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5 Ways to Make Your Dental Practice Profitable

Dentistry is a very tough and competitive business to excel in, as the average dentist in the past 5 years has had difficulty being profitable. You’re probably wondering how you can make your dental practice profitable with so many challenges! Insurance reimbursement is falling and overhead is rising. This means that even the most astute dentists find themselves scratching their heads over the topic of profitability. Many practices today think spending more time increasing rates and lowering payroll will be the answer to profitability. However, if all your focus is on increasing rates and lowering payroll, then there is a good chance you will lose patients without ever increasing profitability.

Here are 5 ways to make your dental practice profitable:

Morning Team Huddle: Morning team huddles are very effective and the least expensive way to increase your practice profitability. Treating your practice like a business by conducting a morning huddle will set the tone and pace for the entire team throughout the day. Start out by reviewing yesterday’s activities, what went right, and what can be learned and improved upon. Then review the days schedule, how many bookings are there, are the goals being hit, if there is any room for improvement, and what is happening tomorrow. Team members always work best when they know what the goals are. Morning huddle meetings should focus on brief overviews of the past, present and future goals. Save the long term overarching discussions for weekly team meetings.
Increase Efficiency: This is a no-brainer but it needs to be said. The more dentistry you do per hour, the greater the revenue per hour. Increasing efficiency can be done a few different ways. One inexpensive way is to have lunch appointments available for your patients and have adequate staffing to accommodate these appointments. Other ways include adding another hygiene room, adding more staff or even adding another dentist. You can also increase efficiency by adding capacity. Examples of this can include shortening room set up time, faster turnaround time during sterilizations, and streamlining patient wait time. The longer the patient waits in the waiting room, the less opportunity you have to make your dental practice profitable.
Additional High Profit Procedures: Adding higher profit procedures, such as porcelain veneers, implants, endodontics and bridge work, will lead to a higher profit margin for your practuce. But remember to be cautious in deciding what procedures to add. Just because it’s a high price procedure does not mean it will transplate to high profit margin. Do your homework and make a solid business decision on which procedures are right for your practice and patients and which procedures aren’t.
Increase Your Patience Base: You can increase the number of new patients by doing more internal and external marketing. But it’s important to focus on marketing that is relevant to your practice. Most dentists want to increase the number of new patients when revenue is trending downward, but before you go out on a new patient crusade, it’s important to make sure your practice can handle an influx of new patients. Also, if you add new procedures to your practice before increasing the number of new patients, you can increase the amount of revenue being generated per new patient.
Refer Family or Friends: This is a fun way to get your staff and patients involved in your practice. A “Enter-to-Win” drawing is a great way to gain new patients. Let the staff pick the “give-a-way” and display that prize in the waiting room for all to see. Keep the prize fresh and exciting by changing them often. When the prize becomes stale, the staff and patients will lose enthusiasm and the referrals will suffer.

We hope that this gave you some great idea to help make your dental practice profitable!

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If you’re looking for a company to partner with to help repair and extend the life of your dental handpieces, contact us for a new customer coupon. Save $50 on your first dental handpiece repair order!

4 Must-Ask Questions for Your Dental Handpiece Repair Specialist

The dental handpiece is the workhorse of any dental practice. Each practitioner has his or her own preference when it comes to dental handpiece brand, size, speed, and overall feel. But sometimes the “Doc’s” favorite handpiece goes down and needs expert attention. Having a reputable dental handpiece repair specialist on speed dial will help ease the stress in your dental practice.

There are many opinions on what kind of handpiece to initially purchase and how many each practice should have. However, once that decision is made and the manufacturer warranties have passed, who and how do you handle ongoing maintenance and repairs?

Selecting a qualified dental handpiece repair specialist is a very important decision that should not be taken lightly. The dental handpiece repair specialist will be responsible for the overall maintenance and repairs of all of your handpieces. Here are 4 must-ask questions when selecting a dental handpiece repair specialist:

