Smarter marketing, better implants

Dear DrBicuspid.com member:

Even in the best circumstances, placing implants is tricky business. Now you can do the job at home. In your pajamas.

Thanks to a new breed of CAD programs, you can plan implant surgery in minute detail on your PC, using three-dimensional images of a patient's mouth, then have a tailor-made guide fabricated. That precision minimizes patient stress, pain, and swelling when it comes time to do the real-life surgery that follows.

"We are taking implant surgery out of the Stone Age," says one oral surgeon. "All of us better get on the train, because it really is moving."

Climb aboard! Check out Senior Editor Laird Harrison's report here.

Marketing from the inside out

Need to expand your patient base? Get a better class of customers? New to the area? Marketing is what you need, but you may not have to lay out the big bucks for expensive advertising or search engine optimization. The key, according to dentist and marketing guru Dr. Andy Doerfler? "Instead of throwing money away on ads, throw it back at your patients."

Inside-out marketing isn't rocket science says the good doctor. Building trust, forging relationships, promoting your practice in the right places, and ultimately, generating lots of quality referrals, is doable for a lot less. Where do you begin? For answers, check our article here.

Super hygienists, super threat?

Should dental hygienists be allowed to set up their own practices and provide certain kinds of dental care -- from fillings and extractions, to crowns and dispensing medication? That's the issue being hotly debated in Minnesota, and eventually, in other states, as the number of Americans lacking dental care skyrockets. But is this good for dentistry? Will it take money out of your pocket? And will it ultimately be good for patients?

Come back to DrBicuspid.com tomorrow and look for "Super hygienists threat to dentists?" on our front page. This is one story you won't want to miss.

Win a prize, refer a friend

Want to share your discovery of DrB with a colleague? Don't be shy. Surf over to tellafriend.drbicuspid.com and tap in his or her email and we will send them a special invite. (And don't worry, we will keep the name and email address under wraps.) With every name, you also increase your chances of winning an XM Satellite radio from Delphi. So start clicking!