Delta-Sierra Dental Digest Delta-Sierra Dental Digest In this issue ... President’s Message Rommel Bal, DDS, President T h e Delta Sierra Digest brings an- other infor- mative newsletter to our mem- bership. Lyndon Low, Kathy White and Colleen Lee put in extra effort and love into this via media. By the time this newsletter is pub- lished you will have enjoyed some of the benefits of membership with SJDS. The Shred event has been on our an- nual calendar for the last few years and is always a smashing hit with our members who’d like to take care of their records and other documents along with Fire ex- tinguisher check and E-waste recycle. The added bonus is the free lunch and a tour of our newly remodeled condominium. Hopefully, most of you took advantage of this event. If not, then please mark your calendar for the next year, tentatively for the first weekend of May. A great big THANK YOU to those who donated whole heartedly toward the long overdue condo remodel and expan- sion efforts. The dental society now has optimum space in the conference room to host various meetings and CPR classes along with ample storage space. The gen- erous donations by our members to the dental society are much appreciated. The members of SJDS time and again prove that SJDS is small but mighty. With combined efforts of all the volunteer time and monetary contributions, we have been able to complete this office con- dominium expansion pro- ject. An enormous effort on behalf of the SJDS is underway as we prepare for the October 9th Golf Tournament. The funds raised at this Tournament go towards the Dental Health Committee’s efforts to take care of the dental needs of the community through various local activities, including the CDA Cares coming in October of 2016. The details for this event are avail- able on the website at www.sjds.org or call the SJDS office and register early. Maximum participation in this event is en- couraged. Not only is it a good place to meet and spend some quality time with friends and colleagues, the funds collected are utilized to care for those who can’t af- ford their dental health needs. It’s the thought that matters when it comes to big and small contributions that are made by you all. Thank you!! SJDS - Small But Mighty
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University Plaza Hotel110 W. Fremont St., Stockton, CA
5:30-9:00 PM
2.5 Hrs. CE (Core)
Course Outline
Patient History
Clinical examination
Review of Pulpal Diagnosis
Review of Periradicular Diagnosis
Non-odontogenic etiology of pain
Richard C. Wittenauer, D.D.S. is a graduate fromthe University of Missouri, Kansas City, School ofDentistry in 1988. He practiced general dentistry for15 years in Lawrence, Kansas. He was AssistantFaculty Member – Dawson Academy, St. Peters-burg, Florida from 2000-2013. His residency in En-dodontics was at the University of Southern Califor-nia from 2003–2005. He has been in private prac-tice of Endodontics in Newport Beach, CA since2005. Dr. Wittenauer is a Diplomate of the Ameri-can Board of Endodontics since 2012.
This program will be teleconferenced
for regional members.
Richard Wittenauer, DDS, Speaker
Page 3
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Hutchins Street Square125 S. Hutchins St., Lodi, CA
5:30-9:00 PM
2 Hrs. CE (20%)
Staff Appreciation Night
Continued - Page 4
This program will be teleconferenced for
regional members and their staff.
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Stockton Golf & Country Club3800 Country Club Blvd., Stockton, CA
4:00-9:00 PM
California DentalPractice Act*2 Hrs. CE (Core)
Infection Control*2 Hrs. CE (Core)
*Mandatory courses for license
renewal.
Page 4
2015 Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Dr. Rommel Bal ......................... PresidentDr. Maria Stefan ............... President-ElectDr. Pankaj Patel ........................ TreasurerDr. John Reed ............................ SecretaryDr. Tom Bianchi ............... Immediate Past
President
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CDA Trustee:Dr. John Hall
Dr. Mircea MituDr. David NealDr. Chris ParkerDr. Lita RodriquezDr. Bruce Toy
Deadline to Submit Articlesfor the Next Issue - 7/24/15
Thanks to the following SJDS members for their pledges:
YOU could make the difference! We
are only $1,397 away from our $60,000
goal! Perhaps you’ve thought about it and
then put it aside only to forget about it.
Act now and send in your donation while
it’s on your mind! Anything received be-
yond our goal will be used to replace
worn out items in the condo. A big thank
you to all the SJDS members below who
contributed. A commemorative plaque is
just about completed and will hang in the
newly remodeled condo. Why not add
your name to this list? Call SJDS for
more information (209) 951-1318.
A pledge form is enclosed
with this newsletter.
