Episode 637: Plan of Action For Digital Scans

Tiff is diving into digital scans in this quick episode, something she’s had a lot of practices bring up over the past few months. She talks about why digital X-rays/scans are important, how they increase diagnosis, why a plan of action is so important when having one in your practice, and more.

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Transcript:

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0:00:05.6 Kiera Dent: Hey, everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent. And I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner and I have a team of travelling consultants where we have travelled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yup, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress and create A Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.

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0:00:51.5 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And you guys, today is the day. Consultants are taking over the podcast. I hope you guys are ready, I hope you love it. These ladies are incredible. They give you guys so much value, so much content. And guys, listen up, have the best time and as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

0:01:16.0 Tiffany: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Tiffany and you are here on the Dental A Team consultant takeover, where the traveling Dental A Team consultants take over the mic and share tips and tricks from hundreds of offices nationwide. And today, I am recording a solo podcast, guys. I have a couple of these that I'm gonna bust out because I just love podcasting. If I'm honest with you, I love talking to you guys. [chuckle] And right now it's so funny because I'm talking to no one, [chuckle] but I'm talking to everyone, and I think it's just so cool. I thought it would be really cool to take a couple of things that I've come across while I was in practices this month. Right now we're wrapping up the month of November. I've seen a lot of changes. I've seen a lot of things coming down the pipeline this month, and realistically this year. So we're getting ready to wrap up the year. We've got a couple of things coming down the pipeline and one of those has been digital scans, okay, and/or X-rays. I know I still have plenty of practices out there, seems a little while guys, I know, but I saw plenty of practices out there that are not utilising digital X-rays. Seems crazy. Right? It's fine.

0:02:22.5 Tiffany: They're still there. They're not in the digital world yet, we're gonna get them there. I thought today let's talk about why this is so important. One thing that I've seen for sure increase with the digital scans in practice is diagnosis. And I think the reason for that is that really and truly you're able to see everything from a different perspective. The whole point of the digital scan is to give you this huge bird's-eye view that's even better than the one that we've had. Why do we progress in the digital world? Why do we keep adding things? Why do we keep getting better and better? It's so that we can provide more value to our patients. And I really, truly think that not only digital X-rays do this, but I think the digital scans do. Here's the deal. If you're buying the scanner, have a plan of action for it. If you're buying the scanner, know what you want to accomplish with it. There are a lot of reps out there doing a really great job at selling a lot of digital scanners right now. One thing that I think could improve there in that cell is really helping the providers and the practices to really see how that scanner is gonna fit into their lifestyle. How does it fit for your practice? How does it fit for your culture? How does it fit for your core values and what you're there serving your patients for? Does it make sense for you to have it in your practice? Probably, but I want you to take a look at all of those pieces.

0:03:43.8 Tiffany: Take a look at your data. Okay. If you were to do a new patient scan on every new patient that walked through the door, what would that increase your dollar per patient? Okay. What would that increase on what you're gaining in the practice versus what you're outputting? So what's the ROI on that scan and/or digital X-rays if you're still not there?

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0:04:04.7 KD: Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And you guys, how was your 2022? I want you to look back and tell me, was it the year of years or was it a really hard year? Did you crush it or did it crush you? This is the time guys for end of year. Dental A Team platinum is welcoming you, where we will physically fly to your practice. We will come and we will elevate your dreams and make them into a reality. And guys, space is limited and prices are going up. This is not a sales pitch. This is not something where I'm trying to scare you into it. I'm just facing the reality of inflation is here, flights are expensive and I want to see as many people as we possibly can and serve as many as we can. So if you wanna be part of our elite group of people, there are limited spaces 'cause our consultants can only see as many. We are taking on 10 new platinum offices by the end of the year and that's it. That's all we have space for. So if you wanna be one of the elite 10, come join us.

0:05:06.1 KD: Be a part of our top-notch elite doctor community. Be a part of our office manager and hygiene and front office communities. Get your operations manual done and live the life that you've only been dreaming of today. Email me [email protected] and make 2023 truly a year that's unforgettable. We are a complete tax write-off and like I said, we are only taking 10 offices. So don't get left behind, be one of those 10. And I cannot wait to give you the biggest, warmest welcome to completely and utterly changing your life for good. Welcome to the Dental A Team. I can't wait for you to join us, [email protected]. Cheers to 2023 and making you your best self yet.

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0:05:52.4 Tiffany: Digital X-rays, you guys, I'm gonna just say this one time, super important. Take them at least once a year, take them whenever you think that you need a digital X-ray on a tooth and/or an area because they're huge, they're low in radiation, and they're super inexpensive. Okay? Digital scans, you're just scanning the mouth for all of these pieces. Things that I've seen it used for are Invisalign. Okay? And looking case after case. So if a patient's not ready to buy Invisalign yet, they're not ready to move forward with it, but they're like, "Yeah, cool, it's nice to see my mouth," totally fine. Okay? Maybe today they might not even need it, maybe it's not super important, but you know what? Next year or the year later or the year after, if you continuously take scans or every six months, whenever you're doing it, you're gonna see those teeth shift and change naturally over time. So for a patient that could use ortho, that could use something like Invisalign or clear aligners, if you're taking those scans time over time, you're gonna be able to compact them on top of each other and really see the change in those teeth, not only for you, but for your patients. And it has been proven time over time again that the proof is in the pictures.

0:07:00.7 Tiffany: That's why we take intra oral scan or intra oral pictures, IOS. So if you're taking IOS and you understand the value there, you're gonna really understand the value in these scans, it's the same thing on a giant spectrum. Okay? Patients are able to see... Imagine being able to see occlusion issues or clenching and grinding issues. Being able to see all of the things that we can see, it kind of reminds me of those, remember those Reach toothbrush commercials [chuckle] where those animated characters, those drawings, their mouths just flipped so that you could see the whole thing. It was like this 180-degree flip or whatever, and that's what it makes me think of. These digital scans are like those Reach toothbrush commercials. That patients have never been able to see these parts of their mouths before.

0:07:43.5 Tiffany: We can see them and we can see them kind of, but even with these scans, we are able to see them even better than we were before. So if you're thinking about the scan, I think it could be a good idea. I think it could be an asset to your practice. But again, I need you to look at all of the pieces. Okay? How is it gonna align into your appointments? When are you gonna implement it? Who's going to be doing it? What's the training that you're gonna need for it? And when are you going to start so that you can start seeing an ROI? If you don't know those things first, you're gonna shoot yourself in the foot later and you're gonna say this is just another thing that I bought that my team doesn't use. So figure out how you're going to implement it into your actual practice then move forward with it. Digital X-rays, digital scans, they are the way to go. I'm telling you, it is a great investment if you're doing it right from the very start. So figure out how you're gonna implement it, how does it fit in with you and your practice, maybe even your diagnosis style. What are you gonna use it to help you diagnose more of and how are you gonna get that ROI? So what team members are gonna need to be doing it and who's gonna get training on it. Those are the things to put into place first so that you can make an educated decision on this purchase and/or if you've already purchased it, you can make an educated decision on how to move forward with implementing it even better.

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0:09:08.2 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.

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