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Check out the Extreme Tech article for some details on key board shortcuts. Hands off the Mouse!
Windows is like a real-time strategy game. You can do everything with the mouse, but you’ll be so much better at it if you learn the keyboard shortcuts.
Windows Keyboard Shortcuts: Hands Off the Mouse! - OS, Software & Networking by ExtremeTech.
The following excerpt from DPR via dental blogs demonstrates the power of group think. “49% say sensors are uncomfortable.” Just because some other dentist heard this at a study club from some other dentist who has never used a sensor does not make it true.
In my experience, sensors are usually more comfortable than film.
Radiography - Digital versus film
Dental Products Report polled GP’s in 2005 on radiography preferences. Eighty per cent are using film based systems. Four per cent plan on buying a film based system versus 18 per cent that are planning on buying a digital system. 49 per cent say sensors are uncomfortable.
At the WealthyDentist.com, a recent survey reveals that over half of the dentists who responded have completely or partially stopped accepting dental insurance. The 44% who claim that they only partially work with insurance companies may mean that they are not in network with any insurance company, but they will file claims as a courtesy. They may or may not accept the patient’s copay or deductible.
55% of Responding Dentists Have Partially or Fully Stopped Taking Insurance.
The most common form of communication within dental practices was to roam the office and chase down the person needed. This could be very annoying for everyone and appear unprofessional to your patients. Most of all it wastes more time than you can imagine. While both light panels and direct communication work to get basic messages across, modern technology has a much more practical solution that will change the future of how dental offices will operate
Spectra looks like an intra oral video camera, but it doesn’t function like a video camera. Spectra helps the dentist identify tooth decay by revealing cariogenic bacteria based on the fluorescence principle. LED’s project high-energy blue-light with a wavelength of 405 nm onto the tooth surface. Light of this wavelength stimulates bacteria to fluoresce red, while healthy enamel fluoresces green.
With special imaging software the dentist views a live monitor image which highlights the carious lesions in different colors and defines the severity of each on a scale from 0 to 5. Based on this information the dentist can choose to observe or to restore. Images can be saved to the patient record for future reference.
The Spectra camera will also show bacterial plaque on the hard enamel surfaces. In this mode it acts as a high tech disclosing solution that doesn’t leave the patients looking like Count Dracula.
Another online forms system. Seems very basic, does not integrate with the management system, won’t integrate with your web site and they charge a lot !!! ($400) to customize. All for an annual fee of $300.
Offer your patients the choice to complete forms online; you can analyze and validate the data before their appointment. This service is applicable for practices with or without your own website. Your practice can utilize our generic forms or your own custom forms.
Submit Patient Forms – Online Dental Patient Forms Submittal Service.
This article has nothing to do with dentistry but the idea is just so cool.
Scientists have created two new types of materials that can bend light the wrong way, creating the first step toward an invisibility cloaking device.
‘Invisibility Cloak’ Takes Another Step Closer - News and Analysis by PC Magazine.
SD cards come in three physical sizes, tiny, tinier and tiniest. The standard cards, about half the size of a CompactFlash card, are 24 x 32 x 2.1mm. Mini SD cards are 21.5 x 20 x 1.4 mm. Micro SD cards are 15 x11 x 1 mm. Originally these cards were designed to hold a maximum of 2 Gb. Oh designers, what were you thinking? I can burn 2 Gb of photos on my way to the plane to go on vacation!
Enter the newer SDHC standard from the SD Card Association. To increase capacity above 2 Gb the file system was changed from FAT16 to FAT32. Unfortunately, older card readers are stuck on the original system. Put an SDHC card in an old-style standard reader and it might as well be speaking Yiddish.
The Truth About SD Cards And Why Some Won’t Work For You - Gearlog.
A tablet PC is a mobile computer in the shape of a slate. Tablets use a touch screen that allows the user to operate the computer with a stylus (a digital pen) or a fingertip, instead of a keyboard or mouse. In other words the user can simply tap the screen to check off a box on a form, and sign directly on the computer screen.
Don’t make the common mistake of assuming that once you have purchased practice management software and some computers to run it your investment in technology is over. The fact is you will have ongoing expenses and you must plan and budget for them. If you don’t the original investment will never pay off as well as it should.
Ongoing expenses will include training, software upgrades, technical support, additional hardware and replacement hardware.
