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

Dentaltown.com continues to improve our position as the premier dental Web site by providing additional features that benefit our members. We embarked on our first partnership two years ago when we launched the Townie Benefits program. The concept is simple – link with companies that agree to provide special services and preferred rates to our members. We will continue to look for additional candidates to take part in the Townie Benefits program. Our large membership is very attractive to companies that want access to dental professionals. Additional partnerships take the form of informational resources. Through two separate partnerships we have recently established a comprehensive listing of CE courses around the world, and an interactive product comparison. Let’s take a look at our strategic partnerships.

Townie Benefits
This may be the greatest secret on Dentaltown.com. Through our partnership with Professional Solutions, you have access to outstanding financial products, including equipment financing and credit card Processing. You also may take advantage of its valuable malpractice insurance plan. It’s currently available in eight states and will expand nationwide in 2007.

Dentaltown takes this partnership with Professional Solutions very seriously. We did our homework to make sure it’s a company that will continually bring top-notch insurance and financial products to our members at a fair and honest price with exceptional service. Its family of insurance companies is stable and reputable, with more than 60 years of experience in serving healthcare professionals. Since our relationship started about two years ago, Professional Solutions has exceeded our expectations. I have personally heard from many satisfied Townies who have taken advantage of these benefits. They are an active resource on the message boards, providing Townies financial advice on equipment financing and credit card processing. They will analyze your equipment leasing contract – pointing out hidden terms and fees, and compare your credit card processing fees to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible.

Check out Townie Benefits for yourself today by clicking Townie Benefits on the right-hand navigation bar of Dentaltown.com.

Continuing Education
Today there are more choices than ever when it comes to continuing education. Dental associations and societies, national and regional meetings, dental schools and private continuing education sources all offer multi-disciplinary courses with nearly unlimited options of date and location. With over 6,000 courses to choose from, the choices are staggering and until now there has been no comprehensive listing service allowing dentists to search for the right course, time and place.

Dentaltown is proud to announce the addition of a world-wide CE calendar powered by DCEdental. Started by Phoenix dentist Dr. Brian Harris and his partner Babe Kilgore, the DCEdental calendar gives our members instant access to thousands of CE courses that can be searched by city, state, category, price, lecturer and date. You can then use this information to better plan your CE for the year and find out which courses will best fit your particular needs. I am excited for the recent partnership formed with DCEdental; see it for yourself by clicking the blue CE Calendar tab near the top of Dentaltown.com.

Product Comparison
There are literally thousands of choices when it comes to dental products and equipment. Since the beginning, Dentaltown.com has been a resource for purchase decisions as our members share their experiences on our message boards. We are pleased to announce our partnership with Dentalcompare.com that will provide thousands of product listings that can be compared in an easy-to-read format. This partnership is the perfect fit for our goal to provide additional valuable content to our members. Dentalcompare is no stranger to product comparisons; they are the vertical extension of the very successful Web site, Biocompare.com. In addition to product comparisons, Dentalcompare will provide our community with new product information, clinical product reviews and a weekly Quick Pick feature that explores the top products in different categories.

Not sure what digital radiography system to purchase, bonding material to use or the best cement for ceramic crowns? Read the message boards, check out the Townie Choice Award winners and compare your favorites in our product section powered by DentalCompare.com. The list of items to compare is growing exponentially, and I expect it will accelerate as a result of our partnership.

Try it today by clicking on Product Directory link on the right-hand navigation bar of Dentaltown.com.

Conclusion
We appreciate the support we receive from our community and are working hard to add features to the Web site based on member feedback. Let us know what you think about these new features. I am confident your decisions will improve and this is just one more way Dentaltown.com continues to be a one-stop site for dental professionals looking for online CE, professional discussions, classified ads, CE calendar, product comparisons, and much more…all for FREE. I would ask you to share your comments, feedback and suggestions with me via e-mail: howard@dentaltown.com. While I cannot personally respond to every message, I will be certain your feedback is reviewed by our entire team.