If you own a successful dental practice, it usually means that you have a great dental team supporting your vision, goals, and core values. Finding skilled dental workers can be challenging, and sometimes a new hire is showing a lack of training in an area that is critical to operations in the office.

Are you wondering if switching from temp agencies to cloud-based hiring platforms is a good decision for your dental practice? Forbes Magazine recently predicted that, sooner or later, nearly all organizations will be dependent on the cloud in one way or another.

The best person to ask as what it takes to be an excellent dental assistant is a dentist. The dentist will spend about 90% of the working day with the dental assistant in the treatment rooms or in the lab area. Working side by side they get to know each other's habits very well.

If you are contemplating becoming a medical assistant or dental assistant, you will realize that the two professions are quite similar. Both medical assistants and dental assistants work under the supervision of certified doctors: dentists and physicians. They both play supportive roles in the office, like patient record management and paperwork filing.

Thanking the members of your staff as they walk out the door at night should be a habit of love.  Just hearing those simple words can make a difference in an exhausting day of taking care of forty patients or more.  Your thoughts go to how much you need them and can’t operate without their help.

Your top dental assistant has just pulled you aside to tell you she is moving to another state and is giving you a two-week notice.  A sense of denial grips you at first as this cannot be true, and then the reality sets in as a cold sweat envelopes your body. It’s been a while since you had to think about this and now you are wondering how to find someone like her/him.

Let’s get straight to the point. Yes, a dental hygienist can be an independent contractor, but if only he/she appropriately follows the rules.

There’s no “fishing” for compliments when in the Cloud

The day starts with a morning meeting, and you are checking the first patient's chart for updated health history and checking the schedule against the treatment plan.  Did you set up the syringe for an upper molar? The patient has problems with epinephrine, did you insert the correct carpule? The patient is in a wheelchair, and you will need help getting the patient into the dental chair.  Your mind is doing a check and balance on each aspect of the patient that is about to be seated. Never the same day and never the same patients makes for a challenging and intriguing day of the dental assistant.

For many dentists, running a successful practice is quite an overwhelming task. Between handling dentures, fillings, bridges, and extractions, you are also busy billing, overseeing inventory, and marketing your services to the world. But do not let the “everyday” routine hold you back from discovering fresh ideas and ways of running your operations.