Australasian Dentist Magazine May June 2021

Category 138 Australasian Dentist I n the previous edition I wrote about what were the best ways to cash drive your dental practice , this time I want to discuss what I think the industry will trend to in 2021 and beyond. I turned 70, recently and never expected to be still involved in the dental industry as this stage, however I’ m now having the best fun ever. True I don’t do much clinical work, but that’s good because others do and they are very good at it. Moreover, the industry has changed, it is no longer a little cottage industry, with people making rules that are anti-business, and in fact the admin of the industry has altered completely since Covid. Trust Perhaps the single most poorly understood concept is trust. Global politics has shown us that people no longer trust and or believe those who choose to represent us. In fact, as I tour the country, in my consultancy job, almost every time I see and feel a lack of trust and belief wherever I go. Why? Dentists have been trained to be technical monkeys, sometimes without true empathy, or even consideration. Actually I get it, as I came to 70, I understood this more and more, so I am trying to teach this to offices I go to – except it’s tough. Education If I had a dollar for every time I talk about this in dental offices I could have bought a yacht three times. Why don’t offices train, teach, and demonstrate. I get the same answer every time: “We have no time.” And yet proper and full education will increase patient registration over time like nothing else. Look at how new tech, like BYTE have done that, slowly but forcefully entering the aligner market. Dental supply companies are waking up finally, speak with their customers, and sell them what patients want. Digital supply platforms from new companies like PODIUM, and 23 DIGITAL, are leading the way here. We have arrived, dragging our heels at social media, blogs, SEO, SEARCH ENGINE ADVERTISING, and tracking, something unheard of in 1972 when I finished dental school. Online review Google and its other competitor WOM are taking completion to a new level. How do you manage this? Do you care? Who monitors your outcomes? Have you trained staff to ask for reviews? Heresy you say! Convenience There is a very interesting increasing rise in patients expecting convenience. The trend is to book online, provide out of hours advice, generate online admin and many other initiatives. I have never liked online booking however the added convenience of AI is making inroads here too. Companies are now offering free aesthetic evaluations, if you book with them and this is just the beginning. What about corporate? There have been many articles about the success of lack of success of these corporates. The major groups have had to make big adjustments and sell and manage their stock, however some have flourished. I have had personal experience with these ventures and I have no particular opinion one way or the other, but note that I had six practices and we had a large turnover with minimal profit. The corporate offices are run better than a single man office and have better systems in general so therefore a shrewd operator could do very well. The arrival of DENTAL99, and other variations such as DREAMER and still more make the dental space even more interesting and complete. In the next edition of this series I will be looking at providing the reader opportu- nities in the dental space that anyone can adopt. We will also consider the new technologies that will influence change. There are still a number of places in my training program for first year and second year graduates who need help with practice management, we have training programmes that could help with practice administration, computer skills and any other difficulties they would encounter. u Dr Harry Marget, hmarget@ebdg.com.au 781 Centre Road, East Bentleigh, Vic 3165. Harry Marget What next? By Dr Harry Marget columnists 1800 806 450 www.amalgadent.com.au See Inside Front Cover for WITH INTELLITEK™ TECHNOLOGY the Bulk Fill Composite that eliminates Microleakage Apr 2021 BulkEz Footer Final.indd 1 07-Apr-21 12:18:47 PM