Practice Entrepreneur Network (PEN) wants to level the playing field for your autonomous practice.
 
By Danny Chan
 
Dentists may be adept at diagnosing and treating oral conditions but how do they analyse and improve the health of their own business? Unlike in the clinical arena, where they possess the attendent diagnostic training, skills and technology to unravel root causes behind symptoms and complaints, dentists are somewhat clueless when it comes to investigating the soundness of their own business systems. Utilising faulty methods to interpret patient trends and other data, they tend to exaggerate growth and overlook red flags, leading to bad marketing and management decisions that undermine the practice’s viability and stamina.
 
That is what Emanuel Recupero, Founder and CEO of Dental ED, surmised as the independent dental practice’s archilles heel, particularly when they are pitted against the well-oiled machinery of big corporates.
 
Dental ED, a leader in advanced dental clinical training and practice development, is an internationally recognised brand that pioneered web-conferencing for dental study clubs and online courses. With 17 years of experience providing industry-leading training solutions, Emanuel certainly knows a thing or two about helping dentists stay ahead of the learning curve. He recently embarked on a new venture to help optimise their competitiveness in a tech-driven business environment increasingly dominated by dental corporations. 
 
“Most dentists are not trained to run, manage and market a business. During the so-called golden years of dentistry, when competition wasn’t as intense, dentists were able to run lucrative practices simply by focusing on their clinical expertise.”
 
“The dynamics have changed. Today, dentists are on a different playing field. You need to be not only business savvy but also technologically just to survive in the current boom-bust climate where digitally enhanced practice building and management tools are the norm rather than exception.”
 
To level the playing field, Dental ED has joined forces with Momentum Management Programs (MM) to form Practice Entrepreneur Network (PEN). Dr Toni Surace, Director of MM, brings a wealth of coaching and mentoring experience towards crafting relationship-focused management practices that run more efficiently and effectively.
 
The new partnership fuses talents in software development, marketing and tech innovations with a proven practice management program. Through PEN, independent dentists are supported by an extensive array of centralised business and marketing resources – similar to what the big corporates enjoy – without having to lose their autonomy. PEN charges members a flat subscription rate of A$2800/ month.
 
“Unlike corporates or part ownership models, you do not lose your ownership of the practice or independence when you sign up with PEN. You will be joining a network of like-minded dentists while enjoying our support services, including advanced strategic marketing and business management resources.”
 
“There is safety in numbers. Together we can help give your business that competitive edge in today’s changing dental environment.”
 
Even currently adopted digital tools in patient lead capture and conversion, Emanuel warns, are losing relevance and reliability in an increasingly crowded digitised marketplace.
 
“Many dentists are banking on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), social media and websites to attract and convert patient leads. However, the dental market is getting saturated with Google Adwords and SEO campaigns all targeting the same demographics,” he explains.  
 
“It’s ultimately a numbers game. These methods can only work to a certain point before customer fatigue sets in – and we are already seeing the signs. Even technological tools must constantly evolve to deliver a point of differentiation – that will help put your practice on your prospective customer’s radar.”
 
To stand out in the crowd, Emanuel says PEN member practices can take advantage of specialised electronic marketing tools that are not available on the market. Created by Dental ED’s team of software developers, MiPractice is a portal that lets dentists access a cloud-based suite of services, which he claims, help boosts the conversion of leads and word of mouth prospects by significant numbers. 
 
One of the nifty e-marketing services is a Customer Survey Questionnaire that qualifies leads before using various prompts to convert quality leads into prospects. Another one is a behaviour-driven pop-up ad that is designed to collect customer data from your website visitors in exchange for SMS video packages on specific treatments of interest. MiSmile, a first in dental, is another tool that allows patients to send a snapshot of their teeth through the portal thus providing staff menbers a useful premise for making a follow-up phone call – and opportunity for lead conversion.  
 
Of course, there are also business diagnostic tools that analyse patient trends in relation to internal and external factors that affect the clinic’s performance. It provides a more accurate means of studying and scrutinising available data in order to pin-point problemetic areas.
 
“Once we identify the real causes and effects, we can more confidently devise appropriate counter strategies to resolve or minimise the issues.”
 
“Instead of a shotgun marketing approach that fires indiscriminately – hoping to hit as many targets as possible – we’ll help you to strategise a more targeted approach. This way, you not only cut down on marketing costs, you are using your resources more effectively and efficiently.”
 
The concept, though not revolutionary, still sounds refreshing to a dental entrepreneur struggling with dated marketing strategies and the competitive onslaught. Before it’s too late, it may even throw a lifeline to dental entrepreneurs who don’t yet realise that they are indeed struggling.
 

Perhaps the litmus test of the speed, image quality and low-radiation credentials of a 3D radiography unit is: Does it work well with young patients? For Myofocus, the answer is Vatech PaX-i3D Green.
 
By Danny Chan
 
Myofocus is a unique practice that focuses mainly on paediatric patients, offering only two specialized services: Laser frenectomies and myofunctional orthodontics. Its holistic approach to healthcare is centred on a sound nutritional environment, working in harmony with bodily elements like healthy breathing habits, excellent oral function and efficient movement.
 
