Illinois Announces "Fake Dentist Real Harm Campaign" - A Call for Action

 

It's all too common these days for me to find a story online from a local news organization about someone posing as a dental professional.  There was a recent story in Chicago about a lady who impersonated a dentist in Las Vegas.  She then bailed herself out of jail and then a couple of weeks later had started the same scam in Chicago.

Often these 'offices' post a lot on social media showing incredible results for stunningly low fees.  You know the old adage of "if it sounds too good to be true"?  It definitely applies here.

So I was happy to hear about the state of Illinois taking a stand on this...

Illinois is taking a proactive stance against the growing problem of individuals posing as dentists. The state's Fake Dentist Real Harm campaign aims to raise awareness about the dangers of seeking dental care from unqualified individuals and to educate the public on how to identify legitimate dental professionals.

Why is this campaign important?

• Public Safety: Unqualified individuals practicing dentistry can pose serious health risks to patients, including infections, pain, and permanent damage to teeth and gums.
• Consumer Protection: The campaign helps consumers make informed decisions about their dental care and avoid falling victim to scams.
• Enforcement: By raising awareness, the campaign supports law enforcement efforts to identify and prosecute individuals who are illegally practicing dentistry.

Key Messages of the Campaign:

• Verify Credentials: Always verify the credentials of your dentist by checking with the Illinois State Board of Dentistry.
• Beware of Red Flags: Be cautious of individuals who offer suspiciously low prices, operate out of unconventional locations, or avoid providing proof of licensing.
• Report Suspicious Activity: If you suspect someone is practicing dentistry without a license, report it to the Illinois State Board of Dentistry.

How Can You Get Involved?

• Share Information: Spread awareness about the campaign by sharing information with your friends, family, and social media networks.
• Educate Yourself: Learn more about the signs of a fake dentist and how to verify credentials.
• Support Local Dentists: Choose licensed and reputable dentists in your community.

By working together, we can help protect the public from the dangers of fake dentists and ensure that everyone has access to quality dental care.

For more information and resources, please visit the Illinois State Board of Dentistry website.

Keywords: Illinois, fake dentist, dental fraud, public safety, consumer protection, dental care

Data Security is a *Real* Threat - Learn How To Protect Yourself

 

As regular readers know, I'm a huge proponent of data security.  In fact, in March of this year (2024) I covered why security should be looked at as 'insurance' and not as a 'nice to have' in my Technology Evangelist column in Dental Products Report.  

Data security can mean financial security when one evaluates all the potential costs that can arise out of a data breach... especially in healthcare.  Fines issued by the federal government can be severe and considering that even with strong, reliable backups, your office could be closed for several days as IT professionals restore your network to function.

Doctors need to pay attention to these attack vectors and do everything possible to prevent this from happening.  Unfortunately, because most doctors don't understand IT, they simply ask their local technician if they are "OK", receive assurances, and then move on.  As doctors we *need* solid education on the 'best practices' for our data... and that can be hard to come by.

That is the reason I'll be co-presenting a webinar soon on the topic.  The webinar will be a tag team effort by myself and Gary Salman who is the CEO of Black Talon Security.  As the CEO of a data security firm, Gary knows this subject forwards and backwards.

We'll go over ways to protect your practice as well as educate you on *why* these best practices need to be put into place.

Mark your calendars now for Friday November 8th at 9:00 am Eastern Time to learn how to keep your data safe and how to protect your practice from the unexpected.  I love talking tech and helping my peers so I'm *super excited* to be able to bring this kind of info to other doctors.  Plan on being there!  You can register by following this link.  

SmileDirectClub Loses Appeal in Court Battle Against NBC News

The bad news just doesn't stop for defunct direct to consumer orthodontic company SmileDirectClub.  The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 29, 2023 after rocketing into mainstream news as it grew, before crashing back to the ground and disappearing.

Without going into all the details of the company's rise and spectacular fall, I'll keep this post about the most recent news item.  However, most doctors had concerns over a company that provided treatment to individuals without exams or monitoring by a licensed professional.

In February 2020 NBC News released a story about SDC.  NBC had placed hidden cameras in 3 different SDC locations and recorded employees interactions with customers.  The videos obtained were used in the news piece and were less than complimentary.

