Thirty years ago, a dentist would not have had any idea that he or she would need IT partners to insure that his or her practice runs smoothly. So, in today’s installment, I would like to thank those companies who help to make our office run like a well-oiled machine while giving us more time to spend on patient care and less on managing our non-clinical affairs.

First there is Dentrix, our dental software company.   It is this company which provides all the software to make appointments, set up individual digital charts for patients, manage each patient’s account, submit insurance claims, and basically keep track of just about everything that goes on in our dental office. I vaguely remember managing all these details by hand until the late 1980s. It was very time consuming and not fun!   Dentrix is our second software company, and we have been with them for about 20 years. It is easy to take for granted everything that this software allows us to accomplish, but I believe that this company offers a wonderful product, keeps it current, and allows us to be so much more efficient.

Second, there is Dexis, our digital imaging company, which provides both the hardware and software for digital radiography (x-rays).  As I mentioned in our previous article, these digital x-rays are a huge improvement over the photographic system that we had used for over 20 years. So now, when we open the patient’s digital chart, all of his or her x-rays and photographs are visible and easily enlarged on our computer screens. The system has improved our ability to make proper diagnoses, explain what we see to patients, and keepg ongoing photographic record of patients’ conditions, which we have found to be so helpful in developing appropriate treatment plans for any given patient.

Third, I’d like to thank the Smilereminder Company (now called Solutionreach).    We have been with this company for close to ten years and they are responsible for the reminders which you receive before your appointments. They also allow us to stay in touch with you via our Digital newsletters, birthday cards, and holiday wishes. We have found that this company is very well managed and provides a great service for us as a dental office and for you as patients.

Finally, I’d like to thank Gilleard Marketing for producing our newest website and maintaining it in a professional manner. We feel that this website reflects a true image of our office and we appreciate Keith Gileard’s photographic and creative skills to produce such a fine website. I consider Gilleard to be a very important IT partner in the day-to-day management of our dental practice and I would recommend his work to anyone who seeks such service.

I hope that this brief view of our dental management technology has offered you some insight. We always encourage and welcome your comments about this and any other technology. Feel free to ask us about it or offer your opinions the next time that you are in the office.