DTUK0813

‘So how does a small (but impres- sive!) independent software developer survive in this cor- porate world? I hope and believe it can be through grass-roots level support’ Endo Tribune Richard Kahan tells you why you should download EndoBiz Remote Version 3 from www.endobiz.co.uk Endo TribuneEndo Tribune pages 14-15 Dr Phillipe Sleiman discusses the root canal Irrigation for root canal Endo Tribune Iatrogenitc erosion root canal treatment Dr Rafaël Michiels pages 16-17 Dr Jerome Elias on using one instrument for root canal prep- eration One Shape O n November 19 2012, after programming work spanning 17 years, I announced at the Brit- ish Endodontic Society an- nual regional meeting that my endodontic clinical record and practice management software, EndoBiz, would be available free of charge for unrestricted and unlimited use. What led to this surprising decision? The dental software industry in the UK is mostly divided be- tween two mega-corporations who bought up all the compe- tition during the nineties and noughties. Their unassailable domination allows them to dictate their terms to users, and when it comes to request- ing additional functionality and software specific to the needs of niche users, their business model will not pro- vide. This was my position in 1995, setting up a specialist endodontic practice with spe- cific software requirements to enable a higher level of clinical note taking that truly reflected superior clinical ex- pertise, with the ability to save time and money in efficiency, and to allow secure access to the record system from any- where and at any time. Do it yourself With no software package coming close to my require- ments and the big players turning a deaf ear to my re- quests, I decided to write it myself. EndoBiz version 3 was completed and then test- ed throughout 2011. It was written as a corporate lev- el cloud-based, fully cus- tomisable internet solution for specialist endodontic re- ferral practices from the ground up, using the latest web programming protocols. This is in stark contrast to most other dental software programs, which have been written many years ago for single practices legacy plat- form. Improvement has been through modules bolted on to maintain some ‘newness’ to keep the punters happy and revenues streaming in. The EndoBiz development process was long and com- plex (much longer than an- ticipated), and subsequently very expensive. However, the result impressed fellow spe- cialist endodontists, referring practitioners and patients, as well as being described in PC Pro magazine (June 2012) by resident network specialist Steve Cassidy as “a superbly constructed, beautifully de- signed solution that no-one has heard about”. Clarity of vision The “no-one has heard about” is what I have to work on at present. I am unwilling to lose the clarity of vision and dedi- cation to specialist endodon- tics by selling out to a larger corporation software house. Yet, as I have found, compet- ing with these giants is unre- alistic for anyone without the deepest of pockets. So how does a small (but impressive!) independent software developer survive in this corporate world? I hope and believe it can be through grass-roots level support. Soft- ware is an organic medium and needs users to grow and to thrive. I take strength from so-called bootstrap software startups such as Goldstar and Carbonmade who started with little funding, but through the quality of their product at- tracted hundreds of thousands of users (although there are not hundreds of thousands of endodontists). Endo dreams So, if you want to improve efficiency, compliance and record keeping, whilst show- casing your clinical expertise to both your referrers and your patients, download En- doBiz version 3 now and use it in your practice. You will be keeping alive an endodontic software dream, allowing it to improve, and striking a blow against corporate soft- ware houses who are only re- ally interested in the colour of your money. DT Endobiz v3 - free endodontic clinical re- cord and practice management software Fig 1. The secure online EndoBiz record, a showcase for your practice, available to the operator, staff, referrer and patient. About the author Richard Kahan is a specialist endo- dontist and Direc- tor of the Harley Street Academy of Advanced Endo- dontics. He man- aged ‘Hello World’ on his Sinclair ZX81 at an early age and went from there to BBC Basic and trying to disrupt the new comput- erised instrument ordering system at the Royal London Hospital during the 1980s. His software never has bugs, it just occasionally develops random features. pages 18-20