Page 10
An injured patient may be the last
thing dentists want to think about. How-
ever, in reality, patients can be injured
during dental treatment or as the result of
an incident such as a slip and fall in the
office. Treatment-related injuries can run
the gamut and include burns, lacerations,
swallowed objects and allergic reactions,
according to The Dentists Insurance Com-
pany.
TDIC recommends a few essential
actions in the event of an injury to help
keep the situation in check. First and fore-
most, stop and assess the injured indi-
vidual, even if the injury appears insignifi-
cant.
TDIC Claims Representative Dina
Martin said burns and cuts are common
treatment-related injuries. While an inci-
dent may be minor, communication and
follow-up are important.
“An injury can happen even if the
dentist is very careful. Issues often de-
velop with the management afterward,”
said Martin, who has reviewed thousands
of claims during her 29-year career. “I
have had cases where the dentist mini-
mized the situation and that made the pa-
tient even more upset. The dentist failed
to recognize and acknowledge how the pa-
tient was feeling.”
Martin emphasized the importance of
communication and compassion in han-
dling a patient injury. “Sometimes the
dentist thinks showing compassion is ad-
mitting guilt. We can never stress enough
to communicate with patients, make refer-
rals if appropriate and follow up to see
how they are doing.” Often what a patient
wants is for the dentist to care and ac-
knowledge the injury, she added. “For
some patients, it is not always about the
money.”
Prior to making any representations
to pay for or reimburse a bill, call the
TDIC Advice Line. Risk Management
analysts can help dentists navigate patient
demands to alleviate uncomfortable situa-
tions. However, if the analyst believes the
Risk Management
Smart and Simple Steps to Manage Patient InjuriesBy TDIC Risk Management Staff
situation could develop into more than a
simple refund, he or she may recommend
the dentist speak with a claims representa-
tive.
One of the common incidents for
both general dentists and specialists oc-
curs when a patient swallows an object.
This requires the dentist to provide addi-
tional care and follow-up. TDIC advises
dentists to strongly recommend patients
check with their physician to receive di-
rection on how he or she should manage
the event. TDIC’s Professional Liability
policy provides coverage up to $10,000
under the medical payments provision for
medical expenses related to dental treat-
ment. The insured must submit the medi-
cal bill to TDIC in order to receive con-
sideration of the associated medical ex-
penses such as radiographs.
Allergic reactions are another area to
be aware of when considering patient in-
jury. They are not as common as other pa-
tient injuries, but can be significant, ac-
cording to TDIC. A patient’s health his-
tory form is the essential tool in prevent-
ing this type of injury. TDIC recommends
reviewing and updating the health history
form at every appointment. Make sure the
form is legible and fill out a new form
when there are changes to medications.
Keep previous health history forms on
file.
An incident report is crucial if a pa-
tient is injured, and it can help mitigate
your liability. Complete the incident re-
port once the event is over, but no later
than the following day. Briefly and factu-
ally describe the incident. Remain objec-
tive and avoid judgment about the cause
or extent of the injury. Be sure to include
the date, time and location of the incident
and names and contact information of wit-
nesses. Note actions taken by you and
your staff, and document any emergency
medical treatment delivered, where and by
whom. Also, note if medical treatment was
offered and denied by the patient. Be sure
to list devices, such as a walker, cane or
crutches, that the patient was using at the
time of the incident in the instance of a
slip and fall. If it is appropriate, photo-
graph the injury to document the appear-
ance and extent on the actual date of the
injury.
If a patient is injured in your dental
practice, a calm, caring attitude and clear
communication can make a considerable
difference. Combined with the following
steps, dentists could prevent an incident
from becoming a claim. Essential actions
to manage patient injuries:
Stop and carefully assess the situa-
tion.
Call 911 if immediate medical atten-
tion is necessary.
Focus on the patient and provide ba-
sic first aid.
Communicate with the patient and ac-
knowledge the patient’s perspective.
Keep treatment for the injury within
your scope of practice.
Stabilize the patient and reschedule
any incomplete treatments.
Refer the patient to a physician as
needed.
Document the injury (including a
photo if possible) and note any wit-
nesses with their contact information.
Follow up with the patient to check
on his or her recovery.
Contact your insurance carrier to file
an incident report.
TDIC’s Risk Management Advice Line can
be reached at 800.733.0634.
Page 11
There is nothing more important to
Dr. Antonio Arredondo than family. Any-
one who knows Tony or has spent signifi-
cant time with him will attest to this fact.
