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today Hinman Dental Meeting Atlanta Mar. 18

By Kristine Colker, today Staff n Getting patients to accept treat- ment plans can sometimes be a tricky proposition. But thanks to a new e-book, “Increasing Production and Case Acceptance,” written by prac- tice management consultant Debra Engelhardt-Nash, the process just got a little bit easier. The e-book is being distributed here at the Hinman Den- tal Meeting by Dentrix in the Henry Schein Practice Management Solu- tions booth, No. 819. Presentedinaneasy-to-readformat with sections covering such themes as “Influencing Case Acceptance,” “Communicating Trust,” “Presenting Your Case,” “Talking About Money” and “Monitoring Results,” the e-book contains practical advice that can easily be implemented, a sidebar full of tips that can be quickly reviewed and suggestions for dialogue that dental teams can use to create their own patient conversations. “Dentists spend most of their time in dental school learning the clini- cal aspects of providing care, but dentists and their teams spend only 15 percent of their time in clinical application and 85 percent of their time communicating with patients,” Engelhardt-Nash said. “I wrote the e-book to help doctors and their team members understand the importance of communicating appropriately and effectively so they can do the type of dentistry they were trained to do.” Engelhardt-Nash has a lot of expe- rience in the area of practice manage- ment, as well as in the dental office itself. In the early 1970s, she was a high school fine arts instructor bemoaning bond issues being voted down and fine arts programs such as drama and music being eliminated from public schools. As fate would have it, she addressed this state of affairs to her dentist at the time, who told her, “You would be great in a den- tal office.” That led to her being trained to be a dental assistant and eventually mov- ing to the business office of a practice. When the dentist she worked for sold his practice and moved away, she worked for another dentist who was partofafour-mansologrouppractice. She eventually became the admin- istrator for the group until she was recruited to become a consultant for a large consulting firm in 1982. In 1985, Engelhardt-Nash started her own consulting company. Thirty years later, she is still offering mul- titudes of helpful tips and advice to clinicians throughout the country, including with the new e-book. Engelhardt-Nash, who calls the e-book “a practical guide to present- ing treatment and discussing finan- cial arrangements,” said she appreci- ates Dentrix for sponsoring the book for the dental community. “Patients will never choose your ideal treatment plan unless you tell them what it is,” she said. “Take the time to give them the information they need to choose the care that is appropriate for them.” exhibitors 10 Hinman Dental Meeting — March 18, 2016 How to get your patients to accept your treatment plans By Bethany Valachi, PT, MS, CEAS n I have found that loupes pro- foundly influence the musculoskel- etal health of the dental practitioner. Unfortunately, I have also found that a majority of the loupes on the mar- ket are not ergonomic and place the operator in an unsafe forward head posture (greater than 20 degrees forward). In my international dental consul- tations, I have consistently found that ifthedeclinationangleoftheloupesis not steep enough, it forces the opera- tor’s head forward and places him or her at risk for serious neck pain and injury. It saddens and frus- trates me to walk into dental schools and repeatedly see a major- ity of the students work- ing in hunched postures. Many of these students will eventu- allycallmewhentheyhavesustained a herniated cervical disk, only to find they could have prevented it with well-designed ergonomic loupes, such as the SurgiTel flip-up loupes. The SurgiTel front-lens-mounted loupesareoneofthefewloupesonthe market today that offers a great dec- lination angle and vertical adjustabil- ity to allow the operator to maintain a safe head posture. If I could make only one ergonomic recommendation to the dental profession, it would be: Invest in a pair of SurgiTel flip-up loupes. In post-consultation follow-ups, I have had dentists and hygienists report to me that their neck or back pain is “completely gone” after they purchased a pair of SurgiTel flip-up loupes. SurgiTel has gone the extra mile and done the research to create a product that preserves the muscu- loskeletal health of the dental profes- sional. As a physical therapist, I cannot say enough “kudos” to them! Prevent pain and extend your career 5 Bethany Valachi Here in Atlanta To learn more about the SurgiTel flip- up loupes, stop by the SurgiTel booth, Nos. 636 and 1345. Contact the author For an ergonomic consultation, you can contact Bethany Valachi at info@ posturedontics.com. 5 ‘Increasing Productivity and Case Acceptance’ is an e-book by Debra Engelhardt-Nash that is available from the Henry Schein Practice Management Solutions booth, No. 819. (Photo/Fred Michmershuizen, today Staff) Here in Atlanta To get your own free copy of the e-book “Increasing Production and Case Ac- ceptance,” stop by the Henry Schein Practice Management Solutions booth, No. 819. In addition, Debra Engelhardt- Nash is presenting two courses today and Saturday. “The New Patient Ex- perience: From Phone Call to Recall” takes places from noon to 3 p.m. today, while “Your Practice Health: Numbers Matter” will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

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