Industry Insider
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (Philadelphia, PA) launched an enhanced, interactive Web site that provides oral care information and special offers to dental professionals at www.dental-professional.com. The new site provides an easily-navigable, comprehensive source for industry news, oral care research findings, and samples ordering.
New features to the site include an upgraded account-management process. Information on various dental conditions and an improved online ordering process help professionals get product samples and high value coupons for their patients. The site also provides patient counsel and product recommendations. Hygienists can order free samples and full-sized products using their state license number, and receive the same prices and quantities of free products as dentists.
In addition to enhanced content and simplified samples ordering, the site features streamlined information on events, speaking engagements, and continuing education (CE) for professionals. Registered users can print customized oral care patient education materials in English and Spanish that reflect their practice name and contact information, and sign up to receive the latest dental news from the site’s Today’s Dental News section and e-mail newsletters. For more information, visit www.dental-professional.com.
Levin Group—Helping Dentists Reach A Higher Potential
Dentists work too hard, according to Roger Levin, DDS. That’s why, in 1985, he founded Levin Group, Inc, a dental practice-management consulting firm. “Because dentists are busy and work really hard, they don’t always realize that they can reach a higher potential,” says Levin, the company’s CEO and a third-generation dentist. “My advice to anyone who wants to improve themselves is to start surrounding themselves with experts. Our clients bring us on board to be their practice management expert, and they rely on us to help them improve their practice.”
In December 2006, Levin Group opened a second location in Phoenix, Arizona, for its Levin Advanced Learning Institute. The original Learning Institute, located outside of Baltimore in Owings Mills, Maryland, employs a full-time faculty and a group of professionals from fields as diverse as finance and recruitment. “We’ve replicated what we have in our Owings Mills location in Phoenix so we can serve clients out west more conveniently,” says Lori Gerstley, professional relations manager for Levin Group.
“The best way to run a practice is different for each situation so each client’s consulting program is customized in order to achieve the best results,” says Levin. To decide what type of program the client needs, the consultant makes an on-site visit to the dentist’s practice and, along with the dentist, evaluates his/her practice-management skills, including strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Levin Group has programs in endodontics, general practice, implants, large group, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics.
“Everything we do is process-driven,” says Levin. “Each program was created based on realizing different business models with individual attention. What we offer is a comprehensive range of services to help dentists achieve excellence at every step of their career, and to help them reach real potential and an outstanding quality of life.”
The Levin Group has plans for further expansion and specialization. “We are excited about the recent launch of the first consulting program focused on building cosmetic and elective dentistry for the general practice,” Levin says. “We’re adding highly desirable new services and innovation to the profession,” he adds. The new cosmetic and elective dentistry program officially kicked off at the end of 2006.
As the company continues to expand and introduce new services, its philosophy toward clients remains the same. “Our philosophy is to provide outstanding service to our clients to help them improve their lives,” says Levin. “We want to make their practices run more efficiently and profitably, we want to work in harmony with staff, and we want to make our clients successful.”
For more information about Levin Group, call (888) 973-0000 or visit www.levingroup.com.
United States Could Save $17.1 Billion In Healthcare Costs by Raising High School Graduation Rate
If every student in the class of 2005-2006 graduates from high school, the nation could save $17.1 billion in lifetime healthcare costs, according to calculations by the Alliance for Excellent Education in its new brief, Healthier and Wealthier: Decreasing Health Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment, funded by MetLife Foundation (New York, NY).
Since healthcare costs are highest for the least educated, the Alliance calculated savings by combining the lifetime costs of Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured care, then multiplying this total by the number of students who drop out of the nation’s high schools. If these students were to graduate instead, the nation would realize a significant benefit.
The brief argued that higher educational attainment improves a student’s future income, occupational status, and social prestige, all of which contributes to improved individual health. The brief cites several reasons why, including the fact that Americans with higher educational attainment have more insurance coverage, individuals who lack health insurance receive less medical care and have poorer health outcomes, and lower education levels generally lead to occupations with greater health hazards.
Healthier and Wealthier: Decreasing Health Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment is available at https: //www.all4ed.org/publications/HandW.pdf. Costs for Medicaid and for uninsured care based on education levels were calculated for the brief by Peter Muennig, assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, using data from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2004 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and 2005 Thorpe.