In the lawsuit SDC filed against NBC Universal Media the company stated that over 40 "false and misleading" claims were made.  They were seeking $2.85 billion in damages.

Fortunately NBC is a large company and refused to be intimidated by a lawsuit that attempted to keep these types of reporting from being done.  

In 2021 the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in Tennessee (where the case was filed).  In 2023 SDC appealed that decision and the question went before the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  Now in September 2024, the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision.  They stated:

“Considering the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs and disregarding all countervailing evidence, we have determined that the plaintiffs presented prima facie evidence of falsity to support some of their claims but failed to produce clear and convincing evidence of actual malice,” the decision stated. “Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.”

Of course the end result doesn't really hurt SDC since they are bankrupt.  The company is required to pay for NBC's attorney's fees, but one wonders where that money will come from.  Odds are that those fees are never recouped by NBC. 

HuFriedy Group Safe-Flo™ Saliva Ejectors Help Deal with Backflow

 

HuFriedy Group has created a line of suction devices with back-flow valves.  They are simple in design and I really like the effort to help decrease the possibility of cross-contamination.

The product line is called Safe-Flo and is available in both flavored and unflavored models.

The video above does a great job of describing the product as well as having some good animations that give you a real understanding for what it does and how it works.

Another great thing for this product is that HuFriedy Group is offering *free* sample packs if you'd like to try it out.  The offer is:

"4-piece sample pack includes the new Safe-Flo™ Plus Saliva Ejector, along with our Safe-Flo™ Saliva Ejector, Safe-Flo™ SE Valve, and Safe-Flo™ HV Valve. Whether you’re looking to replace your current saliva ejector or add a Safe-Flo™ Valve to your existing ejector, we have a solution to help."

The offer is available from this link.  Simply fill out the form found on the right side of the page.  

In-office Miling Webinar Sponorsed by DGSHAPE

 

I have been involved with CAD/CAM dentistry for quite a while now.  I started in the late 1990s with the technology and have seen it evolve to incredible levels over that time.

About 2.5 years ago we brought in the DGSHAPE DWX-42W into our office and I have had amazing results with it.  Being able to fabricate crowns in your office increases efficiency and lowers overhead.  The thing that I am most impressed with is the end result this mill produces.  

The finished crowns are beautiful and look just as good as something you would expect from an experienced laboratory technician.

If you've ever thought about bringing this tech into your office, I'll be presenting a webinar tomorrow Tuesday September 24 at 2:00PM Eastern time.  I'll be covering the advantages of utilizing this incredible technology as well as discussing some sure fire ways to use it to help set your office apart.

I'll be going over workflows, costs, a bit about marketing, and my favorite CAD/CAM materials for permanent crowns.

You can register by following this link.  

Apologies for Blog Outages

Over the past few days you may have had some trouble or some errors in accessing the blog.  My apologies for that.

Recently we've been working on creating a new denticle.com website and while that's been under construction, there have been some intermittent problems with the blog.  Basically there were some IT things in the background that were changed and as that was taking place, the 'gears of the Internet' might have gotten a bit out of whack for some of my things.

At this point, it appears (at least on our end) that everything is back together and that things are working properly.  If you notice anything that indicates a problem, please leave a comment and I'll get my IT folks to look at it.

Also, if you are looking for some help with techniques, devices, or anything else that is in my sphere, please go to the new Denticle.com website and take a look around.  I might be able to help you.  I've always done double duty as both a practicing dentist as well as a consultant in the dental industry, but now I've reached a point in my career where I have a little more time to devote to the consulting side of what I do.

If I can help you, please reach out!

DEXIS Announces the New DEXIS™ Connect Pro for Better Device Up Time

 

Dentists rely heavily on our imaging modalities... especially radiographs.  If a situation occurs and we lose that ability, our diagnostics suffer greatly.  Sensors are costly enough that offices don't keep a spare in reserve just on the odd chance that they might need to grab a new one out of their supplies.  Most offices carry insurance policies on their sensors.  This normally ensures that if a sensor goes down, a replacement can be overnighted to the office.  However, even overnight delivery means downtime, however slight.