For Founders Dr Donny Mandrawa and Dr Dan Hanson, this philosophy of maintaining optimal care and balance within the physical and external environment isn’t restricted to the clinical aspects. It also played a decisive role in the choice of the clinic’s first CBCT machine – Vatech PaX-i3D Green.  
 
Discussing his motivations for selecting the Korean innovation, Dr Mandrawa shares: “First and foremost for us is patient safety. For a practice that works with young patients – including primary schoolers and teenagers – we needed a very low dosage radiography machine that is safe for them as well as for our staff. “
 
“Equally important factors are patient comfort and convenience. By locating the unit in-house, we wanted to offer a much more convenient service to patients, as they do not need to go back and forth between our practice and a radiology practice. The unit must also allow quick scans and flexible patient positioning without compromising image quality or patient comfort.”
 
“The Pax-i3D Green precisely met all these requirements with the added advantage of being an eco-friendly machine that is designed for paediatric use, which perfectly aligns with our practice philosophy and target audience.”
 
The Vatech PaX-i3D Green is touted the world’s first dental imaging system that has less impact on patients and the environment. The eco-friendly label owes much to Vatech’s Green CT manufacturing process that reduces hazardous materials and runs on renewable energy.
 
If protecting your patients’ health while maintaining superior diagnostics is a priority, the unit’s unique “One Shot Ceph” feature, which allows a short 5.9 second scan time and quality images with low x-ray dosage, does not disappoint. It also reduces distortion caused by patient movement, which is great for clinics like Myofocus that predominantly works with children.
 
“With the Pax-i3D, I can easily take 2D panoramic and cephalometric images that are extremely low in radiation, especially for children under 16 years of age, says Dr Mandrawa confidently.”
 
“The images can immediately be integrated and stored within our dental practice management software (D4W) and our orthodontic management software (Dolphin). They allow for easy access and analyses in regards to digital radiographic tracing, assessment, diagnosing, treatment planning, and keeping periodic records of the patient as treatment progresses.”
 
Although Pax-i3D is the first CBCT Dr Mandrawa has ever worked on, it hasn’t stopped him from getting excellent results from the get-go.
 
“Even for a novice like me, the Pax-i3D is extremely easy to pick up: Patient positioning is logical, it's quiet during exposure while all the steps and settings make perfect sense.”
 
“I have been using its 2D features often, to gather orthodontic records for patients who are considering orthodontic treatment – it only takes around 5 minutes to take full orthodontic 2D radiographic images. I have also been using its 3D features for older patients, who are 16 years of age and over.”
 
Featuring Vatech’s highly advanced a-Si TFT Sensors, the PaX-i3D offers powerful diagnostic value with 3D images and flexible imaging with multi FOV selection – 4 multi FOV sizes ranging from 5×5 to 15×15. By selecting the appropriate FOV size, you can view the optimal image size for your diagnostic needs, reducing unnecessary X-ray radiation for patients. 
 
Beyond the specs sheet, Dr Mandrawa emphasizes, PaX-i3D Green makes an all-round viable investment:
 
“Not only are treatment plans much easier to formulate – due to software integration – cephalometric tracings are now a breeze. Compared to the other practices that I operate from, having the unit at Myofocus has made it much faster for diagnoses and treatment planning of our patients, resulting in faster turnaround times between gathering of records and case presentation visits.”
 
Locating the unit in-house, Dr Mandrawa says, has also made it more convenient for parents especially, as they do not have to travel between different locations for their children's radiographic needs. “Parents with young children know how cumbersome it can be getting them organised to travel from one place to another.”
 
In addition to the low paediatric radiation dose setting, he loves the fact that the software is able to automatically detect the appropriate setting, based on the patient's age and gender. As for ease of patient positioning, he adds: “The unit is also height adjustable, and so there has not been an issue with our paediatric patients in regards to reach.”
 
The unit’s 3D image clarity is put to great use with a flexible host of applications. For Dr Mandrawa, it has even provided accurate diagnostic details to help unravel sleeping disorders.
 
“Myofocus considers our patients holistically. We do assess as much as possible all aspects of each patient's functional oral health, including their possible upper airway issues that may be linked to breathing and sleep disorders, which consequently may be causative to orofacial myofunctional dysfunctions, and dentofacial orthopaedic and orthodontic growth and development.
 
“Being able to volumetrically measure the upper airway using the PaX-i3D, along with recording the patient's respiration rate and end-tidal level using our capnometer, we can deliver a much more comprehensive assessment and evaluation of each patient in their treatment planning and treatment progression.”
 
Since the unit was purchased in November, Dr Mandrawa says it’s still too early to provide a proper ROI assessment. Nonetheless, almost 6 months (at the time of writing) of operating the machine is enough for him to give a credible rating and strong endorsement:
 
“I believe the Vatech PaX-i3D is a compact and sleek machine that is very user-friendly – with a software interface that is very easy to navigate. Although this is my first CBCT and I have little basis for comparison with other makes, I can safely say that it’s been a great buy.”