted of cells with a genetic map of how to build a tooth.

Taken from Tokyo University of Science press release.

After 11 weeks, the tooth had grown from bud to maturity. The durability, shape, and natural stress responses mimicked that of a natural tooth. It also functioned like nature intended for a healthy tooth.

Human testing has not been announced. Read the full article here.

Stem cell research is bounding forward. If you’re interested in stem cell preservation for your patients, visit www.StemSave.com to learn how dental stem cells can be preserved from extracted teeth.

DentalBlogs Named in Top 50 Medical Career Blogs

Administrator — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:47:51 +0000

Dental Blogs was named to the top 50 medical career blog list at Medicine 3.0 . If you’re interested in pursuing a career in dentistry or medicine, check out the blog list at http://nursingassistantguides.com/2009/top-50-medical-career-blogs/#more-121.

Lobby Vision Introduces You to Patients

Administrator — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:12:02 +0000

You’re probably familiar with the popular patient education programs that include a DVD to play on loop in your lobby. While these systems are great, there’s a new option that has taken patient education to a more personal level. Lobby Vision is a custom video that can feature information about your team, your tools, your procedures, and your office – rather than generalities. This personalized approach to patient education is a favorite with Dr. Henry Pinkey. Read his testimonial below.

The following is a letter written by a dentist currently benefiting from the Lobby-Vision Program.
This letter was sent to the Madow Brothers for use in their newsletter.

I have no financial interest in this company or product and no relationship with any employee. I am
writing this in an effort to inform dentists around the country about what I believe is one of the best and
most cost effective internal marketing devices I have seen in my 32 years of practice and to help a
group of young professionals who are attempting to help dentists around the country, succeed.
I am a dentist in the suburbs of Detroit and before you feel sorry for me being at the epicenter of the
economic meltdown in our country I would add that we are finishing three of the best months we have
ever had. I feel Lobby-Vision has had a significant part in this. Suffice it to say, we are not involved in
any PPO’s, we collect 99% of the work we bill and we have an enthusiastic staff that believes in what
we do.

Basically, Lobby Vision is a customized program that combines information about you, your practice and
your services with some fun dental quiz questions and facts. It has great graphics and transitions. It
plays on a TV monitor that you mount in your reception room. It repeats every 30 minutes or so and
plays all day. Best of all, it is totally silent so it is not intrusive and doesn’t drive your front desk staff
crazy. Working with their designers, we put together a program that showcased our office in a way that
we were never able to do before.

So, what can Lobby Vision do for you? Do you believe that forming a personal bond between yourself
and your patients is important? Then tell them something about you as a person: your interests, hobbies
or family. Do you want to establish your competency? List the continuing education classes you took in
the last year? Do they know all of the services you provide? Tell them. Tell them about the laser you
bought, the digital x-ray you spent tons of money on, the gizmo that you never use.
Tell them how long your assistants have been working with you and show them their pictures. Patients
want to form a personal link. Make it easy for them. Let them know your hours, your emergency
protocol. Build value in the relationship. Tell them the things that they never see: the fact that you use a
water filtration system and only American dental labs.

Many patients have commented positively about Lobby Vision. Some have asked how they can get one
for their own optometry or medical offices. I only am sorry I didn’t have this years ago.
And the cost? Lobby Vision is a bargain. All you need is a DVD player and a TV. Every expert says that
internal marketing is the best place to use your dollars and I am convinced that Lobby Vision pays for
itself every day.

You can see more at http://lobby-vision.com or call them at 866-230-5588.

Henry Pinkney, D.D.S.
February 26, 2009

Dentists on Facebook

Administrator — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:50:44 +0000

First of all, if you are unfamiliar with Facebook, join up for free at www.facebook.com, if for no other reason than to say you did! Facebook is a social networking website where people across the globe post profiles and connect with other folks. Facebook is a form of “social networking” for individuals and businesses. Do dentists do social networking?

I decided to see what turns up on Facebook with a simple search for “dentist.” Here’s what I found (my regional network is Dallas/Fort Worth)…

First, I found a dentist. Actually, I found one of Dallas’ top cosmetic and implant dentists who has websites and a Facebook account. Alas, the Facebook was empty!