To help fight that problem, DEXIS has announced the new DEXIS™ Connect Pro system.  It *actively* monitors the health of sensors as well as DEXIS CBCT to help predict problems before they happen.  

According to DEXIS, the idea is to "automatically arrange support or equipment replacements if performance issues are detected, allowing customers’ DEXIS products to stay up and running more consistently."

Basically the system will monitor the hardware remotely and DEXIS support will notify the office if it detects a problem.  If a problem or potential problem is detected, the dental office can be notified and corrective action can be taken before a complete hardware failure occurs.  The system will communicate with over 100 technical support agents who can notify the office of potential problems and correct problems more efficiently.

I remember several years ago there was a commercial on TV advertising an Internet connected refrigerator.  A lady answers the door to see a repairman who says, "I'm here to fix the refrigerator."

The lady says, "My refrigerator isn't broken."  To which the repairman answers, "Not yet."

That is the concept here.  DEXIS is working to identify problems that the user might be unaware of yet, but could lead to a major problem.  By identifying small things that might cascade into bigger things, the dental office will be more efficient with less downtime.

We're going to see more and more of this as more and more equipment in our personal and professional lives becomes Internet connected.  I'm excited to see how this progresses.  Once DEXIS has had this system in use for a while, I'm pretty sure that statistics will show offices with less downtime due to hardware problems.

For more info you can check the DEXIS website.  

GuruNanda Butter on Gums Toothbrushes Win Coveted American Dental Association Seal of Approval

 

As all dental professionals know, home care is incredibly important.  Getting the right tools into the hands of patients helps them to properly clean and maintain the mouths.  Today's post is about a new manual toothbrush from Gurunanda.  

The company has received the ADA Seal of Approval for their latest manual brush.  The press release follows:

GuruNanda is proud to announce that its Butter on Gums toothbrushes have earned the prestigious American Dental Association (ADA) Seal of Approval. The ADA Council on Scientific Affairs awarded the Seal based on its finding that the product is safe and effective in removing plaque and helping to prevent and reduce gingivitis, when used as directed.

“The ADA Seal of Acceptance is the gold standard for toothbrush quality, and this milestone honors the time, dedication and passion our team has put into perfecting our Butter on Gums toothbrushes,” said Puneet Nanda, founder and CEO of GuruNanda.

Ideal for sensitive gums and teeth, Butter on Gums toothbrushes feature 8000+ Softexä bristle technology to gently remove food particles and plaque while polishing teeth. These smooth-ended, tapered bristles are designed for deep, thorough cleansing of teeth and gums without irritation. They can be used every day by both children and adults and are also recommended for use after dental surgeries or procedures.

In addition, Butter on Gums toothbrushes feature a soft-grip, ergonomic user-friendly handle and an angled neck for better access to hard-to-reach areas. Brush caps are included to help protect bristles from airborne dust and debris or contact with surfaces.

MSRP $5.99 for a six-pack featuring assorted colors at Amazon.

For more information about the ADA Seal of Acceptance, visit ADA.org/Seal.

For brand information, please visit www.GuruNanda.com.  

Tinkering with Some New 3D Resins...

 

Not a long post today, but one I wanted to make to keep you updated.

I've received a bottle of  Sculpture 2.0 from Rodin.  For those of you not familiar with it, this is a resin that has been specifically manufactured to create permanent and long term crowns using a 3D printer.  It's an interesting material that contains 60% ceramic filler as well as a Zirconia-infused Ceramic Nano-hybrid.

My current testing time is pretty full, but as soon as I can, I am going to create some crowns with it and take a look at them on models for fit and other things.

When I get enough units completed and experience with the material, I'll report back on what I've discovered and/or figured out.  In reading about it, the material seems interesting, but testing and trials are what I do!

I firmly believe that 3D printing of all kinds of things is going to make many changes in dentistry in the not too distant future.  I've been pretty immersed in the world of 3D printing for most of 2024 and I have been really impressed with what I've seen and created so far.  Once I get some testing of the Rodin Sculpture 2.0 under my belt, I'll let you know my experiences.