Does the dental handpiece repair specialist provide you FREE estimates upon request? Handpiece repair can be costly, and there is an economical point of no return on certain handpiece repairs. A quality dental handpiece repair specialist should be providing estimates and recommendations on the economical feasibility of the repair. If the repair is more costly then a new replacement, the dental repair specialist should be offering that option.
Does the dental handpiece repair specialist offer a warranty on repairs? Dental handpiece warranties vary by repair specialist. Look for a dental handpiece repair specialist who gives a good solid warranty, stands behind their work and will “do the right thing every time”. Remember, parts break, wear out, and handpieces are expected to perform at very high speeds all day, But asking the warranty question can save your practice money in the long run. Additionally, you should know what the warranty covers and does not cover. If the warranty is too good to be true, then there must be a catch.
Does the dental handpiece repair specialist offer quality customer service? Customer service is very important when selecting a dental handpiece repair specialist. Every customer should feel like they are the biggest account, so if you are not getting a good feeling about who you are dealing with, it is best to consider another repair specialist. Some of the things to consider when selecting a dental handpiece specialist are average turn-around time, the ability to speak with the specialist who is repairing the handpiece and other services the repair specialist can offer.
Does the dental handpiece repair specialist use high-quality parts? When selecting a dental handpiece repair specialist, it’s important to know that quality parts are being used in the repair of your handpiece. Dental handpiece parts are expensive, so if the repair costs are too good to be true, then sub-par parts are probably being used. Additionally, asking how long the dental repair shop has been in business will be a good indicator of what kind of repair shop they are. Look for a dental repair company who has been in business for a while. Your dental handpieces are too important to give to a company who has not been in business very long and is not very reputable.

We’d love to partner with you to help repair and extend the life of your dental handpieces. New customers save $50 on the first dental handpiece repair order! Just check “New Customer” on our contact form.

What’s the Difference Between Dental Handpiece Maintenance and Repair?

Clinicians today are extremely dependent on their dental handpieces to sustain a smooth running practice. Modern day handpieces are a sophisticated combination of precision parts moving in perfect harmony at high speeds. This perfect harmony delivers a smooth and powerful cut that allows the clinician to perform the dental procedure accurately with little discomfort to the patient. Knowing when you should maintain your handpieces versus when you should get your handpieces repaired will ensure less stress on both the clinician and patient. But what is the difference between dental handpiece maintenance and repair?

Maintenance: Understanding the handpiece components and learning how to maintain them properly can help your practice reduce expensive repair costs. The air-driven high speed handpiece has two main components:

the outer shell, which is where air and water passes through
the turbine, which is in the head of the handpiece

It is important to clean the surface of your handpiece after each use, as CDC guidelines call for flushing water through the handpiece for 30 seconds to remove potential contaminants. You should also lubricate the handpiece with the proper lubricant tip to spray into the drive airline. After lubricating the handpiece, it’s important to run the handpiece to make sure you evenly distribute and expel an excess lubricant. Finally, you should sterilize your handpiece by following the manufacturer guidelines and allow the handpiece to completely cool off after sterilization.

Repair: Dental handpiece repair is necessary when your handpiece is not running at optimal speeds during procedures. Repairing the turbine is one of the most common repairs that clinicians will encounter. Before 1992, handpiece sterilization required using a turbine that could last for years and could easily be replaced by a dental team member in an office. Today, due to repeated high heat sterilization, the life of a turbine and all the components are limited, which can make repairs more frequent and costly. A turbine is the only moving part of the dental handpiece and can operate at speeds beyond 400,000 rpm. Due to the high speed, and the effects of sterilization, a turbine can show signs of wearing and eventually need replacement. Proper cleaning and lubrication will extend the handpieces life, but it’s inevitable that the turbine itself will need to be replaced.

If the turbine is the brain of the handpiece, then the bearings are the heart of it. When the bearings wear out, the turbine will no longer rotate, causing it to stall when placed on a tooth. It may also emit a loud high pitched sound or vibration. It’s often said that the handpiece is just a handle to provide a means of controlling the turbine as well as serving as a conduit to drive the turbine and to cool the surface being cut.

If you do start to notice a decrease in the performance of your dental handpieces, it is important to quickly find a reputable handpiece repair company such as First Choice Repair to help repair your handpieces and keep them running at optimal performance.

We hope that this helped you understand the differences between dental handpiece maintenance and repair!

Hire a Professional to Help with Your Dental Handpiece Maintenance and Repair

6 Tips to Make Dental Handpieces Last Longer

Dental handpieces are essential to any practice, so performing daily or weekly maintenance is a cost effective way to ensure they have a long life. A poorly functioning handpiece causes stress for the clinician, a poor experience for the patient, and the potential for lost productivity for the practice. While most dentists and dental hygienists probably believe they know what they need to know to make dental handpieces last longer, data from handpiece technicians paints a different story.

