Last week, our community delved into a range of fascinating discussions. Members explored the historical impact of fluoridation in the first city to adopt it, alongside career decisions between oral and maxillofacial surgery offers. The future of dentistry with teledentistry sparked engaging forecasts, while practical tips on continuing education to improve equipment uptime were shared. Lighter moments included humorous patient anecdotes and lively games like “Name That Tooth.”
This Week’s Hot Topics
First fluoridated city and the result
Discover the long-term effects and health outcomes from the first city to fluoridate its water supply. Read more here
Choosing between two OMS offers
A member seeks advice on choosing between two promising oral and maxillofacial surgery positions. It’s a classic career crossroads. Read more here
2025-10-16 – Weekly Dentist Jobs : Teledentistry: The Future of Dentistry
Explore how teledentistry is reshaping patient care and what it means for the future of our profession. Read more here
CE that actually improves equipment uptime
Learn about continuing education programs that offer practical benefits like reducing equipment downtime. Read more here
Favorite denial of the week
Join in a lighthearted exchange about insurance denials and how dentists are handling them with humor. Read more here
FAQ/Guidelines
A handy resource for new and existing members to navigate our community guidelines effectively. Read more here
Admin Guide: Getting Started
For those new to the platform, this guide offers straightforward steps to get up and running. Read more here
True or False: The Hardest Substance in the Human Body is Enamel
Test your knowledge with this engaging dental trivia. Read more here
Name That Tooth!
A fun, interactive game to test your tooth identification skills with peers. Read more here
Funniest Things Patients Have Said While Numb
Share a laugh with fellow dentists over some of the most amusing things patients have said under anesthesia. Read more here
Looking forward to another week of engaging discussions and insights. Keep sharing your experiences and questions; they make our community vibrant and valuable.
“teledentistry” works if you block two 10‑minute video triage slots (8:30 and 1:00), script the front desk, and use D9995 for live visits. The CE-on-uptime angle is nice, but keep it to post‑ops and urgent screens so chairs stay full. Anyone getting denials on D9996 store‑and‑forward?
We’ve had better uptake using an async ‘3-photo’ precheck (front and left/right with spoon retraction) sent via a secure link before any video; we bill D9996 and it’s cut chair surprises like a preflight checklist. Quick win: auto-text a one-page consent plus photo guide and map payer rules with this ADA overview: https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/teledentistry. Anyone getting consistent D9996 reimbursement from Delta, or do they still want it bundled?
I’d pilot it with one dedicated ‘post-op virtual’ block the day after surgeries and a 24‑hour SLA for async replies; we saw fewer callbacks and faster eRx cleanups. If Grand Rapids could flip the switch on fluoridation, we can test this cheaply by auto‑texting a secure link and applying a $25 triage credit to in‑chair treatment; ADA’s guide is solid: https://www.ada.org/resources/practice/teledentistry. Also interested in claim acceptance trends when attaching D0140 with D9995/6 rather than narrative‑only submissions.
Quick example: we set Envoy to auto-tag walk-ins as ‘W-’ and route them to a Slack #lobby ‘now/next’ board, while pre-registered go through an Express lane — think TSA PreCheck for tours. NDAs are a QR deep-link on the kiosk so they e-sign on their phone, and we keep a rolling 10‑min buffer on the 3D lab calendar to absorb spikes. Small caveat: cap the buffer so demos don’t get starved if walk-ins surge.
We added a 90‑second ‘tech check’ the evening before first‑time teledent visits to confirm lighting, ID/consent, and that photos upload to the chart; if they fail, we auto‑convert to chair and note ‘no remote diagnostics’ in the record. It’s a tiny speed bump but it cut aborted calls by half and keeps us compliant. @NinaK, are your payers asking for patient‑origin location in the note yet?
One thing that moved the needle for us was a tiny “teledent intake pack” — cheek retractors, a phone macro clip, and a one-page photo guide — loaned with a $10 deposit; image quality jumped and meds calls dropped, like training wheels for mouth photos. @RileyKim do you validate patient location at check-in or inside the scheduler? We also enforce “no RX without two clear intraoral photos and a brief cold/heat response note,” with licensure/consent checked before booking.
And after last week’s teledent forecasts, we carved a 15‑minute “async triage” each morning to review uploads, pre-chart, and decide chair vs video; swapping D9995 to D0140 only when we book in-person cleaned up metrics, but the payer rules vary by state. A simple PMS macro drops tele-consent plus a photo guide into reminders so we aren’t chasing signatures day-of. @tinaT_64 are you seeing denials on D9996 lately, or bundling under limited eval instead?