When Dr. Arredondo speaks about them,
his face lights up. He loves to talk about
his four children and his loving wife, Lilly,
whom he describes as the CEO of the fam-
ily.
I had the opportunity to sit down
with Dr. Arredondo recently and spoke
with him about a variety of subjects. I
came away with a new perspective on how
fortunate we are as a dental community to
have caring, competent, and altruistic den-
tists who deeply care about quality, com-
munity, and family.
Dr. Arredondo was born and raised
along the Central Coast of California in
the San Luis Obispo area. After complet-
ing an oral and maxillofacial surgery resi-
dency program at UCLA in 2002, Dr.
Arredondo was introduced to Dr. Nicolas
Veaco. They struck up a friendship that
led Dr. Arredondo to move to Stockton
and begin his oral surgery career. Dr.
Arredondo states he was impressed with
Dr. Veaco’s skills and vision for a full
scope oral and maxillofacial practice and
Member Profile
Antonio Arredondo, DDS
Interviewed by Dr. Lyndon Low
eventually became a part-
ner. I am pleased to share
with our dental society a
portion of our time we had
together.
Tell me a little aboutyour family and wheredo you like to vaca-tion?
My wife has a Masters in
nursing and she is an ex-
cellent homemaker. She
and I met during my resi-
dency where she was a
trauma/charge nurse at
Harbor UCLA Medical
Center. After I met her, I
continued to visit the ER!
We have four beautiful
children, Evan (10) who is athletic, kind,
and a humble young boy. Isaac (8) who is
smart, friendly and loving, and we have 3
year old twins, Rebecca, who is our
“Mother Hen” and takes care of everybody
along with her sister, Lauren, who is quiet,
gentle, and loves attention. We love to va-
cation and my children love to stay in ho-
tels. Our favorite place so far has been
Hawaii.
What advice would you have for adental student considering Oral andMaxillofacial surgery?
I would tell them that OMFS is a
very rewarding job and incredibly fulfill-
ing. There is a great deal of satisfaction
that comes from being able to change
someone’s health outcome or even esthetic
needs. More practically, I would tell the
student to look at the trends in health care
to determine where the career will be in
five and even ten years. I would tell him/
her to assess his age and the lifestyle he
wants for him and his family and how long
he wants to work. I would ask him to con-
sider that if he/she will be a small business
owner or sole practitioner and to consider
when they get vacation or who covers
their office when they are sick. The ca-
reer is extremely demanding because of
emergencies and hospital calls and will
make for many hours away from their
family. On the other hand, the career al-
lows you to meet and develop friendships
with many interesting people including
dental colleagues and physicians.
What activities or organizations areyou involved with outside of yourprofessional activities?
Outside of my professional life, I
enjoy spending time with family. I am in-
volved in Little League, and enjoy being
part of my children’s after school activi-
ties. For many years, I volunteered my
time to Thousand Smiles Foundation, a
non-profit organization made up of volun-
teers who do cleft lip and palate surgery in
Mexico. After the birth of my twin girls, I
now try to spend as much time as I can
with my family. On occasion, I still love
to fly planes.
How would you describe a perfectday at the office?
I find I get great fulfillment from
meeting my day’s work with a happy pa-
tient/family experience, whether that be a
small child or a 90 year old plus patient.
It brings me satisfaction to give someone
relief from debilitating pain and or infec-
tion or just being able to calm them down
by reassurance. Oral Surgery emergencies
do not give warning, so a typical day can
turn into a fast paced, highly stressful, and
drawn out day of work. Provided I’m not
the on call doctor, I can head for home.
Otherwise, I am available for dental office
and hospital emergencies. I have also
provided emergency help for St. Raphael’s
Dental Clinic. I guess a perfect day at the
office would be one where you are able to
finish the day successfully with no disas-
ters and you were able to fulfill your refer-
ring doctors’, patients’, staffs’ requests.
Page 12
The ADA New Dentist Commit-
tee is pleased to announce that for the
first time, the New Dentist Conference
will coincide with the ADA annual
meeting in Washington, D.C. Novem-
ber 5-8. I hope you will join me in
D.C. and experience all that the New
Dentist Conference and ADA 2015
has to offer.
Registration for the New Dentist
Conference at ADA 2015 will open on
May 13 - a full week earlier than
general registration!
Hear Daymond John, Entre-
preneur, Founder and CEO of
FUBU and Shark Tank co-star,
speaker.