According to these specialists, most of the failure they see could have been prevented through a proper protocol of daily or weekly maintenance that only takes a few minutes. Here are 6 tips to make dental handpieces last longer:

The air pressure should not exceed 35 RPM’s. Increasing the air pressure will not increase handpiece performance and may prove detrimental to the turbine.
The handpiece should be operated only with the bur securely in place.
Do not autoclave the handpiece, nosecone or latchhead with the bur in place.
Remove the bur before sterilizing. There may be corrosive reaction between different metallic surfaces, resulting in damage.
After handpieces and /or components are removed from the autoclave they should be allowed to return to the ambient room temperature before use. Do not use cold water.
Before autoclaving, clean and flush the handpiece. After autoclave, lube and flush.
Cleaner / lubricate is sprayed or dropped ONLY into the DRIVE AIR HOLE which leads to the turbine (see below image).

We hope that this helped you understand ways to make dental handpieces last longer.

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3 Ways to Improve the Performance of Your Dental Handpieces

If you consider all the equipment that is used at a dental practice on a daily basis, the dental handpiece is one of the most valuable instruments used. Maintaining your dental handpieces on a consistent basis can lead to an improvement in their performance, which means less down time, lower overall repair costs and more patient comfort. Here are three ways to improve the performance of your dental handpieces.

Always Follow the Manufacturer’s Instructions: The manufacturer’s instruction manual provides important information regarding daily and weekly maintenance and correct RPM’s. Dental handpieces should run anywhere between 30 – 40 RPM’s, so if you start to exceed 40 RPM’s, you will definitely damage the turbine and autochuck.
Always Clean Your Dental Handpieces After Each Use: Referring to the manufacturer’s instruction manual will give you best cleaning instructions for your handpieces. Be sure to clean the outer shell with warm water or alcohol wipes to remove any extremal debris before sterilization. Also, never submerge your handpieces or use harsh cleaning liquids, as this can lead to chemical interaction during sterilization, which can reduce the life of your handpieces.
Always Properly Lubricate Your Dental Handpieces Before Sterilization: Remember to remove the bur during maintenance so that you can properly purge and expel any debris from your handpieces. Also, make sure you are using the right lubricant spray adapter for your handpiece connection types. If your handpiece has a fixed back, make sure the lubricate spray goes in the drive port (smaller of the two holes).

If you start to notice a decrease in the performance of your dental handpieces, it is important to contact First Choice Repair to help repair your handpieces and keep them running at optimal performance.

How Often Should I Get My Dental Handpieces Repaired?

That is the “million-dollar question” most dentists ask, but unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way to answer. Most dental practices have anywhere from 8 to 12 working handpieces that get rotated throughput the practice on a daily and weekly basis. But we all have our “favorites” and tend to use them more often than others, because it’s human nature to use what we are most comfortable with. If you tend to use your “favorite” handpieces at higher RPM’s than what is suggested by the manufacturer, and ignore the daily and weekly maintenance, then those handpieces will need to be repaired more often.

Dental handpieces are the workhorse of any dental practice, so scheduling daily or weekly maintenance is essential to keeping these workhorses in proper working condition. Following the manufacturer’s recommended daily maintenance and speed intervals will extend the life of your handpieces. In addition, you will need to schedule routine maintenance or “tune-ups” to ensure proper performance.

Since a high-speed handpiece drill runs at 400,000 to 500,000 RPI’s, and is sterilized at 275 degrees after each use, its parts tend to wear out. The turbine is the only moving part in an air-driven handpiece, and takes the most abuse during sterilization, so it needs to be replaced frequently. Replacing the turbine usually includes replacing the spindle, autochuck, impeller, bearings, and o-rings, as well as cleaning, lubricating and testing to the manufacture’s specifications. Replacement usually happens when you start to notice a decrease in performance, such as a wobbly bur or a reduction in speed. However, performing a thorough inspection of your handpiece could reveal that only certain parts need to be replaced.

If you start to notice a decrease in the performance of your dental handpiece, it is important to quickly find a reputable handpiece repair company to help protect your investment, minimize your handpiece downtime and keep your handpiece running at optimal performance.

