By: Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, MAGD
Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine

You have all heard it a million times; you can’t sell a product if it’s not sitting on the shelf. You may have the best marketing, the most fancy-dancy office, a super fantastic staff, and enough new patients to fill Noah’s Ark, but if you can’t do any dentistry you have NOTHING!

You are a dentist. At the end of the day the winners are the dentists who can do the most dentistry. The way to do the most dentistry is to have the broadest selection of products to sell. Think of a tool chest. Do you only want a hammer? Why not have a rock-and-roll tool chest complete with every toy known to Batman and Wonder Woman? How do you gain new tools? CONTINUING EDUCATION!

I am not asking you to be able to extract every wisdom tooth, but if you cannot remove any, then don’t complain to me that you are slow. This is why on Dentaltown.com we have three free online accredited courses on extractions by a world-renowned oral surgeon named Jay Reznick, DMD, MD. Take the course and add surgical procedures to your repertoire.

Do you pass on oral surgery because you cannot anesthetize the patient profoundly enough? We have three free online courses in anesthesia that I must say will blow your mind. The graphics are incredible. I have been practicing for nearly 20 years and learned three new tricks!

I am not asking you to treat every TMD patient that comes your way because I know you are not a psychiatrist, but do you have a first-line TMD program? Peter Dawson was the greatest, but Michael Melkers, DDS, FAGD is the latest and he has a free online TMD course on Dentaltown.com that will take your mind out on a five mile run. If you take this course and don’t learn a thing, you should declare yourself a specialist in TMD.

Dr. Melkers also has an advanced TMD DVD for sale that is a must have for anyone who wants to take the TMD portion of his/her practice to the next level. You can order this must-have DVD from Dr. Melkers by phone at (509) 891-7770, through e-mail at McMelk@aol.com or at his Web site, www.MichaelMelkers.com.

How is your soft-tissue periodontal program going in your office? We have two fantastic perio courses online that will enhance perio programs in any office today. Make sure you have your hygienist watch the courses as well on Hygienetown.com.

Do you provide any orthodontic procedures at all? There are over 8,700 orthodontists in the USA, which is almost twice the number of oral surgeons (5,900) and periodontists (4,500) and more than twice the number of endodontists (3,800).* How much data do you need to realize that orthodontics is in HUGE DEMAND?>

You need to learn Invisalign. You NEED to watch the two free online ortho courses we have on Dentaltown.com. If you pass on all ortho, do not ever complain to anyone that you are not busy enough because ortho is bloodless, requires no anesthesia, no prescriptions and no sutures. You never need to sell it, as the patient is always asking you about his/her crooked teeth.

Once again, I am not asking you to learn Class III ortho so your patient doesn’t end up looking like Jay Leno and becoming a millionaire with 30 plus cars, but are you telling me you can’t even do minor adult ortho with Invisalign? How lame!

Do you own a CEREC or are you thinking about purchasing one? We even have a course on CEREC. The same goes with lasers; we have two courses on lasers. What are you waiting for? Just do something. If you stand in the middle of the road, not only will you never pass anyone, you are certain to get ran over from behind.

It was in March 2005 that we promised you online CE that would be free and on your own time and comfort. We hired CE expert Rita Zakher, DMD, MBA who has truly taken online CE to the next level. So far, we have put up over 30 free online courses. We don’t like to gloat but we are so proud that over 42,000 courses have been taken so far. How amazing is that?

As impressive as these numbers are, what is equally impressive is your feedback on these courses. You have sent us your comments on the quality of the courses and speakers, as well as the topics you would like to learn more about. We have worked tirelessly to provide what you have asked for and will continue to always do so. But we are not stopping here. We wouldn’t be Dentaltown if we did.

We have taken continuing education to the next level and are extremely pleased to now offer CE in our magazine. For those of you who prefer to get their CE from a print medium, you can now read the course in the magazine and learn from outstanding authors. After you have finished reading the article, all you have to do is go online and fill out the post-test.

You will receive your CE certificate instantaneously. The same course also will be available online, so if you haven’t kept your magazine and wish to review something, you can always view the course online.

If you are a dentist or dental company who would like to submit/sponsor a course, please e-mail Rita Zakher, DDS, MBA, Director of Continuing Education at Rita@Dentaltown.com.

*Direct Medical Data. American Dental Association list.