Vyne Dental Named Quarterfinalist in 2024 Digital Health Hub Foundation Awards

 

Dental revenue acceleration leader honored in Emerging Innovation track of world's leading digital health awards program

 Vyne Dental®, a leading provider of dental revenue technologies, today announced that it has been named as a quarterfinalist in the 2024 Digital Health Hub Foundation Awards, the world's leading digital health awards program.

Vyne Dental was honored in the Dental Health category's Emerging Innovation track, which seeks to spotlight emerging epicenters developing within digital health. This year marks the first that the Digital Health Hub Foundation Awards will recognize a dental health company.

Vyne Dental is a leader in the dental technology industry, offering cutting-edge solutions that enable forward-thinking dental leaders to modernize and optimize their practices and operations. Vyne Dental enables innovation, integration, and automation to remove waste from the payments, billing and claims process. Its technology promotes transparency throughout the patient journey from pre-visit eligibility checks to instant claims adjudication. 

"We are honored to be recognized among the digital health leaders working to improve the experience for providers and patients," said James Grover, President, Vyne Dental. "It is especially meaningful to be in the inaugural class of quarterfinalists as this prestigious awards program expands to highlight the key role dental organizations play in the overall healthcare landscape." 

Quarterfinalists in each category were selected to move forward in the competition from a competitive pool of over 1,500 submissions by a distinguished global panel of experts from the healthcare and venture capital sectors. The next round of judging is currently underway, and finalists will be named Sept. 20. Winners will be announced onsite at the HLTH conference in Las Vegas on Oct. 21.

About Vyne Dental

Vyne Dental provides end-to-end revenue acceleration by engaging practices, payers and patients via vendor-neutral connectivity, claims and attachment management, and the facilitation of secure communications solutions. Vyne Dental is part of the Vyne®️ family, an industry leader in healthcare information exchange, revenue cycle management, and patient communication. Vyne Dental is leading a paradigm shift in the dental industry toward real-time claims and payment resolution to improve provider and payer financial performance while fostering patient satisfaction and loyalty. Vyne Dental serves more than 84,000 dental offices, and 800 plans and payers across the United States. The company has been named to the Inc. 5000 annual list of the nation's most prestigious and fastest-growing private companies for 15 consecutive years. Learn more at vynedental.com.

Join Me This Friday at the CDE World Event in Dallas

 

This Friday, September 13 I'll be part of the Updates in Clinical Dentistry event in Dallas, Texas.The event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is good for 6 CEU live credits.

This is part of their Clinical Dentistry Speaker Series and should be good time!  This is the third event I've done for CDE World this year and I've been very impressed with the events so far.  One of the really great things they do with these is to vary the speaker list.  There are six speakers throughout the day and that means you get a variety of topics and a variety of speakers.

I love this format because of how its run.  Between each speaker there is a short break which gives you chance to stretch and (at least in my case) grab more coffee.  I feel its great to get a lot of different perspectives and info all at a single event.  I know everyone there will walk away with a tremendous amount of knowledge that they can use to make their practice better.

I'm *super excited* about being able to see my buddy Dr. Chad Duplantis at this event.  Chad is going to cover updates in cementation.  He's an expert clinician and will deliver the info in a way it's easy to understand and implement.  i've been friends with Chad and anytime I get to hang out with him, I always walk away smarter.

So if you are in the Dallas area, be sure to register and attend.  I hope to see a lot of you there!

A Message from the CEO of Pearl AI

 

As we all can surmise from the last 24 months, Artificial Intelligence is growing exponentially.  We're seeing it in all kinds of places that seemed almost unimaginable 5 years ago.  It's running on the 'back end' of a lot of systems that make our lives better.

However one are of AI that has taken center stage, at least in dentistry, is AI's ability to help doctors in identifying and helping to diagnose problems in the mouth.  My office relies on AI every day and we are glad we do.  We chose Pearl and have continued to use it because at this point in time I feel it does the best job.  It also has more FDA clearances than any other dental AI system currently on the market.  One of the other reasons is because I know they are in it for the long haul.  There is nothing worse than basing office workflows around a product and then have that product disappear from the market.

Tech is an interesting market.  It's expensive to do a tech startup, especially in healthcare, and we often see companies come to market with a product only to 'flame out' a short time later as they burn through capital.  