3 Signs Your Dental Handpiece Isn’t Working Properly

The dental handpiece is the most used piece of equipment in any dental practice today. This piece of equipment is used in almost every dental procedure, so recognizing the signs that your handpiece isn’t working properly is critical to the productivity of your practice and the comfort of your patients. Like the family car that can fail without proper maintenance, the dental handpiece can fail if it doesn’t receive the proper attention and care that it deserves. Recognizing the signs your dental handpiece isn’t working at it’s full potential will save you time and money down the road. Here are three of the most common signs that your dental handpiece isn’t working properly:

Reduction in Speed: Over time, especially if the handpiece is used a lot, the rotation speed decreases. This is caused by a number of things, but the most common is a faulty turbine. This sign is important, because the loss of speed in your handpiece will prevent you from performing timely and successful treatments.
Vibrations: If your handpiece starts to vibrate, then this can be an indication the bearings are wearing out or loose. Additionally, this problem can be caused by lack of lubrication. If this is the case, you will need to have the handpiece repaired by a handpiece repair specialist.
Makes Noise: If your handpiece starts makings a loud chunking noise, this is an indication that the handpiece was probably dropped and the head was dented. Once this happens, the impeller within the turbine is compromised due to the drop. When the impeller within the turbine isn’t rotating smoothly the turbine will fail causing the bur to slip.

If you notice any of these signs with your dental handpieces, it is important to quickly find a reputable handpiece repair company to help protect your investment, minimize your handpiece downtime and keep your handpieces running at optimal performance.

8 Tips to Make Your Dental Practice More Profitable

Let’s be honest, no one really likes going to the dentist. Why would they? The appointment always comes at the wrong time, it’s an unfamiliar environment that potentially can cause pain, and potentially your insurance company (if there is any) doesn’t cover all the costs. Part of being a successful business owner is recognizing obstacles by appealing to all your patients. Here are 8 tips to make your dental practice more profitable:

Be the Best at What You Do: Being known for a specialty can have many benefits. First, your profitability will increase when you identify your practice to a niche audience who are looking for a special service. specialty doesn’t have to always be a trained skill set. A specialty can be “The No Pain Doctor” or “The Happy Doctor”. With a little bit of creativity, everyone can have a specialty. Second, don’t be shy about your specialty and TELL EVERYONE about it. Make sure all your marketing materials highlight your specialty, as this will attract new patients by “word of mouth” advertising.
Be Organized and On Time: No one likes to wait, especially in a dentist office. In today’s society, everyone is busy, so respecting your patients’ schedules will go a long way. If your appointments start stacking up, then a simple courtesy phone call or text alerting your patients of a delay will display your office professionalism and your respect towards their schedules. Make sure your appointment time frame is realistic and your team is preforming within the allot timeframe. A typical hygienist appointment should run no longer than an hour, so scheduling appointments for the amount on staff and staggering appointments will ensure a smooth workflow and no empty chairs. This will help maximize your patient load and increase your revenue.
First Impressions are Lasting: A warm, welcoming smile and a courteous front-desk personal will alleviate any concerns patients might have about their visit. Make sure the front desk personnel are well trained on how to handle appointment scheduling and phone calls. They need to be empathic towards all situations that occur in the waiting room and with your patients.
Maximize Your Team: Let’s face it, employees are an expense but you can’t do it without them. The hygienists are the ones who spend the most time with the patients, and they know the working of the practice and set the tone when dealing with the patients. Happy employees will go above and beyond the call of duty by ensuring the demands of the patients are met.
Don’t Let Them Get Away: Pre-scheduling appointments is good business practice. Having the front-desk personnel pre-schedule future appointments fills the books and overcomes the challenge of forgetting to schedule the next appointment.
May the Enforcer Be With You: When cancellations occur (and you know they will) you lose money; it’s that simple. Making sure your appointment books stay full is a tricky job at best. Make sure your front desk personnel knows your policies on cancellations and they are enforced. Additionally, posting your cancellation policies in conspicuous places around your offices will alleviate any miscommunication between you and your patients.
Make it Fun with your “Refer A Friend” Program: Every practice should have a referral program in place. Word of mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising and the highest compliment your patients can give you. But don’t let the referral program get stale by just posting a sign at the front desk. Ask your patients what they would like as a referral program. By keeping this program fresh and fun, more patients will be engaged in the program to refer their friends and families. As a result, more chairs will be filled and your paractice will be more profitable.
Top of Mind Awareness: Top of mind awareness is a very powerful marketing concept. Ever notice that most restaurants love to provide doggie bags to all customers, and some even have their logo printed on the bag. This is a brilliant marketing concept that restaurants figured out a long time ago. They want their customers to think of them when they eat those leftovers from the doggie bag. Do the same in your practice and send your patients out the door with a little “goodie” bag. Your patients will think of you when they use their new toothbrush and toothpaste. Also, don’t forget to put a refrigerator magnet with your practice phone number and address in the bag. This is a great top-of-mind awareness trick that will ensure your patients return.