Take advantage of the new
dentist CE
track - de-
signed just
for you -
f e a t u r i n g
new tech-
nology al-
lowing you
to interact
with the
presenters
in real
time.
The
New Den-
tist Con-
ference provides a unique opportu-
nity for you to network with leader-
ship, including a roundtable discus-
sion with ADA leaders, a panel of
dentist members of Congress, an
awards luncheon and more.
Back and better than ever, the
New Dentist Reception will be held
at one of D.C.’s hottest spots, Penn
Social. The New Dentist Conference
package includes your ticket to the re-
ception, as well as exclusive access to
an all-new lounge conveniently lo-
cated right in the convention center.
Save money and enjoy all the
benefits of being in the center of the
action with your discounted rate at
the official new dentist hotel, the Re-
naissance Washington D.C. Down-
town. Only New Dentist Conference
participants get access to a special
$239 rate - a $100/night savings.
Join your colleagues from
across the country in bringing free
dental care to our nation’s capital.
The ADA and D.C. Dental Society
will host the 3rd ADA Mission of
Mercy (MOM), a free dental clinic to
treat local residents without regular
access to care, in conjunction with the
annual meeting. Sign up when regis-
tration opens in May.
And, take advantage of all that
ADA 2015 has to offer, including an
all-new Welcome Reception to be
held at two Smithsonian museums,
Eleanor Clift and Charles
Krauthammer featured in the Distin-
guished Speaker Series*, over 300
cutting-edge educational opportuni-
ties and more.
*The 2015 Distinguished Speaker Series
is presented by Church & Dwight, the
makers of ARM & HAMMER®,
Spinbrush® and ORAJEL® oral care
products
Registration for the New Dentist
Conference at ADA 2015 opens on
May 13, 2015.
For more information, visit
ADA.org/NDC.
Have you been out of dental school for 10 years or less?
Attend the New Dentist Conference at ADA 2015
November 5-8, 2015 - Washington, DC
New Member Feature
New SJDS member Richard “Riley”
Edwards considers the favorite part of his
career to be the fact that he can go to
work every day, be honest and help
people, while having fun and be paid for
doing it.
Dr. Edwards
joined SJDS late
last year, having
completed his
education at Yuba
College, Gulf
Coast College
(microbiology),
Univers i ty o f
Florida, Gaines-
v i l l e , UCLA
School of Dentistry and UC Irvine/VA
Long Beach, Endodontics.
He chose to practice in San Joaquin
County because of a great opportunity to
practice at Delta Endodontics that pro-
vides high quality care in a group setting.
He hails from Yuba City, so having nearby
family and friends is a big plus for him,
too.
A few of his goals include teaching,
private practice and Board certification.
Welcome, Dr. Edwards!
Page 13
Are you ready for CDA
Cares when it comes
to Stockton?
Save the dates:
October 15 and 16, 2016
The goal of CDA Cares is to relieve
pain, eliminate infection and educate the
public and policymakers about the impor-
tance of good oral health and the need for
an adequately funded dental safety net, in-
cluding a state dental director who can de-
velop programs to improve the oral health
of Californians. Since 2012, the CDA
Cares volunteer dental program has pro-
vided $11.2 million in care to nearly
14,000 patients.
Several of our SJDS members have
already volunteered for CDA Cares across
the state. Here are a few pictures from the
last event in Sacramento. There is also a
great video of the event in Sacramento:
h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /
watch?v=ZkkkyC7o8wQ
The CDA Foundation will need vari-
ous volunteer types to sign up, specifically,
dentists, including oral surgeons and pedi-
atric dentists, dental assistants, administra-
tive volunteers and lab technicians. Volun-
teer to be on the local SJDS committee as
preparations begin or volunteer for the
event when it arrives.
Be ready when CDA Cares comes to
Stockton in 2016!
CDA Cares Stockton - October 15-16, 2016
Dr. Charles McKelvey (Sonora) and his wife,
Gloria, RDH at CDA Cares Sacramento.CDA Cares Sacramento
Drs. Mark Romanelli, Janice Scott and
Charles McKelvey at CDA Cares Sacramento.
Dental assistant and Dr. Maria
Stefan at CDA Cares
Sacramento.
Class of 1986 Loma Linda University - all
volunteered at CDA Cares SacramentoDr. Janice Scott, happy patient
and Eric Wright.