I'm glad to tell you that Pearl has completed a recent Series B financing round.  That's important for two reasons in my mind.  The first is that this funding ensures that Pearl is on strong financial ground.  This funding will help them develop even better AI systems and not need to cut corners or downsize.  The second reason is because receiving outside investment is a tremendous way to show that company is valuable and being run the right way.  The people that provide this kind of financing perform their due diligence.  They tend to not invest in companies that don't appear to have a future.

As a Pearl client, I recently received an email from Pearl's founder on CEO Ophir Tanz.  I happen to know Ophir personally and I believe in him and his mission.  I asked his permission to post his letter here and he agreed.  I think it definitely deserves a read.  If you are not a Pearl client and are looking for an AI solution, I highly recommend Pearl.

Here is the letter from Ophir: 

We founded Pearl in 2019 with a mission to elevate dental care and positively impact billions of lives. It’s a mission that can only be accomplished with genuinely transformational technology like AI. The opportunity to improve human health in a field that we love and care deeply about is a true privilege.

 The impact of our efforts – and their value – came into clear focus as we closed our recent historic Series B funding round.

Pearl’s ability to clinically understand a patient’s oral health status, instantly and at scale, is a profound new capability––and there is enormous opportunity for software to further and more broadly enhance the quality of care and clinical performance in dentistry. AI holds tremendous potential to drive those innovations as well.

 Backed by the largest-ever investment in dental AI, we are now equipped to harness that potential with greater speed and deliver its value more fully.

 With this funding, we will rapidly advance our capabilities to address key challenges in clinical care and practice management, while expanding our global footprint and introducing new product lines that serve the dental category more broadly.

 Whether enhancing efficiency and accuracy in 3D diagnostics, shortening revenue cycles and increasing treatment acceptance with real-time adjudication of insurance claims, or elevating clinical excellence with robust training and education systems—every AI system we are developing today is now on a nearer horizon. This funding marks a significant milestone not only for Pearl but for dental health around the world.

 We are deeply grateful to our investors, partners, advisors, and, most of all, to the tens of thousands of dental professionals who have integrated our AI into their practices. Your dedication and collaboration fuel our mission every day.

 As we move forward, we remain committed to pushing the frontiers of dental AI, always with the goal of improving patient care and transforming the dental experience. Together, we are not just imagining the future of dentistry—we are building it.

 Thank you for being part of this journey! 

New Apple Watch to Include Sleep Apnea in Health App

 

Today's post is important to me, but hopefully also one that should hold some interest for those in dentistry.  Today (September 9, 2024) there is an Apple event being held where the company will be making some new product announcements.  One of those should be dealing with Apple Watch Series 10 as we as the high end Series Ultra 3.

As most fans of Apple products know, since its first launch of the Apple Watch, the company has put a serious amount of focus on their Health App.  Because most users are wearing their watch practically all the time, except for charging, the device is a great way to monitor health aspects of the wearer.  Over the years the Apple Watch has been on the market some of the features have been Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen Saturation, and sleep statistics.

So in hopes of providing users with even more insights into their health, rumors have now been confirmed (mainly through reporting from Bloomberg... subscription required) that the latest generation of the Apple Watch (called Series 10) will feature detection of Sleep Apnea.  This is due to an upgrade in the system's ECG sensor which monitors heart rate.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to come up with much more info, however I did manage to find the following on Tomsguide.com:

"Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said sleep apnea detection will be a headlining feature for both the Series 10 and Ultra 3. The watches will be able to detect whether a user shows signs of sleep apnea, i.e. if their breathing repeatedly starts and stops during the night, and then recommend they consult with a doctor for further assistance.

It would presumably work similarly to how the Apple Watch currently prompts users with alerts about irregular heart rate, fluctuating blood oxygen levels, and other health conditions. Odds are the sleep apnea feature will be related to the new Vitals health app added with the watchOS 11 public beta. This app streamlines the Apple Watch's health monitoring tools to provide a snapshot of all your key wellness metrics, which it monitors while you sleep. "

If it works as expected, this could be a great source of data for those of us in dentistry that are treating sleep apnea.  Up to this point, patients have had to wear some type of sleep monitor to gather this type of data.   While these monitors are certainly helpful, they can be a bit cumbersome and some patients don't like to wear them, even for the brief 2 or 3 nights needed to develop data for a sleep study.