Next, I found “Cad Cam Dentist,” apparently a doc who signed up over a month ago, posted some D4D pictures, and got busy elsewhere. Not much action going on there.

Then came the groups:

DENTIST (159 members), a “common interest” group with a silly little old man dentist for an icon.
Dentist (169 members), a “just for fun – Facebook classics” group. It’s a closed group, so you have to be invited or approved to get in. They must be plotting how to take over the world with teeth?
From there, it really went downhill – sad, forgotten groups with a handful of members.

So all in all, dentists are not using Facebook in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for social networking. Let me explain how an active, beneficial Facebook account works for a dentist.

If you want in on social networking, start with claiming a home on the Internet. Start with a website! Contact TNT Dental if you need direction in this area.
Set up a free Facebook account for business. You might use your logo for the picture, put speaking events on the calendar, and for your profile, use a professional bio.
Ask your web design/hosting/support provider to add the Facebook logo and link to your website’s homepage.
On the newly established Facebook account, create photo albums for before and after cases, special events, team pictures, etc. Invite your patients (by email form on Facebook) to “become your friend” on Facebook.
At least once a week, if not more often, post an update, such as a testimonial video from YouTube, a before-and-after case in your album, information on a particular product or technology, news in dentistry, a cool link that your patients might like, and/or a tip for patients’ oral homecare.
DO NOT FORGET ABOUT YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! Many, many dentists start out gung-ho, then get busy with life. If you do not have time to devote to social networking, you have two options: 1) don’t even get started, or 2) teach your admin staff to manage your Facebook account and make it part of his/her job description to keep it up to date.

The benefit? The more presence you have online, the better your Internet marketing. The Yellow Pages is in bankruptcy. People look for dentists online. You want to appear like you’re technologically savvy and genuinely interested in your patients? You want to leverage the web to your advantage? Social networking is the key. It takes time and commitment. There’s just no way around that part.

So you have a website or two, and your practice has an active Facebook account. Take your social networking strategy a step further – start a blog on your website, and when you post to your blog, Twitter it! Sounds Greek, you say? We’ll review Twitter soon, so stay tuned to DentalBlogs for more info on social networking for dentists!

Consent for Full-Mouth Restoration Patients

Administrator — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:34:19 +0000

Tom Hedge, DentalBlogs contributor and tech guru, got permission from the author to use this sample form for full-mouth rehab cases. Simply download it, amend it, and have your patients sign it.

Open Bite Consent Form
Provided by Daniel R. King, www.AtlantaCenterForCosmeticDentistry.com.

open-bite-consent

DB Column – Two Sides of the Management Coin

Administrator — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:05:19 +0000

Numbers and Overhead

Staff Viewpoint by Linda Miles – Doctor’s Viewpoint by Dr. Rhonda Savage

Knowing the numbers and overhead control in a dental office is important for both the staff and dentist. To control overhead, the staff must be aware of the numbers. Oftentimes dentists hesitate to share financial information with the team because of confidentiality concerns. However, if your team is capable of patient privacy, they are likewise capable of keeping the business information about your practice under wraps. You will be amazed how sharing the information can empower your team to work together for the greater benefit of the dental practice.

STAFF VIEWPOINT (Linda Miles)
We’ve all heard the phrase, “what gets measured improves.”

“Why then does our doctor not want to share practice numbers with us as my last employer did?”

The team needs to know certain practice numbers in order to help control overhead, set goals, see those goals reached and share in the rewards if they improve. It is amazing to me how many dentists still keep the staff in the dark about numbers that they and the team need to be aware of each month. Numbers should be reported at the health of the practice team meeting week one of every month. Each member of the team (including the dentist) should take turns facilitating the team meeting. They should also give a three-minute personal progress report on certain areas of the practice that they personally monitor.

Scheduling Coordinator-
1) Number of new patients last month and where those new patients came from (patient referral, marketing project, doctor or team referral etc.) It is also good to do a comparison study of how the NP number compares with the same month a year ago.

2) Number of failed or last minute changed appointments in the doctor’s schedule.

3) Number of emergency patients worked into the schedule last month. How many were patients of record versus new patient emergencies. If a NP emergency, how many rescheduled for a complete oral health exam and radiographs? How does this compare with the same month a year ago?

Financial Coordinator-
1) Number of past due collection calls to patients and overdue insurance.