Save the
dates -
Oct. 15-16,
2016
Page 14
The Dental PPA ... A Better WayThe Mission of the Dental PPA is to provide quality dental care for a reasonable reimbursement, to provide
our patients with the freedom to choose their own practitioner, and to accomplish these objectives at a cost
savings to the employer whenever possible.
The Dental PPA is very proud tonow be partnering with one of thethree largest brokerage firms inCalifornia, Dibudo and Difendis,which has over eighty brokers upand down the valley. The DentalPPA was developed from a group offar sighted dentists both in Butte-Si-erra and San Joaquin counties overfifteen years ago, and combinedwith dentists in Sacramento, to forman alliance of over 1500 dentistsrepresenting every specialty. Asprivate dentists, our primary mis-sion has always been to providequality care for a reasonable reim-bursement, giving our patients thefreedom to choose their own practi-tioner at a very significant cost sav-
ings to the employer. Unfortunatelyafter all these years, we were un-successful in getting the messageout as to what a great product wehave to offer. Fortunately, in thesevery difficult economic times, wewill now have over eighty brokersup and down the valley who will beworking with us to get the messageout to employers and employees.The good news can now be pro-claimed much more adequatelythat The Dental PPA can offer aself-ensured plan at a 10-20% costsavings while maintaining the trustinvolved with the extremely impor-tant doctor/patient relationship. Belooking for press releases as weget the word out over the wire ser-
vices to cover targeted regions upand down the valley. We are alsolooking for representation in localchambers of commerce, so if youare a member, please notify Kelliat The Dental PPA. Please notifyus of any employers looking for abetter choice by calling 1-866-241-6646, or email [email protected]. Also, please checkout our website at www.thedentalppa.org. We truly appre-ciate your continued support as weface these upcoming financialchallenges together.
The Dental PPA
Save the Dates
Banner Island Ballpark404 W. Fremont St., Stockton
Fireworks
Tickets: $11/person
Deadline to Register: Friday, June 19, 2015Tickets mailed: Week of June 22
Register form is on the website: www.sjds.org (Events)
Friday
October 9, 2015
Brookside Country ClubStockton, CA
San Joaquin Dental SocietyGolf Tournament
Registration: 10:30 AM -12:00 PMTee Time: 12:00 PM
Entry Fee Includes:Green Fees/Cart Tee Prizes, Boxed Lunch One Mulligan On Course Refreshments
Post Awards Dinner with Wine
Register form is on the website:www.sjds.org (Home Page)
Page 15
Your practice will experiment with
several forms of marketing over the years.
Some of these marketing efforts will de-
liver the results you hope for, while other
forms of marketing will underperform. To
find the best fit for your practice, it’s ideal
to search for cur-
rent marketing op-
portunities, as new
ones are constantly
arriving. Your first
priority, of course,
is reaching out to
your existing pa-
tients for referrals!
Looking for new
patients is second,
with social media
and web design
leading the way in
effectiveness.
To help your website reach out to the
customers in your area, it’s essential to
add Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to
your marketing mix. Without SEO, you
have little guarantee that your website will
ever be seen by potential patients. To give
your practice the greatest chance of suc-
cess with SEO, here are a few tips and
strategies to keep in mind:
Keyword Analysis is ImportantOne of the most critical things to
learn about search engine optimization is
that taking time to locate keywords related
to your practice’s preferred procedures
will pay off with big search engine im-
provements. During the process of key-
word analysis, your online marketing com-
pany produces multiple iterations of a key-
word list that you collectively brainstorm.
They should uncover many “hidden gem”
keywords as your analysis process goes
deeper. Your final list will be extensive,
yet also contain what is referred to as
“high-converting” and “hyper-targeted”
consumer-oriented keywords, concentrated
on your practice niche (general dentistry
or a dental specialty), the preferred words
for describing your location and search
terms used to find your specific offerings
Social Media & SEO
The New Gold RushBy: Robin Besotes and Ashkan Alizadeh, DDS, MAGD, FAGD
Reprinted with Permission, Santa Clara Dental Society
(as examples: family practice, cosmetic
dentist, full mouth reconstruction). Key-
words like “teeth whitening techniques”
might be deemphasized in favor of more
specific keywords such as “teeth whiten-
ing and [your location].”
Decisions on keyword priority are
based on creating commercial results for
your practice. For example, what if some-
one needs a filling — what keywords will
they use to find a local dentist? If they
want a composite instead of amalgam fill-
ing, they might type in “tooth colored fill-
ing” or “white fillings,” but probably not
“composites,” since that’s an industry
term, not a consumer-oriented word. To
get search engine results, your website
needs to focus on the right keywords used
by people in your demographic.