I'm also happy to hear that if the watch detects that a wearer has symptoms of sleep apnea, it will suggest further testing with a medical professional.  That's great news as a lot of people who suffer with sleep apnea are either unaware of it or unaware that treatment for the disease exists.  All that they know is that they are constantly tired, foggy, and have much less energy.

As someone who treats sleep disorders by using dental appliances, I'm pretty excited to find out all the info on this new Apple Watch feature.  I also happen to suffer with OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) so if this is as promising as it sounds, I'll probably be upgrading to the new Series 10 or Ultra 3.

Currently I'm sleeping in my Apple Watch to help monitor myself with both their Sleep App as well as an app I purchased called SleepWatch.  Combing through the data these two apps provide gives me much greater insight into my own sleep cycles.

So be on the lookout for stories hitting the news later today about this new feature.  This could a real diagnostic aid for both patients and doctors.

Dentsply-Sirona Announces Release of Primescan 2!

 

This is some pretty exciting news.  For those of you who are fans of the CEREC system, Dentsply-Sirona has today announced the availability of their next generation intraoral scanner, Primescan 2.

Last year the company released the original Primescan devices and I got a chance to test drive that hardware.  I was really impressed with the speed and accuracy.  They have now taken that tech to the next level with this new release.

I haven't had a chance to try this new system, but hopefully in the future I'll be able to get my hands on one and report back to you on my clinical experience.  However, I will say that after reading about it, the new Primescan 2 looks pretty impressive.

I feel the biggest feature is its wireless capability.  The device does *not* require any dedicated hardware.  Basically provide it with an Internet connection and the system is ready to scan.  The device sends the data directly to The Cloud and into the DS Core system.

As soon as the data is available in DS Core the scan be reviewed and then ready to use for office milling or 3D printing.  The DS Core site is basically a Cloud based system for dental offices and labs.  I worked with DS Core during my evaluation of the original Primescan and I found it really easy to use.

Below is the information I've been able to put together so far.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Unparalleled Speed: The Primescan 2 boasts a remarkable scanning speed, capturing detailed digital impressions in a fraction of the time compared to previous generations. This translates to a more efficient and comfortable experience for both patients and clinicians.
• Improved Accuracy: The device incorporates advanced algorithms and hardware to deliver highly accurate scans with minimal distortion. This ensures that restorations and prosthetics fit seamlessly and precisely.
• Enhanced Ease of Use: The Primescan 2 features an intuitive interface and ergonomic design, making it easy for clinicians of all skill levels to operate. The device's lightweight and cordless design also contributes to a more comfortable scanning experience.
• Open Architecture: The Primescan 2 is compatible with a wide range of dental software and workflows, providing flexibility and integration with existing systems.  That means current milling and printing systems already in the practice should be able to handle these scans.

Applications:

The Primescan 2 can be used for various dental applications, including:

• Crowns and bridges: Creating precise digital impressions for restorations.

• Implants: Planning and guiding implant placement.

• Orthodontics: Capturing detailed scans for orthodontic treatment planning and monitoring.

• Sleep apnea: Creating digital models for sleep apnea appliances.

Overall, the Dentsply Sirona Primescan 2 is a game-changer in intraoral scanning. Its combination of speed, accuracy, and ease of use makes it a valuable tool for dental professionals seeking to improve efficiency, enhance patient care, and deliver high-quality results.

Henry Schein One Announces Patient Booking with Google Reserve

Henry Schein One, a leading dental practice management software provider, has recently integrated with Google Reserve. This partnership aims to simplify appointment scheduling for patients and streamline operations for dental practices.  Your administrative team spends a lot of time and energy filling you schedule and keeping everyone busy from a clinical standpoint.  However, your admin folks are busy enough.  What if you could keep your schedule full and free up some of the admin's time to devote to other tasks?

