Rock, Scissors, Paper

The vast majority of offices that we set up elect to place two monitors in the ops. The biggest complaint that we hear, though, is the inability to have separate wallpapers on each screen. Auto-Wallpaper solves that issue, along with giving you some really cool effects and wallpapers. It's not free ($10) but worth it in my opinion.

Land Ho!

I've been talking about this in my lectures over the past few years, but here's a recent USA Today article that gives the gory details: consumer use of land-line telephones is plummeting. Many states, such as New York and New Jersey, have seen drops of over 50% since 2000. We have VOIP in our office and while I like it, it's not 100% reliable and I'm not sure if I would recommend this for dental offices. But, the writing is on the wall....

Share the Care

CareCredit has pretty much locked up the entire country when it comes to official state endorsements. Here's the press release:

COSTA MESA, CALIF. — May 2008 — CareCredit, North America’s leading patient payment program, has recently secured the exclusive endorsement of two additional state associations, bringing their total support to 46 out of 50 dental associations* – a first in the industry. After careful consideration, the Nebraska Dental Association (NDA) and the Oklahoma Dental Association (ODA) selected CareCredit for their members in early 2008.

“Because CareCredit has the best reputation in the dental community, and is committed to providing practices with an easy and convenient way to help patients get the dentistry they want and need, we made it our choice,” said Dr. Krista Jones, President of the Oklahoma Dental Association. Added David O’Doherty, Executive Director of the Nebraska Dental Association, “Part of our mission is to help our members be as successful as possible, and we believe adding CareCredit as a payment option is the best choice to help them increase treatment acceptance and attract more patients.”

For over 20 years, CareCredit has been helping patients get the dentistry they need and want. Today, CareCredit is used in more than 100,000 practices and by over 7 million patients in North America. CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by ADA Member AdvantageSM , AGD, AADOM, AAOMS, and AAP, and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants. To get started with CareCredit, call 1-800-300-3046 ext. 4519 or visit www.carecredit.com.

Put Them in Their Place

While there are literally hundreds of online storage sites, few are as easy to use as PutPlace. It's currently free to use and while there's no pricing yet, I expect it to be competetive when they come out of beta testing.

Twistin' the Night Away

Pelton and Crane were showing their new line of flexible monitor mounts at the CDA meeting a few weeks ago. The have six new models to choose from. These look to be very high-end systems and while pricing wasn't available, I expect it to be in the higher end of that scale as well.

3M Makes a Move

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 3M announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire IMTEC Corp., a manufacturer of dental implants and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanning equipment for dental and medical radiology headquartered in Ardmore, Okla. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This acquisition gives 3M ESPE access to two of the fastest growing segments in the dental industry. “Our combined digital products and expertise will enable a digital ‘total restorative’ approach with more options than ever, including IMTEC implants, 3MTM ESPETM LavaTM crowns, and 3M’s advanced digital workflow solutions,” said Jeffrey Lavers, vice president and general manager, 3M ESPE. “Together, we will have an end-to-end implantology solution, making the process easier, faster and better for dentists everywhere.”

Dental implants are rapidly emerging as a standard of care for dentistry. A titanium screw replaces the roots of an extracted tooth and is integrated into the bone structure of the jaw over the course of a few months to become a highly-stable platform for a crown, bridge, or full-arch denture. Implants offer several advantages over traditional crown and bridge work such as no preparation of adjacent teeth, better esthetics, and no resorption of bone in the jaw.

IMTEC is best known for its mini dental implants, which are small-diameter, single-unit dental implants that don’t require invasive surgery so bone trauma is minimal and patient discomfort is limited. Mini dental implants are primarily used for denture fixation, but are also appropriate for orthodontic anchorage.

“We are looking forward to the reputation, resources and worldwide reach that 3M brings to help us build this business,” said Ron Bulard, DDS and Chairman of the Board, IMTEC Corp. “Its overall strength in oral care with both the 3M ESPE and 3M Unitek divisions makes them a particularly good partner for us.”