By loading your page content with a
lot of hyper-targeted keywords, describing
your exact niche and services, you will re-
ceive more targeted inquiries that convert
to new patients at a higher rate. Your
online marketing company can spend a
considerable amount of time on keyword
analysis, and if you don’t already have an
online marketing company, maybe it’s
time to consider using one. Keyword
analysis is an important basis for all sub-
sequent search engine optimization work,
and building upon a solid foundation is
critical.
Content is KeyGoogle ranks individual website
pages, not whole websites; therefore, the
more content you have on your site, the
more opportunities you have to rank well
with the search engines. Do not, however,
add content just for the sake of adding
content; high quality content is key. Each
page should have a legitimate reason for
its existence and ideally is tied to a spe-
cific service offered by your practice.
Listing your different services and creat-
ing a page for each is essential. Proce-
dures that are more complicated, or that
you want to emphasize for your practice,
should receive multiple pages of informa-
tional material.
You also want to ensure that the qual-
ity of writing and presentation of the
pages is such that the reader lingers on the
page and your site. Google measures user
“time on page” as an indicator of the qual-
ity of your site content versus the
competition’s. The better the “time on
page” stats, the better the individual
website pages are going to rank versus
competitors over time. In effect, Google
infers that your pages offer better informa-
tion if readers spend more time with them.
Sounds logical, right?
Whether you write the pages person-
ally or hire a content writer to create them,
it is very important that they are not just
copied straight from some other source.
Google charts the creation of page text
and gives precedence to the “first author.”
If your pages and articles consist of “bor-
rowed” or standardized content found on
other websites, your rankings will likely
suffer.
Adding a blog to your website and
regularly updating it with new articles is
also a smart addition that attracts web re-
sults and leads to additional contacts. Ar-
ticles should often focus on specific pro-
cedures offered by your practice and link
to the appropriate page content to draw
the reader deeper into your website. An
active website with consistent updates is
essential for search engine optimization,
and the regular blog post is one way of ac-
complishing this. It forms the perfect con-
nection between your social media pages
and your website. Articles may be auto-
matically connected to your social media
accounts, further informing your existing
clients of new information on your main
website and providing a gateway to your
practice for social media customers.
Social Media to Promote Your Prac-tice
A 2012 survey reported that two-
thirds of dentists reported having a
Continued - Page 16
Robin Besotes
Co-Author
Page 16
Facebook business page for their practice.
Although dentists are now on Facebook,
oftentimes the marketing power of those
pages is underused due to a lack of con-
tent and minimal “fans.” The pages are
outdated and often don’t show daily or
even weekly posts. If you manage your
Facebook page in-house, make sure your
staff are properly trained to use it. There’s
no day-to-day manual on how to use
Facebook–the company sets their own
rules and changes them as they please. It’s
best to keep abreast or hire an expert to
manage it for you, or at least to train your
team.
A Facebook business page can’t help
grow your dental practice if no one is
there to see it. Begin by building up an au-
dience for the page. It’s easier than many
practices think, and in most instances is
achieved merely by asking existing pa-
tients to “like” the page.
Brand all materials with your social
media avenues. Hand out business or mar-
keting cards with your Facebook page
URL and include the message “How to
Find Us Online” with your brochures, ap-
pointment reminders, recall cards, your
walk-out and monthly statements. Mention
your Facebook page at the front desk as
patients check-in, especially if your dental
practice provides free Wi-Fi. Many pa-
tients will “like” your page right at the
front desk, using their mobile device.
Keep marketing materials around your re-
ception area encouraging individuals to
“like” your Facebook page. If staff mem-
bers need assistance delivering the mes-
sage, supply them with a script:
“Did you know our practice has a
Facebook page? Dr. Johnson posts special
whitening promotions and dental care tips
only available to our fans on Facebook.
Take a moment to “like” our Facebook
page. Here is the address: Facebook.com/
DrJohnson”
Claim your practice’s vanity name.
Your vanity name is your practice’s cus-
tom Facebook URL. Keep in mind you
don’t want the URL too long. Make it
easy for patients to type and remember.