Key Benefits of the Integration:

• Enhanced Patient Experience: Patients can now easily book appointments directly from Google Search or Google Maps, making it more convenient and accessible for them to schedule dental care.
• Improved Practice Efficiency: Dental practices using Henry Schein One can automatically sync their appointment availability with Google Reserve, eliminating the need for manual updates. This saves time and reduces the risk of scheduling conflicts.
• Increased Patient Acquisition: By making it easier for patients to book appointments, practices can potentially attract new patients and grow the practice with less effort of team members.

How it Works:

• Integration Setup: Dental practices using Henry Schein One can easily integrate their software with Google Reserve through a simple setup process.
• Appointment Sync: Once integrated, appointment availability is automatically synced between the two platforms, ensuring that patients always see the most up-to-date information.
• Patient Booking: Patients can search for dental services in their area on Google Search or Google Maps and book appointments directly with the practice.

Overall, the integration of Henry Schein One with Google Reserve is a pretty big step forward in making your dental office more accessible and convenient for patients. By streamlining the appointment scheduling process, you can improve your administrative team's, efficiency and focus on providing high-quality care.

Kavo DIAGNOcam Vision Full HD Delivers Clinically

 

For the last 4 months or so I've been working with the new Kavo DIANGOcam Vision Full HD clinically.  One of the great things about my role at DPR is being able to get my hands on and test new products that have real potential for the profession.  I love that part of my job and one of the reasons is when I come across things like this device.

I actually have quite a backstory with this device.  Around 2001 I was approached by a company called EOS (Electro-optical Sciences) to work with a device they had developed called DIFOTI (Digital Imaging Fiber-Optic TransIllumination).  It was a device that allowed for transillumination of teeth paired with an intraoral camera that allowed the user to capture images of the tooth while being penetrated from the buccal and lingual surfaces with bright white light.  While it worked well and was clinically accurate, the company couldn't gain sales traction.  

Eventually the company had no choice but to shut down.  However, they sold the technology and patents to... Kavo.

Kavo took the device and performed a complete redesign.  One of the biggest changes the company made was to replace the bright white visible transillumination with NIR (Near InfraRed).  That change provided better transillumination without the resultant 'light pollution' from the visible light.

That is the system that now powers the DIGNOcam Vision.

In my time using the device I've been very impressed with it.  The unit is well designed, well balanced, and sleek.  It pairs 3 functions into one easy to use handpiece.  Those three functions are:

1. HD intraoral camera
2. Transillumination (using the previously mentioned NIR)
3. Fluorescence  caries detection

Those three functions allow *one* device * for the first time* to provide *every* needed imaging modality that does not require radiation.

• The HD camera provides truly remarkable images.  Simply laying the camera over a tooth provides crisp clear intraoral images.  The camera also also has an incredible autofocus feature that keeps those images crisp no matter the distance.  The autofocus also allows for extraoral shots as well.  The camera can be held up outside the mouth and the autofocus (in less than one second) will adjust.  That allows the user to take full face images without distortion or fisheye.  No more taking these images with a standalone camera.  Whether a smile, full face, or lateral image is needed, those patient views can be taken quickly and easily.
• The transillumination uses the NIR to illuminate an individual tooth from buccal and lingual to easily identify caries, cracks, and failing restorations.  This function allows the user to clearly see interproximal areas of caries even before they appear on bitewing radiographs.  It's also a great way to monitor areas, especially if a doctor is using remineralization therapy.  Those areas can be easily evaluated at any appointment without the need for x-rays.
• The fluorescence function allows the user to pinpoint areas of breakdown at their very earliest stages.  For conservative approaches, whether remineralization or minimally invasive efforts, this device can be a tremendous aid.

Each function can be used independently of the others with ease.  However, I feel one of the greatest uses of the device is that it can be configured to take all three images with the push of a single button.  The user can scan the entire mouth and acquire all three types of images of each tooth simply and easily.  An experienced user can acquire a full mouth imaging scan in less than 2 minutes start to finish...perhaps even faster.

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of communicating visually with patients.  Using the Kavo DIAGNOcam Vision lets you do just that.  It is a tremendous tool for *any* office and I'm convinced it will affect your office in ways you might not even imagine.

After my time with the device, I can state unequivocally that it is *highly recommended*.  If you are looking to up your diagnostic and communication game, this device is something you should check out.