One of the world’s largest suppliers to the dental industry, 3M manufactures and markets a wide range of products and services used by dental professionals worldwide to improve oral health. These products are designed to meet restorative, crown and bridge, orthodontic, preventive, infection control, and cosmetic dentistry needs. 3M’s current digital dentistry offering includes the Lava crown and bridge system – an innovative restorative design and milling system that has become a benchmark of quality among dentists and dental labs.

IMTEC employs approximately 230 people located at its operations in Ardmore; Los Alamos, N.M.; and Boulder, Colo. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.

About IMTEC Corp.

IMTEC Corp.’s primary focus is on dental applications and the development of new technology to simplify dentistry. IMTEC created a revolution in implantology with the introduction of the MDI Implant line and has grown into the global leader in small diameter implants.

IMTEC’s ILUMA system is a leader in Cone Beam Computed Tomography for dentistry and medicine. With this technology and IMTEC’s groundbreaking applications, its customers can access the power of three-dimensional radiography in the convenience of their own offices. IMTEC also produces a wide array of industrial CT scanning equipment powered by its proprietary and award winning FlashCT™ software and its internationally recognized engineering team. For more information, visit www.imtec.com.

About 3M

A recognized leader in research and development, 3M produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse markets. 3M’s core strength is applying its more than 40 distinct technology platforms – often in combination – to a wide array of customer needs. With $24 billion in sales, 3M employs 75,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 60 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com.

Speed Racer

I've been evaluating a really nice program called SpeedBoost over the past month and I really like. It's not free (around $30) but worth every penny. It basically does a number of things to speed up computers, such as defragmenting, cleaning up temporary files, the Registry, etc. I love the One-Button Checkup that you click once and it's done. Very cool.

Space Maintainer

As any of you who haev computers know, no matter how big your hard drive is, you'll eventually (and often sooner than later!) fill it up. Many people don't realize how much space is filled with various programs and folders. Well, that's where DriveSpacio can help, as it shows a nice graph of the size of each folder from largest to smallest. Very interesting to see how much space you may be wasting.

Anti-Matter

I've been recommending Grisoft's AVG for a long time...the network version for office and the free version for home. Recently, I tried to upgrade to the free 8.0 version and simply couldn't get it to run properly. So, I downloaded and tried AntiVir, another free program, and I have to tell you...it's great. Simple to use, fast, and it even found a virus in my Temporary Internet Files that AVG had missed. Highly recommended.

Sharing is Good

I've talked a bout a number of online file sharing and sync sites over the years, as I think this is a great and secure way to share data with other offices. Here's a good roundup of the Five Best Online File Sharing Services. As is typical with these sites, make sure to scroll down to see what others users recommend, as there are always some lesser-known gems in here as well.

File It Under...

Here's a great service that I plan to use right away: FileMail. It allows you to send very large files, up to 2 GB if you're on the free plan, to anyone else by email. They also allow you to password-protect these files, making them more HIPAA-friendly for those of you who send patient images to other offices. Of course, you can always use a dedicated service like ddsWeblink for this as well.

Another Fine Mess

Sometimes, Windows gets so messed up that you get blue screens of death and need to do some serious things to get back up and running. Here's a great article on What To Do When Things Get Really Messed Up.

SP3 is Here

Microsoft has finally releases Windows XP SP3, an important Service Pack with tons of security updates. If you already have your computers set to update automatically, you don't need to do anything; it will do it for you. For the rest of you, I highly recommend you download and install this patch.

See the Light

One of the coolest features of Vista is that you can mouse over a minimized application and see a screen that shows you that application in a small window...very cool. Except, you need Windows Vista...not so cool. You can, however, see most of the same functionality with a program called Visual Tooltip. Free to download and use.

Have and Have Not

While Windows is far and away the most popular operating system out there, it seems to be missing many features...features that you will find in other operating systems. Here are the 18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesn't) along with some ways to add those features now.