If the page “likes” aren’t growing as
quickly as you’d like, think about hosting
a contest. For instance, have individuals
provide a comment, on a specific page
post, about their most memorable vacation
Social Media & SEO - The New Gold Rush -- Continued from Page 15
spot for an opportunity to win a whitening
treatment. Use an automatic contest picker
to choose a winner. There are Facebook
contest rules to be followed and one of the
most current changes with Facebook is
you cannot request a “like” for a con-
sumer to enter a contest.
Using Your Social MediaAs you boost your social media fan
base, here are three ways you can use your
Facebook business page:
Build Relationships: Posts on
Facebook provide
a chance to en-
gage existing pa-
tients and pro-
spective clients in
a 2-way conversa-
tion. With rel-
evant, interesting
content — regu-
larly posted —
patients engage
with the office in
a more personal
way that builds
loyalty to your practice. For good results,
offer a mixture of oral health-associated
posts, local dental news, what’s happening
day-to-day in your practice, staff birth-
days, CE courses recently taken and, best
of all, dental trivia! General quotes about
dentistry are good and take questions from
readers too. Bear in mind the interests of
the audience and add details on upcoming
events you may be having as well as com-
munity topics. When a practice “likes” or
replies to any patient comment, they cre-
ate a relationship. Relationships are what
social media is all about. Creating and
maintaining them requires daily, minimum
weekly, visits to Facebook to read what
your clients are posting on your page.
Generate Referrals: An average user
on Facebook has 150 friends. As a fan en-
gages with your page, their friends are
able to see this interaction, generating free
marketing for your practice. Social media
relationships help keep your practice in
the forefront of your patients’ minds. As a
result, if a Facebook friend is searching
for a dentist, happy patients quickly rec-
ommend you, creating a hyperlink to your
practice by “tagging” your practice’s
Facebook page. No search procedure is
necessary—their friend finds your page
and likely makes an online request for an
appointment.
Attract New Patients: Facebook
boosting and advertising campaigns may
assist you in increasing the audience of
your page, developing a pool of potential
new patients from people new to your area
or looking for a new dentist. Targeted
Facebook advertising is directed to a de-
sired demographic to attract qualified
prospects.
Boosted Posts Versus Page PostAds
In the world of social media, one of
the biggest sources of confusion is the dif-
ference between boosted (promoted) posts
and page post ads. Boosting is basically
just a canned option available on your
page after you create a post. It allows for
a few limited targeting options. Cost is a
flat fee.
An advertisement is much more pow-
erful, has several more options for fine
tuning to your preferred marketing demo-
graphics and you can create them in both
Ads Manager and Power Editor. The po-
tential for results is much higher, although
the cost comes on a “pay-for-click” basis.
Before creating any boosted posts or
page post ads, remember that Facebook
has a 20% text rule on these images. It’s
not uncommon for your promoted post or
ad to be approved today, and tomorrow
you see it’s not accepted. Facebook offers
a free grid tool checker allowing an image
to be uploaded and easily verified for
compliance. I highly recommend utilizing
it to save time and effort!
Branding and Social MediaGraphics
Use consistent branding with all of
your marketing avenues. Brand all graph-
ics and images with your practice’s vanity
name (custom Facebook URL), practice
or Doctor’s name and logo. Ideally, you
should have a transparent logo, to show
the image underneath as much as possible.
Continued - Page 17
Dr. Ashkan Alizadeh
Co-Author
Page 17
If space allows, add your website and con-
tact information.
The reason I recommend branding all
graphics, images, quotes, etc. is the “shar-
ing” feature. If one of your followers
shares your image, you’ll get exposure. If
there’s no branding on the object and they
share or copy it to repost, you won’t re-
ceive exposure for it. Ideally, brand all
“before and after” case images too. It will
take a bit more time, but you can integrate
your practice’s brand colors and font on
all images. It all depends on the feel you’d
like for your social media marketing.
Don’t Forget Review WebsitesIt would also be a huge mistake to
pay little attention to review sites like
yelp.com. You want to take charge of your
presence on such websites by using their
profile functions to clearly identify your
business and provide an appropriate logo
and pictures. As with your other social
media pages, a staff member or online
marketing company should be dedicated
to checking these sites regularly for nega-
tive reviews. A certain segment of your
market will rely on strangers to create an
opinion of your practice. Dealing with
customer complaints promptly, so that
they can modify their negative view of
your services, is essential to preserving a
good internet image. At the same time,
promote positive reviews by encouraging
satisfied patients to post their opinion of
your dental practice on the review sites of
their choice.