Led Dental Inc.’s Velscope® Earns CE Marking
LED Dental Inc (Vancouver, Canada) announced that its VELscope® Oral Mucosal Examination System can now display the CE Mark for authorized distribution within the European Union (EU).
VELscope was clinically proven by leading US and Canadian cancer researchers to be an effective adjunctive screening instrument for detecting abnormal areas of concern such as potentially cancerous lesions, which are often undetectable by the naked eye under white light.
3i Unveils New Online “Smart” Catalog For More Convenient Product Ordering
It is now possible to initiate orders for implant dentistry products from 3i Implant Innovations, Inc (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) with the help of the new “smart” product catalog available online at www.3i-online.com.
Designed for convenient product selection, the “smart” pages provide links that guide users to related products. Currently available to US customers, 3i’s Online Smart Product Catalog features the company’s product line categorized by implant systems, site preparation, regenerative, restorative technologies, and patient education.
For more information, call 1-800-443-8166 or 561-776-6700, or visit www.3i-online.com.
Sirona Dental Systems Expands Charlotte Headquarters
Sirona Dental Systems, a producer of dental CAD/CAM systems, is expanding its Charlotte, NC headquarters. Due largely to the success of its inLab® and CEREC CAD/CAM Systems, the Sirona facility has doubled its square footage from 28,000 to 56,000 square feet.
With the addition of 18 new workstations and 15 new offices that house over 30 employees, the renovation substantially supports Sirona’s rapid growth. The expansion enables the company to accommodate a total of 70 in-house employees, with 20 of those employees currently dedicated to Sirona’s CAD/CAM technology. For more in?formation about CEREC or Sirona’s inLab System, call 866-465-2248 or visit www.inLab.com.
The Organization for Safety & Asepsis Procedures (OSAP), Annapolis, MD, has released its powerful training tool “If Saliva Were Red” on DVD. The program teaches proper in?fection-control techniques through a graphic filmed demonstration in which the patient’s “saliva” contains red dye so that droplets, spray, and cross-contaminated surfaces can clearly be seen.
“If Saliva Were Red” has been a training and compliance-re?inforcement tool for many years but has only just become available on DVD. The 8-minute program contains three filmed versions of the same dental procedure, shown from patient seating through examination and ultrasonic scaling. For instructional purposes, the first two versions show the dental team making errors in proper infection control technique. Viewers have an op?portunity to spot the errors as part of the learning process. In the second ver?sion of the filmed procedure, the pa?tient’s “saliva” contains food-grade red dye, so it can be seen on gloves, instruments, and other surfaces. The results of improper tech?nique can clearly be seen as red drop?lets collect on the dentist’s face, spread to a telephone, and even get transferred to another worker when the assistant handles the patient’s chart with?out changing gloves. Finally, the procedure is filmed with the dental team using proper barrier protection.
All information is visual (there is no narration) so that the instructor or compliance manager can facilitate the learning process. A trainer’s guide is included in the package. OSAP also offers a 10-question exam that can be signed and dated to document a worker’s training. Continuing Dental Education credit is available. “If Saliva Were Red” can be ordered online at www.osap.org or by calling (800) 298-OSAP (6727).
Shofu Opens Global Training Center
After years of planning, Shofu Inc (Menlo Park, CA) unveiled its new Global Training Center at its world head?quarters in Kyoto, Japan. As a developer and manufacturer of fine dental porcelain since 1922, Shofu provides the profession with products and continuing ed?ucation support. The new facility in?cludes a lecture room with state-of-the-art audio visuals offering live patient care or laboratory demonstration in a comfortable classroom setting. The fully functional laboratory can accommodate 25 technicians or dentists at the bench for the best hands-on learning opportunity.
To commemorate the opening, Shofu sponsored The Porcelain Challenge, a contest for dental technicians. Over 100 technicians from around the world submitted samples of their best porcelain restoration. Judging the porcelain work was master ceramist Makato Yamamoto, who has assisted Shofu in product development and color esthetics for many years. Akinobu Ogata of World Lab in Irvine, California was one of three technicians to receive top honors.