There's GOT to Be a Better Way

Ineed. Many Windows applications are really not all that great, even though they are popular and downloaded very often. Here's an extensive list of programs to avoid and better alternatives that exist...most for free.

Cleaning Out the Crap

I wrote about this free program, CCleaner, a few years ago and they have just released a new version. The first C stands for crap, and that's pretty much what it does: clean out the crap files and temporary files that you don't need, often freeing up multiple GB of space. As usual, this is a completely free program.

Dating Yourself

If you have Windows Update configured to automatically download and install hotfixes, security updates, service packs, and other updates (as you should), it's not always easy to see exactly what you're installing or what's already been packed onto your PC. WinUpdatesList is a simple application that brings up a list of all the updates that have been applied to your PC.

You can run WinUpdatesList simply by downloading and unpacking a ZIP file and clicking on the executable. There's also a version with an installer/uninstaller available if you'd rather go that route. The program presents a detailed list of each update, what programs it affects, and a brief description, which may or may not be utterly meaningless. But if you double-click an update, you can get a link to the Microsoft knowledgebase article, which will (occasionally) make order out of the madness of Microsoft's hotfix naming scheme.

Just the Fax

I've written about paid fax services like J2 in the past, which I've used myself for years. Well, one of the file sharing services, Drop.io, now offers free faxing of documents up to 20 pages. No accounts to sign up for, no hidden costs, nothing. This may be my new faxing service from this point onwards.

Lock it Down

Many of you use wireless networks, either at home, the office, or both. Unfortunately, most wireless networks are woefully insecure. Here's a great review of how to lock down your network with minimal effort.

Better Safe than Sorry

Have you ever scanned a file for a virus and even though your software said it was safe, you just had a feeling that it wasn't? It's no secret that some antivirus programs will find infections while others do not. Wouldn't it be nice if you could use 20 different programs to scan a file? Wouldn't it be even nicer if you could do this online rather than install and run 20 different programs?

Well, then surf on over to Jotti's Malware Scan as it does exactly this. The usual disclaimers apply, of course.

Be Secure

The folks at Ars Technica, one of my favorite sites, have posted Five Important Security Apps for any computer: PC, Mac, or Linux. These are all good programs, all of them free or shareware.

Dell Does it Right

I've been worrying about the June 30 cutoff for system vendors like Dell to stop providing Windows XP. Well, Dell has just announced that they will sell XP systems beyond that date! Seems that there's a loophole that allows Microsoft to claim a Vista sale even if the vendor "downgrades" it to XP. So, if you're considering a new system, you can breathe a little easier for now.

Give Them a Hand

Here are 9 Outrageously Handy Websites...not sure on all of them, but most have already been added to my bookmarks as I do think there are some real gems here.

Eight is Enough

AVG has released their free version of their newest update, AVG 8.0. This is still one of my favorite programs although the commercial version, which you need for dental offices, has jumped up to over $450 for a 2-year subscription. We are now recommending F-Prot as well, which is $50 for the typical dental office.

The Future of Monitors and TV

I have seen the future, and it's not looking good for LCD and plasmas. Sony has just announced their newest TV based on the exciting OLED technology. This allows for monitors to be lighter, thinner, use less power, and have better image quality. The first unit, the XEL-1, should start shipping by the end of the year.

You heard it here first: in 5 years, the majority of monitors we use will be OLED.

Trolling Along

TrollByte Plus Digital Sensor Holder

Fits for 55 Different Sensors from 17 Manufacturers!

TrollByte Plus is the second generation sensor holder from TrollDental.

It is specifically developed for ease of use, accurate sensor positioning

and patient comfort. TrollByte Plus is one piece with no assembly

required, no more twisting and turning, just put the sensor in and you

are ready to go! It is color coded not only for image type, but also for

sensor size # 2, # 1 and # 0.


Use the aiming ring devices on the holder or attach the aiming ring

(also color coded) for sensor positioning. The bite block is used

together with TrollByte Plus VBW/AF for anterior periapicals.