2) Number of dollars collected last month through patient financing. How does that compare with the same month a year ago?

3) Total A/R balance and the percentage of dollars past 60 and 90 days old. Comparison of same month a year ago.

Assistants-
1) Number of unit of crowns/veneers/implants etc. and a comparison of the same month a year ago.

2) Number of dollars spent last month on dental supplies, the % of last month’s collections and how close it is to my budget of 6%.

3) Number of infection control violations given last month and number of dollars collected. (We recommend that one assistant be the “infection control cop” giving $5 tickets to those who they see breaking the rules of good infection control. The money is used to take the office team to lunch.)

Hygienists-
1) Number of daily dollars produced in their treatment room last month with a comparison study of the same month a year ago (Total $ divided by # of days.)

2) Number of procedures in the 4000 code (initial perio procedures) and how this compares to the same month a year ago.

3) Number of units of open chair time in their schedule last month and how that compares with the same month a year ago. (Goal is zero defects in hygiene schedule.)

Doctor or Practice Administrator-
1) Last month’s gross and adjusted (net) production. How that compares with the same month a year ago.

2) Last month’s collected amount with a comparison of same month a year ago.

3) Was the practice bonus goal reached and if so, it is a time for celebration and bonus checks to be distributed.

DOCTORS VIEWPOINT (Rhonda Savage, DDS)Almost from the very beginning (1994), I worked with a LLM&A consultant who encouraged me to share practice numbers with the team. It was most empowering to have the staff “own” certain areas of the practice by keeping me in the know about how things were going in their departments. One point that dentists must make very clear when sharing the figures: All team members know that confidentiality about practice business, patients, and each other stays within the walls of the office and is not shared with others. Being a confidant is part of being a professional. Reminding the team of this at the beginning of each team meeting is important.

The point of having health of the practice team meetings is threefold:
1) To create “owner attitude” versus “unionized thinking,” which is, “Give me my paycheck and let me out of here.” The team loves to have good reports!

2) To create accountability within each position of the practice.

3) To promote teamwork. When they hear each other’s reports they know they
are not the only dedicated, hard-working team member and that each of them are important to the success of the practice.

And as a final benefit, they all work harder as they love seeing the dentist pleased with reports that focus on their contributions each month. They also love knowing they reached their bonus goals and are now rewarded for their extra effort. This equals happy dentist and happy team. Patients notice!

Visit LLM&A Consulting online here.

Smiles All Around for British Dentists

Administrator — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:12:13 +0000

Results of the 2007 British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry audit show that our English neighbors across the pond really like their cosmetic dentistry. The BACD is a non-profit organization that promotes ethics and advancements in cosmetic dentistry. The long and short of the audit:

Female patients accounted for over half of all cosmetic dentistry cases.

Orthodontics is up 345%! This includes clear braces and traditional ortho. Removable braces make up over half of the cases.

Veneer cases held steady, but the number of male cases increased.

From most popular to least popular, cosmetic dentistry procedures fall in this order: white fillings; crowns, inlays, onlays; veneers; whitening; bridges; implants; orthodontics; gum contouring.

SOURCE: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/127038.php

NHII says EHRs by 2014

Administrator — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:15:46 +0000

This is old news. But time flies, and 2014 is only getting closer. The National Health Information Infrastructure, an organization focused on improving US healthcare, wants medical records to be electronic by 2014. Read more about the program here:

100-pg guide
Power Point that explains the vision
ADA’s view in JADA (2004)
Article on measuring progress

For EHRs, digital radiography is a must. “Focus On Radiology” in Dental Economics (February 2008, pg. 64) by Technology Editor Paul Feuerstein provides a good review of the whys and whats. It’s worth a read. For now, start moving toward the goal, researching digital radiograph systems, cost and financing, and training. Dr. Feuerstein recommends keeping a traditional backup system for situations like natural disasters or theft.

