The Digital Dentist

2012-02-10T13:10:00.001-08:00

Need a new website? To get the results you’re looking for you need a dynamic website service, not a static website product. The old model is pay thousands for a website, and then it just sits there, rarely gets updated, and has no SEO focus. WEOMedia are the opposite…low setup cost and ongoing monthly support for edits, SEO, content improvements, etc.

Declutter

2012-02-09T05:54:00.000-08:00

For many dental offices, one of the biggest issues is how to deal with the bird's nest of cables and wires that surround our computer systems. Read on to see what other people do to deal with this.

Spamalicious

2012-02-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

One of the most common spam complaints we see with dental offices is someone receiving an email from you that contains a link to some unsavory site...even though you know you never sent that email out. Want to find out how that happened or, better yet, how to prevent it? Here's how.

Pass the Buck

2012-02-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

With HIPAA and HITECH staring to affect our everyday dental lives, it's important to stay up on the latest regulations. One area where many practices fall short is appropriate complexity of passwords. It's all too easy to create a password that you can easily remember...putting yourself at risk. Here's a list of the 25 Worst Passwords...if you see your password on this list, change it now!

Live Long and Prosper

2012-02-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

The devices that most dentists use on a daily basis, like laptops and smartphones, have one thing in common: batteries. Some may ask, though, what is the deal with lithium-ion batteries? You'll hear lots of different things about how to take care of them, like that they need to be kept charged between 40% and 80%, or that they should be drained completely and charged to 100%. What is the ideal approach to maintaining a good battery-life-to-battery-health ratio?

2012-02-06T08:13:00.001-08:00

Lecturing to the Toronto chapter of AO today...always great to come home!

http://ping.fm/7xBUa

Moving On Up

2012-02-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

With so many of us using smartphones, we'd like to be able to have the same info on our phones as we have on our computers, especially when it comes to bookmarks. While the iPhone syncs with Safari and Internet Explorer, it can't grab bookmarks from Chrome or Firefox out of the box—and most versions of Android can't sync bookmarks with any browser. Here are a few ways to get your desktop bookmarks on your smartphone without any hassle.

Plugged In

2012-02-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

Plugging in your phone to sync a mass of photos is a pain, and manually uploading each of them to Dropbox is far from ideal. Here's how to automatically upload each photo you take to Dropbox, immediately after you take it.

Don't Leave Home Without It

2012-02-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

As we head into 2012, it’s time to think about how you can keep your PC fit, fast and up to date for the next 12 months.

That means knowing which software you can rely on to perform quickly, safely and intelligently. This isn’t easy, because the web is teeming with thousand of poor programs that promise a lot but deliver little. Downloading these useless programs will only clog up your system and slow your PC down. So in this post we we’ve identified the top 10 free programs that you should download to make sure you have a brilliant year online. Many of these were new to me but are definitely worth a look.

Dentrix G5 Ships!

2012-02-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

Henry Schein begins shipping Dentrix G5 today as part of multi-month launch.
Official launch announcement set for Hinman in March.

Henry Schein today began shipping Dentrix G5, the latest version of the Dentrix practice management system, as part of a phased release that will take several months.

Although the official launch announcement will not be made until the Hinman Dental Meeting in March, Henry Schein is delivering Dentrix G5 to new Dentrix buyers, as well as a restricted number of Dentrix customers as part of a controlled launch. “By extending the release over multiple months, we can ensure all users receive quality technical support if needed during software installation,” said Howard Bangerter, Dentrix Product Manager.

“However, if a Dentrix user on a current customer plan wants immediate delivery of Dentrix G5, they can call Dentrix Technical Support and we’ll send it,” Bangerter added.

New to Dentrix G5 is an improved, SQL database with encryption capabilities that improves performance and security of patient data.

With this release, Dentrix also becomes a “platform” for connecting with other dental applications, providing tighter integration with Dentrix eServices and third-party applications that access or share Dentrix data. “Providing other software developers the Dentrix G5 programming interface enables them to more easily create applications that work with Dentrix, supporting an entire ecosystem of digital solutions for dental practices,” Bangerter said.

Software developers are already releasing Dentrix G5-integrated versions of their dental applications. To see a list of vendors developing or releasing compatible products, visit: http://www.dentrix.com/products/dentrix/g5/

Dentrix G5 includes a number of new and improved features, including:

• Electronic Explanation of Benefits (eEOB) lets practices receive, review and automatically record remittance advice in the Dentrix Ledger.
• eClaims Attachment Notifications warn users to include attachments on insurance claims for carriers that require them, reducing rejected or delayed claims.
• The new Screen Capture utility lets users drag over any part of the visible screen to create a new document and save it to the Document Center. This is especially useful for creating claims attachments.
• Sequentially Numbered Daysheets record each time the Daysheet is printed or previewed. When combined with logon passwords it creates a gapless record that shows who has accessed the Daysheet and when.
• Dentrix Dentalink is a new add-on feature that provides secure instant messaging, letting users easily communicate throughout the office with minimal disruption to patient care and workflow.
• The new Dentrix Mobile upgrade is an add-on product that presents an improved interface designed specifically for Apple iPad and Motorola Xoom tablet users.

For more information on all of Dentrix G5’s new features, visit: http://www.dentrix.com/products/dentrix/g5

So Happy Together

2012-02-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

Professional and Ultimate editions of Windows come with a built in Remote Desktop (RDP) feature that allows you to access your machine remotely while away from home or the office. Unfortunately, it is limited by default to one concurrent user per session, meaning that if someone remotely connects to the computer, whoever was logged in at the moment will be automatically logged off, even if the user is physically at the computer. Here's how to get around that.