TrollByte Plus is made of a lightweight plastic compound with smooth

edges for patient comfort. All components are autoclavable.


TrollByte Plus starter kit contains three different holders, one aiming ring

and one bite block. Each holder is also available in 3-packs.


Dentist to Dentist: Mats Norman DDS Practicing Dentist Uddevalla, Sweden


The design of TrollByte Plus makes it possible to take perfect images

in a predictable way. The wide “claw” of the sensor holder allows the

sensor to be moved further in an apical direction and thereby

compensate for the fact that the sensors image active area is smaller

than the external size of the sensor.


The slightly softer material makes positioning the sensor comfortable

for the patient because the sensor is able to adjust to the surrounding

tissue. To make it easier to position the sensor, I strongly advise you

to instruct the patient to clench slightly during positioning on the sensor.

The patient will relax and you will find the correct position.


For more information or to place an order call 800-537-8765 or visit:

www.trolldental.com

Return to Sender

My friends at Elexity have a great new FREE patient communication system:

DentalSenders.com Offers Free patient communication package to Dentists

Dental practices now have access to a completely free patient communication package that enables them to confirm appointments via email or text messaging, send special greetings to patients throughout the year, contact past-due patients, and send informative newsletters to patients.

DentalSenders.com, a subsidiary of Elexity Systems which specializes in patient communications, is now offering the complimentary service, which includes their Automated Appointment Confirmation system.

This is an email/text messaging confirmation system that allows practices to confirm patient appointments by notifying them through email or text messaging. The completely customizable message is sent with the dental office’s email address so that patients immediately recognize it.

“The fact is that most patients today are using email and text messaging routinely, and they would prefer that dental offices confirm appointments using these methods. It’s fast, easy and efficient,” explained DentalSenders.com CMO, Gerry McManus.

The best feature of DentalSenders.com is that there is no burden on the dental team. The program automatically synchronizes with the practice’s management software to identify upcoming appointments and sends the messages automatically. The email and text messages can be sent out based on configurable settings of the office’s choosing in advance of the appointment. The dental office is given a daily report as to which appointments have been confirmed and which will require additional follow-up.

The package also offers dentists the opportunity to communicate with their patients in between appointments by sending birthday and holiday greetings via email or text message as well as periodic newsletters on current dental topics.

In addition, the program will automatically identify patients who have not been in for an appointment in the last 12 months, contact them via email or text message and encourage them to call the practice to schedule.

The communication package is compatible with most dental practice management systems, does not require dental practices to purchase hardware or software, and there are no costly support contracts to deal with either.

“As practices have come to realize, it is the ongoing effective communication with patients that significantly reduces the risk that they will skip their dental appointments or go elsewhere for dental care. The communication package through DentalSenders.com makes that ongoing communication effective, efficient and affordable to every practice. Dental Senders is able to offer this free service by partnering with the leading companies in dentistry. All e-mails will have 4 partner logos placed in the email,” said Mr. McManus.

For further information, visit www.dentalsenders.com or e-mail Gerry McManus at ger.mcmanus@dentalsenders.com

Rip It Good

This is more for personal use, but...

I know that many of you have DVDs that you'd like to transfer to other media, such as an iPod or computer. To do this, you need to "rip" the content from the DVD to the new media, which often requires a few steps. Here's a great list of the Five Best DVD Ripping Tools, all of them free. Scroll down to other options from users.

Lighten The Load

I'm sure that like me, many of you like to travel light. With me recent hernia surgery, I'm not allowed to lift more than 10 lbs for the next two months. So, that's whay I was happy to see this great article on 11 Ways To Lose Laptop Backaches. its' eleven technologies that replace laptops with lighter versions.

Where's the Beef?

The native Windows Explorer is probbaly the least developed part of Windows, although it's really at the core of an operting system. Here are 7 Windows Explorer Addons to improve your experience with this.