Importance of Your Website and It’s Optimazation

Corine Leech — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:14:01 +0000

By now all dental offices should have and see the value of a web site. A really nice, flashy web site is terrific BUT if no one ever finds it what good is it to the bottom dollar of your practice. You have to know how to drive the general public to your site so they know you, your Team and the terrific dental services you offer. Just this past Friday, while I was in the office working, I received an email from a client I had seen as a new patient in February of 2005. On her visit we had taken digital photos so she could see her dental needs and problems as we see them. She then talked with me about what she wanted to change in her mouth. Together we formulated a treatment plan to help her accomplish her goals. Did she schedule, no, she did not have the money. I had not heard from her until Friday. Her email stated she had been able to obtain financing at last, and was ready to schedule her $22,000 case. The link to the web is, she was originally referred to our practice through a link we have with About Cosmetic Dentistry.com, that directed her to our web site. From our web site she called to schedule her original appointment. And now, 2 years later that same web optimization, linked her back to our site where she found the link to financing through Enhance Patient Finance and emailed me to schedule her appointment. The Internet and your web site truly are the key to an untapped public who is now better educated and researching the type of dentist they want.

FYI there is a tremendous program being offered to help you better understand the Internet link for your practice. It is in Austin Texas at The Hyatt Lost Pines Resort on March 23 and 24th. It is being offered by ACE (The Academy of Comprehensive Esthetics).

Lecture & panel discussions will feature dental experts Dr. Tom Hedge, Dr. Marvin Berlin, Dr. Kent Smith, Dr. Peter Boulden, Dr. Curtis Westersund, Dr. Gerilyn Alfe, Dr. Anthony Vocaturo, Dr. Tim Hale & Dr. Peter Masci.

You’ll also have the opportunity to learn from industry experts Mr. Zach Hoffman of Dental SEO, Mr. Jim Higgins of Smile Reminder, Mr. Tim Kelley & Mr. Tim Healy of TNT Dental, Mr. Dan Scott of Roadside Multimedia, Mr. Howie Horrocks of New Patients, Inc., Dr. Bill Jackson of PlanetDDS, and Ms. Jennifer Poppers of ShopPR.

Do not miss this tremendous chance to get on board with the newest wave in attracting new clients to your practice and increasing your bottom dollar.

Kodak P712

Benjamin Hornstein — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:57:14 +0000

I had the opportunity to test drive Kodak’s new dental digital camera setup. Kodak even changed the designed based on our imput. I must tell you the system is slick and easy to use. Even though I prefer d-SLR’s to point and shoot setups, I remain confident that both doctor and team will find this camera easy to use and a major adjunct to their practice. The ring flash is solid and illuninates your field more than adequately with virtually no shadowing. The 2.5 inch LCD screen makes viewing easy. The easy dock printer makes printing easy with one button operation. The images that are printed look professional and can be used for a myriad of projects. Any one having questions about this new system feel free to contact me.

Podcast from the AACD exhibit floor.

Administrator — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 14:25:30 +0000

I covered the exhibit floor at the AACD meeting in San Diego in May 2006 and found the best new and innovative products. This podcast is a series of five minute interviews with the representatives of these products. There is information on web sites, electronic patient communication, skin treatments, digital photography, new whitening systems, electronic laboratory communication, and much more.

Memory card trouble shooting

Benjamin Hornstein — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:06:41 +0000

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 to help eliminate this problem.

1. Make sure from time to time you reformat your card. Go to your camera’s menu and look for the reformat icon and follow the instructions. Reformatting completely cleans the area of the card where the image information is stored. This process will optimize the process of data access and storage. I reformat my cards before every shhot. Why? Because it only takes one problem to ruin your day. Do not make this mistake; I have and it is an aweful feeling! Make sure before you reformat that you have downloaded all your images you want to keep, otherwise you will lose this information.

2. Do not remove your card from the camera or card reader before the processing light stops blinking. This ensures the information has transferred. Cards can become damaged if you remove them before this process is finished.

3. Replace low batteries because if the power shuts down before you transfer the information, you can corrupt your card. So carry an extra card and battery.

4. Avoid exposing your card to static electricity, excesive hot or cold.

Thanks to Joe Farace for helping me learn these lessions.

Eulogy

Benjamin Hornstein — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:46:48 +0000

When Kodak announced several months ago that they would stop making black and white film, the avalanch was started. Now the news that Minolta and Konica are departing from the photo industry. Nikon also announced is dropping most of their 35mm SLR and manual focus lenses. It appears that after a half of a decade, for all intents and purposes, the 35 mm era of cameras is dead. Quite a run for the camera industry or in fact any industry. Sony will take over many of Minolta’s patents and you will see Minolta’s len’s mounts on their cameras soon. As the digital photo world continues to blossom, the cameras and technology you use today will be quite different tomorrow. I know I appreciate what companies like Minolta and Konica have done for photography in the past. It will be interesting to see what new companies and technologies tomorrow brings.