According to an article in Investor’s Daily the average health care office spends 2% of revenue on technology. That includes hospitals as well as physicians and dentists. In addition the article noted that businesses in general spend an average of 10% of gross revenue on technology.
Therefore an average dental office should plan to invest at least two percent of gross in technology on an annual basis. For a typical single practitioner with a $500,000 gross the annual investment should be at least $10,000. A better budget would be 5-7% or more for an aggressive high tech office. That translates into $25,000 to $35,000 per year.
Follow the link to one of the first tech industry articles I have read that says Vista is OK. Never the less I’m still not using it. 
Is Windows Vista Really That Bad?
Is Windows Vista Really That Bad? - Opinions by ExtremeTech.
The SensAble™ Dental Lab System provides an integrated solution to scan, design and fabricate common dental restorations. It is the first integrated digital solution to support the production process for partial frameworks, as well as crown and bridge substructures.
This unique integrated system is also the first digital solution for dental restorations that uses “3D virtual touch”. It offers a digital approach to designing restorations that is analogous to hand waxing and includes a PHANTOM® 3D interface which lets you use your sense of touch to feel your 3D designs as you create them.
The winner survived being crushed by an SUV! See the video.
4 New Portable Hard Drives: Abusive Lab Test (With Video)
When you back up your data, you want to make sure it stays where you put it. We ended up with three paperweights and one clear winner.
http://video.popularmechanics.com/services/link/bcpid1688437613/bctid1699225584
Best External Hard Drive Reviews – Video Test of Portable Hard Drives - Popular Mechanics.
The new nomad design is smaller and lighter than the original. This will be great for use out of the office. Just bring a laptop and a sensor and you can take an x-ray anywhere.
One NOMAD Pro does the work of multiple conventional X-ray systems, making it extremely economical. The leading technology of NOMAD Pro provides the highest level of safety, quality, and patient care for your dental practice.
• Entire unit weighs just over five pounds
• Handheld and portable design moves from room to room, eliminating the need for multiple units
• Perfect for use with children and special needs patients
• Ideal for clinical, hospital, home-health, nursing home, and out-of-office use
• Includes a one-year product warranty
The following advice comes from my great friends and associates at the Pride Institute.
“Evolving from a dead wood practice to a paperless practice requires a vision and a plan. You need to address why and how before you welcome the technology into your practice.
At this point, many dentists turn to a practice management company for help developing their unique vision and an implementation plan that will integrate the new technology with their current operational systems. But because not everyone can nor wants to hire a consultant, this section serves as a “consultant in a box,” highlighting the advice we give to our clients.
At Pride Institute we teach that there are four parts of every system. In order to achieve full integration, you must fully implement each part.
1. Purpose / Vision (the big picture)
2. Mechanics (how we will do this)
3. Verbals (how we will communicate with one another and our patients)
4. Follow up/through (the consistent daily actions and agreements that hold us accountable and let us know when we’ve succeeded.)”
For the complete package check out the Guide to Going Paperless here:
1) What’s wrong with Lawyer jokes?
Lawyers don’t think they’re funny, and nobody else thinks they’re jokes.
2) When asked, “What is a contingent fee?” a lawyer answered, “A contingent fee to a lawyer means, if I don’t win your suit, I get nothing. If I do win it, you get nothing.”
3) A group of terrorists hijacked a plane full of lawyers. They called down to ground control with their list of demands and added that if their demands weren’t met, they would release one lawyer every hour.
4) A small town that cannot support one lawyer can always support two.
5) What’s the difference between a lawyer and a boxing referee?
A boxing referee doesn’t get paid more for a longer fight.
6) Arguing with a lawyer is like mud wrestling with a pig: after a while you realize that the pig actually enjoys it.
7) There are two kinds of lawyers, those who know the law and those who know the judge.
According to this survey of Indiana dentists just under 20% are using digital radiography. Click the link for the full article.
Results: One hundred and fifty-two dental practices (51%) responded to the survey. Thirty dental practices (19.7%) used digital radiography in their office. Twenty-two (73%) of the dentists using digital radiography were general practitioners. The number of dentists in a practice was a significant factor in predicting the use of digital radiography
You don’t often hear tell of the urge to…mail merge. And that’s a shame, because this powerful tool lets you easily and automatically create any number of letters that look personalized, documents with information relevant to each recipient, and even documents without recipients that have consistent elements.
Create Personalized Documents with Mail Merge - Solutions by PC Magazine.