Reviewing Your Social MediaMarketing
Assessing the effectiveness of each
social media activity is crucial, so review
your efforts and results regularly. Look at
details such as fan engagement (shares
and comments), the amount of “likes,”
conversion of a fan to a patient and con-
tent quality and quantity. Engaging con-
tent is vital to increasing page “likes.” It
is good practice to track referrals. Make
sure “preferred social media” is a tracking
question on your new patient forms or
gathered from the front desk as part of
their new patient intake questions over the
phone.
The more engagement there is with a
certain post, the more fans may see it.
Without consistent and creative posts, a
Facebook page really is a waste. If your
dental practice does not have time to com-
mit to regular content updates, think about
outsourcing the creation of content or
management of the entire page to some-
one with a dental background and experi-
ence with social media. It’s a shame to see
a Facebook page, or any social media out-
lets created by a practice, with the last
post dated the previous year or no posts at
all! It creates consumer doubt–”Are they
still in business?”
Finding the Right MixUltimately, the success of your mar-
keting efforts depends on the goals of
your practice, the effort and expertise you
bring to the endeavor and the nature of
your competition. If your office is in a
small town with little internet competition,
traditional marketing with a token online
presence may suffice to keep your practice
busy. If you practice in a large city, a few
postcard campaigns and a generic website
will not get the job done. Staying ahead of
your competitors in the forum of online
marketing requires the skilled application
of SEO to the style of your content and
the vigorous use of social media outlines
to find and keep new patients for your
practice. Using your marketing budget
wisely, with the help of capable profes-
sionals in the fields of SEO and social me-
dia, results in significant improvements
for your search engine rankings, increased
requests for appointments and long-term
relationships with clients who actively
promote your practice for you via online
“word of mouth.” Apply the principles
mentioned in this article and social media
marketing with search engine optimization
can be a gold rush for your dental prac-
tice.
About The Authors
Social Media & SEO - The New Gold Rush -- Continued from Page 16
A Hearty Thanksto Our
St. Raphael’sDental ClinicVolunteers
Our thanks to the following mem-ber volunteers who gave of theirtime and talents in April and May2015 at St. Raphael’s DentalClinic:
You can’t change the world in four
hours, but volunteering 4 hours
per month or every other month
at St. Raphael’s Dental Clinic is a
start. Call Mary Ann at the clinic
to sign up (467-0703). For ques-
tions call Dr. Lester Low (474-
3333).
Page 18
Legislative Update
From the Desk of Peter DuBois, CDA Executive Director
Volunteers Needed!
Page 19
E f f e c t i v e
Jan. 1, 2016,
prescribers
of controlled
subs tances
are required
to register to
access the
state’s Pre-
s c r i p t i o n
Drug Moni-
toring Pro-
gram.
When a registered dental assis-
tant in extended functions, a reg-
istered dental hygienist or a reg-
istered dental hygienist in alter-
native practice treats a patient,
pursuant to the diagnosis and
treatment plan authorized by a
supervising dentist, at a location
other than the dentist’s practice
location, the dentist must provide
to the patient or patient’s repre-
sentative written notification that
the care is provided at the direc-
tion of the authorizing dentist.
The notification must include the
authorizing dentist’s name, prac-
tice location address and tele-
phone number.
CDA Updates Guide To
Dental Practice Act
CDA’s guide summarizes por-
tions of the Dental Practice Act and
organizes information in alphabetical
order by subject. Citations are pro-
vided to the appropriate Business and
Professions code, Health and Safety
code, and to the California Code of
Regulations Title 16 sections.
For details on license and permit
requirements, educational require-
ments, fees, timelines, citations, li-
cense suspension or revocations, dis-
ciplinary guidelines, descriptions of
disciplinary actions, appeals process
and exact language of the law, please
refer to the website of the Dental
Board of California and the Dental
Hygiene Committee of California.
CDA provides a guide to its members that is intended
for use by dentists and allied dental health professionals to
assist them in complying with the California Dental
Practice Act. Some of the changes in the 2015 edition of
Your Guide to California Dental Practice Act
Compliance are listed below. (Member access required)
New Optimal Fluoride Level in Drinking Water Released
visit cdc.gov (http://www.cdc.gov/fluori-
dation).
For information on the CDA
Foundation’s efforts on fluoridation, visit
cdafoundation.org (cdafoundation.org/
fluoride).
Page 22
Page 23
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