What is the ROI of Dental Handpiece Repairing vs. Buying?

Choosing the right dental handpiece for your dental practice can be overwhelming, as there are many choices and manufacturers in the marketplace today. Having to choose between High-Speed vs. Low-Speed, Air-Driven vs. Electric. Small Head vs. Large Head and Push-Button Chuck System vs. Manual Chuck System can leave you overwhelmed and confused. However, all of these choices are easy once you determine your practice style and personal preference.

Regardless what manufacturer and type of handpiece you choose, the one thing always consistent is the handpiece maintenance. Today clinicians have many tasks, resulting in less time and energy spent on the maintenance of their handpieces. So, understanding the Return on Investment (ROI) for your dental handpieces is critical to the success of your dental practice.

In addition to the cost of the handpiece, choosing the right handpiece repair company is important to protecting your investment, minimizing your handpiece downtime and keeping your handpieces running at optimal performance. A poorly functioning handpiece can cause stress on the clinician, which can also cause stress on the patient and a loss of productivity for the practice. Protecting your investment and ensuring your handpieces are working to the best of their ability is paramount to running a successful practice.

Handpieces are considered the workhorse for any practice, so the better the handpiece performs the more patients you can service. This results in higher revenues and a better Return on Investment (ROI). Carefully choosing your handpiece repair company is very important when looking at the overall ROI on your handpieces. Cutting costs is always top of mind for business owners, but handpieces repair cost is not the place to shop on price alone. Choosing a reputable handpiece repair company who understands what it takes to get your handpiece repaired in a timely fashion will result in a better ROI for your practice.

Four Advantages to Repairing Your Dental Handpieces

Dental handpieces have come a long way since the start of dentistry in 700bc, and they continue play a vital role in any dental practice today. Care and regular maintenance of these instruments is essential to preserving their lifespan and proper function. Whether your dental practice uses air driven handpieces, electric handpieces, or both, these little instruments are the workhorse of your practice and a large investment. So it only makes good business sense to have them regularly checked and maintained. Here are four advantages to repairing your dental handpieces:

Maintaining Proper Performance: Before sterilization was required by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008, turbines lasted for years and very little maintenance was required to keep handpieces running at optimum performance. But today, daily sterilization takes a toll on the overall performance of handpieces, especially the turbines. In air driven handpieces, the turbine is the only moving part and, when in proper working order, can exceed 400,000 rpms. When the handpieces run at these high speeds, they have to be sterilized so that the turbine doesn’t break down causing the handpiece to run sluggish. Maintaining proper cleaning and lubrication will extend the life, but it’s inevitable the turbine will need to be replaced to ensure proper handpiece performance.
Effective and Efficient Patient Treatment: If the turbine is the brains of the handpiece, then the tiny little bearings are the heart. When the bearings start to wear down, the turbine no longer rotates at optimal performance, causing it to fail and eventually stop holding the bur in place during a procedure. When the bearings start to fail, the handpiece makes a loud high pitch sound or vibration. Avoiding the warning signs of an inferior performing handpiece has a number of pitfalls, including loss of patient treatment. Having your handpieces checked out by a qualified repair technician on a regular schedule will ensure proper handpiece performance and lack of handpiece down time.
Patients Satisfaction: Dental handpieces are the number one tool in any successful dental practice, allowing for a high degree of productivity that patients appreciate today. The history of dental handpieces have drastically evolved over the last 150 years. Early handpieces were big and clunky, running at a maximum speed of 3000 rpm’s, which meant procedures took longer and were more painful. Today, handpieces run at a much higher speed and with more efficiency. Patients today have much busier lives and expect dental procedures to be shorter and less painful. Regular maintaince on your handpieces will result in optimal handpiece performance, allowing the patient a more pleasurable experience with more frequent visits.
Protecting your Investment: Protecting your investment and ensuring your dental handpieces are working to the best of their abilities is essential to running a profitable dental practice. Building a working relationship with a reputable dental handpiece repair company will ensure you are working more effectively and providing quality patient care without worrying about the performance of the handpiece.

If you’re looking for a company to partner with to help repair and extend the life of your dental handpieces, we invite you to download our new customer coupon. This will save you $50 on your first dental handpiece repair order!

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