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By Ron Barsotti, President, Recall System Pro n As practice management consult- ants, we have spent the past 20 years supporting dental practices in maxi- mizing productivity while maintain- ing high standards of patient treat- ment, service and care — no easy task. Systemization is critical to realizing these goals, and we came to under- stand early the role patient recall and recallsystemmanagementplayinthe overall productivity and success of dental practices. In addition to the beneficial impact patientrecallhasonthedentalhealth of patients, patient recall is also the single most important system to the overallsurvivalandsuccessofdental practices. More than 70 percent of practice revenues stem from patient recall, yet recall continues to repre- sentoneofthemostunderperforming systems in many of today’s practices. As a result, significant numbers of dental practices struggle to keep up because of underperforming recall systems, and an equal number do not do as well as they could for the very same reasons — this includes high-functioning practices. Under- performing recall systems are cost- ingdentalpracticeshundredsofthou- sands in lost revenue annually. From our viewpoint, a major con- tributing factor to this problem is that the importance of patient recall, in terms of the difference that patient recall can make to the financial, scheduling and service success of a dental practice, is not sufficiently understood by dentists or the profes- sion as a whole. This lack of understanding results in dentists not committing the nec- essary time, energy or resources to the enhancement of patient recall, which could highly leverage the per- formance and productivity of their practices. From our perspective, this does not occur out of choice, this occurs out of a lack of knowledge and information. Another major factor that contrib- utes to dentists not being able to real- ize the full benefit of patient recall is a lack of comprehensive software solutions to assist dental practices in adequately tackling patient recall. Patient recall is a challenging system with no easy solutions, and the lack of systemization contributes to the ongoingfrustrationandlostrevenues experienced by practices. Education is an important part of what we do at Recall System Pro. We are committed to educating dentists and the dental profession as a whole regarding the importance of patient recall, which includes defining the specific difference patient recall can make to practice productivity and success. We are actively involved in providing educational webinars and study group presentations. Our commitment to practice opti- mization through patient recall has also resulted in the development of Recall System Pro, a software solu- tion that enables dental practices to maximize the benefits of recall. Recall System Pro is the industry’s first comprehensive software solu- tion that goes beyond automated messaging to provide lasting results. Recall System Pro provides dental practices with the necessary sys- temization and tools to fully lever recall and recover thousands in lost revenues. Providing dentists with the infor- mation they need to make informed choices regarding how recall system optimization can impact the perform- ance and productivity of their prac- tices is a driving force behind our company’svision.Wearealsoequally committed to providing dental prac- tices with access to information, instruction and software solutions they can use to maximize the benefit of recall. exhibitors38 Greater New York Dental Meeting — Nov. 26, 2012 Why patient recall? Reflections on the Fender Wedge Several studies from different coun- tries show 60–100 percent injury to adjacent teeth at proximal prepara- tion with a high risk of subsequent caries on the damaged surface. There is a clear ethical motive to avoid causing an injury to biologi- cal tissue while repairing something else. The repair of such injuries is very costly, and the benefits for the patient and society are great if the adjacent tooth is protected during preparation. Dentists therefore have a strong desire to give patients safer care by reducing obvious risks of injury. They also are likely to appreciate the opportunity to work faster and safer. Fender Wedge was developed by the Swedish company Directa in col- laboration with an advisory group of dentists. It was introduced in 2006. Today, several dental education pro- grams worldwide require students to use preparation protection at pre- clinical and clinical stages. Reflections on the Fender Mate The reason Directa and the advisory group developed a new sectional matrix was that they wanted to offer the first choice when looking for a composite matrix for Class II cases. It had to be easy and quick to put in place, should only consist of one part, should offer an optimal curvature and a good cervical connection. And the filling can be made by a single operator. Fender Mate was introduced in 2009 and attracted great interest. Advisory group reflections Dr. Jan Johansson from KUSP, Direc- ta’s Dental Care Advisory Group said: “Dental company Directa has an excellent business idea. It collects product ideas and innovations from the Swedish dental care community. Directa receives aid from KUSP, an independent advisory group of some 20 dentists, dental hygienists and dental carers with broad connections in dental clinics and among faculty. This advisory group selects which ideas should be developed. The group then follows the work, tests the prod- ucts and offers advice on continued product development. The company’s motto is ’Design by Dentists.’ ” The glue for Directa is that they benefit from strong communication between different stakeholders. The group’s advice to Directa is thatdirectcommunicationwithusers should be fortified in every possi- ble way: The website and Facebook should harvest any feedback, clinical cases and new product ideas. The company should ask how new ideas and products will be received, and it should offer free hands-on courses to test products, as well as an open telephone line with advice for users.” Reflections on Directa products Here at the GNYDM For more information on Directa prod- ucts, visit www.directadental.com, fol- low Directa on www.facebook.com/ directaab or visit Directa at booth No. 2332. To contact Dr. Jan Johansson, email jan.johansson@directadental. com. Here at the GNYDM To see a live demo of Recall System Pro and to learn about Patient Recall Study Group Webinar presentations in yourarea,stopbytheSikkaEcosystem Booth, No. 4431, or call (800) 651-8603. 5 (Photo/Provided by Recall System) 5 Fender Wedge, left, and Fender Mate (Photo/Provided by Directa)