Focusing In

2012-01-31T19:08:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest challenges for dentists when it comes to dental photography is dealing with the focus of the camera. Well, what if you never had to focus again? What if you could worry about the focus after the photo was taken? This is a really cool concept in cameras and I'll definitely be following this over the next few months.

The Eyes Have It

2012-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

The Future of computing: eye movement recognition. Check it out!

Feeling Blu

2012-01-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

Playing Blu-ray movies on the go on a laptop or in the living room on an HTPC with a Blu-ray drive doesn't have to be difficult, but if you want true HD video quality and the experience of navigating disc extras and menus, you'll need a Blu-ray media player that's up to the task. Here are five of the best Blu-ray compatible media players.

Dinner Guest

2012-01-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

A "guest mode" on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch would be a very useful feature. Fortunately for those of you who jailbreak, you can have that feature right now.
iUsers is a jailbreak tweak the will give you the ability to run multiple user accounts on your iDevice. It was designed for iPad, so it works properly there, but if you don't mind a few quirks you can still use it on an iPhone or iPod touch as well. To get it set up, follow these steps.

Drip Droopy

2012-01-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

If you’re looking for a dead simple way for people to share files with you, Droopy is a mini web server with a singular function: helping people upload files to your computer.

Not everyone is technically inclined and sometimes you need people with little technical know-how to share files with you. Droopy makes it as simple as giving them a URL pointing to your home computer/server. You run the python-based web server on your computer, make sure there is an open port on your firewall, and anyone you share the URL with can share the files as easily as sending an email attachment.

Printer Madness

2012-01-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Even though computer printers are relatively ubiquitous, you can’t just go pull one off the shelf and be guaranteed a good fit for your needs. Read on as we detail the ins and outs of buying a home printer.

Music to My Ears

2012-01-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Many dental practices like to play music in the office, usually for the benefit of the patients but often for the staff as well. While Windows has its own music player, it's not especially good. Here are 14 Free music players that work with Windows.

Face the Music

2012-01-24T12:19:00.001-08:00

I've been a huge fan of DemandForce for years. Did you know they now integrate with Facebook? Make appts from FB?? http://bit.ly/hIHJWL

Clickity Clack

2012-01-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

ClikTech, Inc. a manufacturer of dental sensor and x-ray film holders announces the release of two new evolutionary products, ShaRing™ Universal Ring and Litening™ Rods.

ShaRing™ is a single ring designed to replace the need for three separate rings used in a full mouth series. Anterior, posterior and bitewing radiographs may now be taken with just one single ring, saving time, money and space. The ring is completely autoclavable and is compatible with existing metal anterior, posterior and bitewing rods from most manufacturers. It incorporates wire clips for any digital sensor.

Working closely with XDR Radiology and Adam Chen, DDS, Litening Rods ™ is the latest development of an existing radiology standard. Metal rods have been used for decades in dental offices. Although effective, they are costly and prone to pin breakage. Litening Rods™ eliminates these issues. Constructed of solid high heat plastic resin, these rods are completely autoclavable, reusable and both low cost and light weight. They have the added benefit of incorporating a wire clip to accommodate the latest in digital sensors and work with any standard anterior, posterior or bitewing ring in addition to ShaRing™.

“We have reached a time where we can combine both new and old technologies to produce the best available products at the most reasonable cost to the dental profession,” relates Thomas Gillen, President of Design and Manufacturing at ClikTech, Inc. “ShaRing™ and Litening Rods™ serve as the bridge to make the transition from older to the newest technologies significantly easier for the dental office.”

About ClikTech

ClikTech, Inc. is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company and leading provider of digital sensor holders serving the design, engineering and production needs of companies and partners nationwide. ClikTech, Inc. supports its operations with a highly reliable infrastructure of design and development of product lines and provides engineering solutions to customers and partners in the United States. More information can be found at www.clikray.com

RAM-bo

2012-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

RAM is one of those upgrades everyone seems to skimp on when buying a PC, only to later wish for more. Regretting your underpowered memory purchase? Here’s how to speed up your machine by installing some additional memory.

Memory is often one the critical bottlenecks on a PC, so faster, larger stores of RAM can go a long way to making your PC perform better and with more stability. It’s not hard, even for beginner geeks. Crack open that PC in today’s hardware upgrade!

Roto Router

2012-01-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

A wireless router can be one of the hardest pieces of technology to purchase. Sifting through all of the vendor noise and choosing which router is best suited for your purposes is a daunting task. Do you need a lesser expensive single-band router or a more expensive dual-band? Do you need to upgrade or purchase an 802.11n router? What benefits do 802.11n give? Does a higher-end router mean better Internet connectivity? These questions as well as factors like security, parental controls and extra features such as the ability to connect USB printers and external storage drives to a router for sharing in your personal network, are all considerations to weigh when deciding to purchase or upgrade a router. Here's a list of the best ones out there.

How Do

2012-01-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

We handle a lot of different topics throughout the year, and our how-to guides come in a wide range of sizes and subjects, but the goal is always the same: to make it easy for you to accomplish something awesome. Here's a look back at our most popular how-to features of 2011.

Time Warp

2012-01-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to restore a file from the past, but don’t have a good way to do it? With System Restore Explore you can mount a System Restore snapshot, and browse a past copy of your entire drive. Head over to the developer’s website and grab yourself a free copy of System Restore Explorer.

Webinar Tonight

2012-01-19T04:29:00.000-08:00

We’ve previously introduced benefits of cloud computing and file sharing for dentists. Now, it’s time to look at how this is truly benefiting the practices who have taken advantage of it by referring patient records online.

Space is limited.Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/751544978