Patterson Dental Supply Presents the Latest in Digital Dental Photography

Administrator — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:07:05 +0000

Patterson and Dental Learning Centers team up to offer comprehensive, high-tech equipment solution

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< ?xml:namespace prefix ="" st1 ns ="" "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />ST. PAUL, Minn. – (Jan. 24, 2006) – Patterson Dental Supply, Inc. and Dental Learning Centers (DLC) have partnered to supply dental offices with a complete digital photography solution – the Canon^® DentalFoto™ Digital Camera Kit.

The Canon DentalFoto Digital Camera Kit is optimized through custom programming and a proprietary lens extension manufactured by DLC to assist dentists in achieving accurate and professional photos that are ideal for patient case photos. Precise and lightweight, the Canon PowerShot A620 camera offers 7.1 megapixels, weighs slightly more than 12 ounces and features a 4X optical zoom.

The complete kit includes the Canon PowerShot A620 camera, proprietary lens extension, close-up lens set, lens cap, two sets of rechargeable batteries and a trickle battery charger. The kit also includes three Secure Digital memory cards, a card reader/writer, custom aluminum carrying case and dental photography manual.

“As advancements in digital photography continue, it is important for dentists and their staff to be equipped with this powerful, easy-to-use tool for educating and caring for their patients,” states Patterson Technology Marketing Manager Anne Mansfield. “The DentalFoto Digital Camera Kit offers a simple solution for dental offices, allowing them to purchase an integrated dental photography system with one easy step.”

For more information about Patterson Dental or the DentalFoto Digital Camera Kit, call 1-800-873-7683 or contact a local Patterson Technology Representative.

Things Slow In Your Practice????

Corine Leech — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:11:14 +0000

It is time of the year when in some practices things slow down. I have never really figured out why; maybe because of tax time or maybe it is an after the Holiday lull. There have always been things you can do, chart audits, special discount offers, email reminders of unfinished treatment plans, etc. Well here is a new one. Every existing patient who is being seen in hygiene for re-care take a shade and talk about whitening. Explain to your existing patients on their re-care visit that the “standard of care” in dentistry is changing. That you are now taking a full series of digital photos on all new patients when they enter your office. Get them into an empty chair and get photos on them. These patients of record deserve to see their mouths the same way new patients are seeing their mouths. It opens their eyes to the need to get some the dentistry they having putting off for years done. Give them the opportunity to have their comprehensive exam brought up to “the new standard of care” in your office.

Gradia Composite Veneers Easy Case

soileau — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 10:10:47 +0000

This is a case I did yesterday. Lady could only afford to pay for wax blueprint and 3 composite veneers. This case tool me a little over an hour. We scheduled an hour and a half but we finished way early. The key is to have a wax blueprint and then make the stint with windows. After that it is just a matter of filling in the stint and sculpting, cure, place the next stint, sculpt, ……. You do have to choose the right enamel OPACITY and dentin COLOR. But if you choose that correctly, the rest is easy. I polish with a latch type Robinson brush and MI Paste. The hard part is getting the texture of the composite to match the texture of the rest of her teeth. Cool case. She cried when we were done. Not a big deal to us but a very very big deal to her.

Portfolios, Digital Photography, and Nerds

soileau — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:47:58 +0000

This is a photo shoot I did last week for Anna. She is a model that will be going to France and Milan next year. She needed some updated photos for her portfolio so she hired me to take some. This shoot does not have anything directly to do with dentistry as I was hired solely as a photographer for this shoot. There are two points I want to make with this thread.

