Not every company in the dental and orthodontic space can make the claim that they have trained dentists and orthodontists in their organization, even though that seems like an obvious place to start if you’re creating solutions for the orthodontic industry. At DentalMonitoring, we rarely mention it, even though we have a solid group of trained clinicians on staff. The way I see it, our team’s credentials don’t matter as much as the work we produce and our commitment to improving this industry.
I bring up my experience to explain why I do what I do. During my time as a practicing clinician, I quickly realized that the weight of running a business can be a burden. The stress of nonclinical organizational concerns distracted me from improving my clinical skills. Being pulled in two different directions ultimately drove me to leave practice to go to business school. I found a way to pursue my passion, helping practitioners avoid the frustrations that prevent them from focusing on what matters most.
At DentalMonitoring, we like to say we’re making dentistry smarter, which really means we’re building solutions to make it easier to succeed. That success is built on the company’s unique platform—remote monitoring powered by artificial intelligence. The three pillars of practice success are clinical control, practice optimization and growth, and patient experience. If you can reliably build upon these three key areas, you’ll win. DentalMonitoring gives you the ability to pursue all three concurrently.
Clinical control
To improve clinical control in a practice, you need to be able to work with all treatment types. DentalMonitoring isn’t for aligners only. Our monitoring works for every type of appliance. Our AI helps monitor more than 130 intraoral observations, which provides a robust amount of information for doctors. By implementing remote monitoring, doctors see patients more, not less. Instead of seeing patients every six weeks for checkups, they’re monitoring treatment progress weekly.
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DentalMonitoring’s AI provides doctors with the information they need, pointing out the issues in the mouth instead of creating an extra level of work where a human being would have to scrutinize a scan for clinical issues. This automation offers clinicians real, usable intelligence that drives clinical intervention and eliminates surprises at appointments. When you eliminate surprises, you take control. With the information provided by the AI, your team will be prepared for every appointment. As the doctor, you’ll be able to customize and refine your protocols within the platform so you can automate your workflows. As you develop the specific automation you want, you increase your control even more. There’s no way for the AI to take over the treatment. Instead, the AI empowers you to have more control over treatment, and that gives you more control and frees up your schedule.
As you begin monitoring patients, DM Insights aggregates your practice data so you can see clinical data, patient compliance, lead engagement, and practice activity. This revolutionary solution shows data from the practice level to a specific tooth. Data is everywhere. It’s observations … facts. DentalMonitoring has extended the areas of clinical observation from chairside to remote monitoring.
DM Insights provides a source of clinical information that gives you the data you need to make decisions. You can track repeated issues and use the data to train your team to improve their skills. You can test and compare appliances or see patterns of patient compliance. This vital resource supports your clinical guidance and extends into the practice optimization and growth category.
Practice optimization
As we explore the pillar of practice optimization and growth, we recognize that the key issue facing doctors today isn’t necessarily clinical, nor is it a lack of patients. One of the biggest problems in the industry is staffing. DentalMonitoring is a dynamic resource for solving those problems. We continually hear from doctors that they consider DentalMonitoring to be an extra staff member. But it’s more than something that relieves doctors of the burden of hiring more staff. As you begin to rely on DentalMonitoring to organize your schedule, stress will diminish and work can be more enjoyable. Emergencies are no longer emergencies. Instead, the appointment to fix a debonded bracket slots into an open column in the schedule because you see fewer patients in the office. Because doctors have eyes on their data, they know that most bracket issues occur three weeks after bonding, and patient hygiene starts to diminish at week nine. When you have this type of information, your practice can become proactive and prevent issues before they begin. Doctors and staff are no longer exhausted and tense from seeing too many patients. You can enjoy your workday, knowing that you have time for lunch and will go home without feeling burned out. By eliminating unneeded routine appointments that don’t require intervention, you’ll create space in your schedule and growth becomes possible. Your practice can start treating more patients in the day because you have room in your schedule for them.
Patient experience
A positive, supportive experience for patients is essential. As an orthodontist, you’re providing an incredible service that can change someone’s life in measurable ways. You treat patients and give them a confident smile. By respecting their time and eliminating checkups that do not move treatment closer to completion, orthodontists can deliver superior care and convenience to patients.
When customer preferences change, you need to meet client needs. DentalMonitoring lets patients communicate in-app where they can review annotated scans, chat with their provider, watch video instructions, or get automated messages and reminders. Direct communication between patients and their doctor gives patients the information they need, the way they prefer to communicate. As patients experience more positive, convenient communication with their doctor, they will become more active in their treatment, increasing compliance. Patients will know that you’re monitoring them so they’re more likely to brush and wear their elastics.
As we create innovative solutions, we begin to realize how many other problems are left to solve. But we pride ourselves on being a partner to our customers. At DentalMonitoring, we spend time listening to what people need, and then work to solve the issue.
This is essentially what I did when I was in a practice, but now I build industry-wide innovations. Instead of improving a single practice, I can lead a team of brilliant people to make dentistry smarter. As we help patients, staff, and doctors succeed with DentalMonitoring’s AI-driven solutions, we’re becoming a hub of innovation, ready to tackle the next problem.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the December 2022 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