First, It is OK if you are not comfortable taking photos like these even though you may want to. Anna is very sexual and let’s be honest, we all have a little nerd inside of us, myself included, that gets uncomfortable in these situations. It is this nerd that comes out and says you can’t do this, you can’t talk to her, this is unethical for a dentist, etc. If I was not careful this could have crossed the line and I would have been taking photos that made me uncomfortable. The point is, it is OK to feel this way. You just have to learn to NOT let the nerd come out and get your way. The way to do this is be VERY professional about the shoot and anything else you are doing. We already know how to do that. We, or most of us, have fun and joke around in our offices every day. Mike Maroon and Mike DiTolla has made this into an art form. But behind it all we are very professional. Doing photo shoots like these are the same way. Have fun, but be professional. Those of you that have come to the my photography courses have seen how we teach this. A lot of guys can show you how to photograph models and make it so technical it gets confusing. I find the key is to learn how to have fun yet be professional. Then get technical if you want. And if the nerd comes out a little, don’t worry about it. If it makes you feel better, I forgot my name and what town I was in when she laid down on the cement and said this was the pose she used for a jean ad (Last photo)
Second, This can be a practice builder. Not a big one. But every little bit helps. Models and modelling agencies are always looking for photographers. Many of the girls simply cannot afford professional shoots. This is something we can teach you how to do in minutes during your day. What I tell the model is I will GIVE them the shoot but they have to pay for a cleaning and bleaching and let me use the after photos for marketing. I do 20 to 30 portfolio shoots a year and of those only 6 or 7 are “professional shoots”. Not a lot but hey every little bit counts. And not only do you not have to but you SHOULD NOT EDIT THE PHOTOS. Yes, I know that we are taught you have to go into Photoshop and change this and that. But that will ruin her portfolio. Companies want to see what a model looks like without editing. That is the purpose of a portfolio. If all of her photos are edited she will get very little work from the photos. So all you have to do is take the shots and print a few of them out. See, It really is so simple that even a nerd can do it!!

Tony

Thoughts on photography in 2006

Administrator — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 04:41:04 +0000

Film is dead. Kodak is not making slide projectors anymore and will soon stop servicing them. Digital camera sales have now surpassed film camera sales. Digital sales are up 80% in 2005 over 2004. Remember Smith Corona?

I have noticed that of all of the digital images I take in the office and at home, very few are printed. In the office, it is only the one’s that go up as office art. At home, the only images printed are to give to others that may have been at an event. This will decline as you can post images at no cost on the web. www.flickr.com.

I just got a Video iPod. Sixty Gig black model. This device is amazing. I have over 5000 songs, 7000 pictures, my calander, and contact list on it. The images are downsized to the 320×240 resolution of the iPod screen, so they do not eat up storage. I have less than half of it’s drive in use. You can transfer all the images at full resolution, and it can act as a backup.

Speaking of back up… How many of you are backing up yoour home images? What if you computers hard drive failed…which it will, as all hard drives eventially fail. My point here is to get a firewire back up and do it! Store it off site if you can. Have you seen what all of the Katrina victims look for as they search the rubble? Pictures.

The big changes we will see in 2006 will be full size sensors, larger LCD screens to view the images, and the ability to download wirelessly. Most sensors today on digital SLR’s are smaller than film. This gives our images a 1.6x multiplication factor from the lens settings. New sensors, like on the Canon 5D, are the same size as film, making our lenses accurate to settings and they capture better information. The larger LCD is an obvious advantage. The image at the top is the 2.5 inch screen on the Canon 5D. The tiny 1.8 inch screens on the current digital SLR’s are very inadequate. Wireless image transfer will make card readers obsolete. Press a button and beam your images to your computer.

Nikon Commander and Speedlight

Administrator — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 14:52:10 +0000

Nikon has announced the new remote Speedlight SB-R200 and Command Unit SU-800. Aimed primarily at close-up and macro photography, these small units combine to make a wireless flash system, the SU-800 commander unit can be combined with SB-R200 Speedlight (or other compatible Speedlights) in up to three groups. Nikon is selling these components separately but also as Macro kits, which include one command unit and two SB-R200 Speedlights

Although these are point lights and not a ring, they may solve the problem dentist Nikon photographers have had with the SB 29 ring flash that did not TTL meter with Nikon digital’s. This combination will TTL meter.

Digital Dentistry course

Administrator — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 04:59:10 +0000

We just finished another Digital Dentistry course at my office in Cincinnati today. The course was full of great content on web marketing, cameras, digital case presentation, and digital gadgets. Our next course will be on February 3, 2006 in Cincinnati. We limit this course to 6 people to keep it focused. Info on www.Tomhedge.com