MidWinter 2017

Thursday, February 9, 2017

 

7:30am–9:30am • 2 CEU, Core
California Dental Practice Act –
You Can THINK Your Practice is in Compliance or You Can KNOW It
Leslie Canham, CDA, RDA
This mandatory course for license renewal will present the CDPA’s recent changes as well as the ongoing regulations required for license renewal. Highlighted will be issues to keep dental professionals abreast of the current laws that affect dentistry.

• Understand scope of practice, violations and attending regulations
• Learn about new duties and settings and license renewal requirements
• List required postings for dental practices

8am–9am • 1 CEU, Core
Test Your Curing Skills
Victoria Wallace, LDA (Sponsored by Ultradent Products, Inc.
You must be EARLY to attend this class – it will be fast, fun and interactive! If you want to know more about the latest and greatest in curing lights, this course is for RDAs and Doctors as well as anyone who handles a curing light.

• Proper handling of the curing light to insure complete curing of adhesives
• Test your skills using MARC…you might be surprised!

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, 20%
Generations at Work: Millennials to Middle Agers and More!
Daniela Devitt, California Employers Association
There are five generations in the workplace! Each generation has a difference in the way they work, think and how they perform their work. These differences can lead to difficulties and conflicts within your work teams. It can also be an opportunity to build a better team using strengths that bring the best out of each person. This training will help you bridge the generation gap!

• Generations in the workplace; identification of each work style
• Avoid workplace misunderstanding and conflicts between generations
• Develop strategies to overcome gap issues

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
CAMBRA and the RDH Role
Michelle Allen, RDH (Sponsored by 3M)
Preventive Dentistry is one of the fastest growing trends in the dental industry. Caries Management by Risk Assessment, or CAMBRA, represents a shift from simply treating caries to proactive prevention and treatment. Through learning about CAMBRA, and implementing the recommendations and protocols, dental clinicians have a valuable opportunity to help patients take charge of their oral health.

• Determine how to diagnose a patient’s risk for caries with a systematic approach
• Learn clinically accepted and patient-compliant treatment protocols
• Understand how CAMBRA represents a valuable opportunity to increase practice productivity and profitability

8am–9:30am • No CEU
How to Attract New Patients Using the Internet
Greg Sconce, InfoStar
Bigger than print and broadcast combined, the internet is the largest channel ever known for the public to engage with your marketing. This course provides you with a road map on both understanding and marketing on the internet. Learn the fundamentals of getting started, managing expectations, common pitfalls, anticipated costs, and how to effectively integrate other forms of marketing.

• Marketing components and how they interact: website, social media, SEO, advertising, reputation management, and more
• Learn about the various key players, budgeting and implementing a plan
• See how to monitor results and calculate ROI

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
The Mystery of Coordination of Benefits
Denise Martinez, CDA Practice Support Center
This course will provide an in depth look at coordination of benefit, the policies and laws that affect coordination of benefit and claims payment. This interactive discussion will resolve the mysteries of coordination of benefits. Dentists and staff will leave with a better understanding of coordination of benefits to make billing and collections more efficient.

• Understand the rules to determine primary and secondary payers
• Identify the correct fee from which to coordinate
• Understand the impact of self-funded plans to California’s non-duplication of benefits law

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Crystal Meth: Your Teeth, Your Health, Your Life
Mitchell Goodis, DDS
Do you think that your practice is not treating Methamphetamine addicts? Guess again! Almost everyone in California knows someone whose life has been touched by Meth! Children, cousins, siblings, friends, parents… and patients! Understanding Meth addiction in your patients and family, current or past, is a key to providing compassionate care.

• Identify how Methamphetamine affects the human body, know the oral manifestation of crystal meth use and the effects on the dentition
• Identify physical, oral, and behavioral signs and symptoms
• Understand the dental treatment necessary after long term use of Crystal Meth

9:45am–12:15pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
Totally Bonding – Know the Chemistry You Hold in Your Hands
Victoria Wallace, LDA (Sponsored by Ultradent Products, Inc.
This fun and fast–moving program will help the Dental Professional better understand the chemistry behind adhesive dentistry. Sitting chairside usually means the dental assistant plays a significant role in creating long-lasting and beautiful adhesive restorations, hopefully with minimal sensitivity.

• Chemistry 101 and adhesives
• Are you compromising your hybrid layer due to improper handle techniques?
• Step by step review of composite restorations, beginning to end and everything in between

9:45am–12:15pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
Periodontal Regeneration Therapies: A Revolution in Soft Tissue Grafting
David Jolkovsky, DMD, MS, David Du, DDS
Soft tissue grafting was introduced to dentistry over 50 years ago. It has evolved from a relatively crude technique to save hopeless teeth into a series of delicate plastic surgery procedures to restore health and esthetics. As surgical techniques have advanced, so has the discovery of new biologic modifiers and materials. This allows dentists the ability to use the science of true regeneration in combination with literature-proven surgical techniques to decrease pain and increase healing while achieving amazing results.

• Be familiar with newest advanced techniques of soft tissue grafting
• Understand the array of biological modifiers for soft tissue grafting
• Know how these can be combined to allow predictable soft tissue regeneration not possible before

10am–11:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Front Office Collections – Makes or Breaks Your Practice
Ben Anders, Denton Connor, Terri Davis, CPAs; Innovative Solutions
Front office collections procedures can make or break a dental practice. Learn effective procedures for monitoring and increasing collections and for handling cash while protecting yourself and the practice. This class is for front office staff and their doctors.

• Daily procedures and reports to keep you safe
• Handling cash deposits and accountability checks
• Small office challenges

10am–12:00pm • 2 CEU, Core
Implant Maintenance – Whose Job is it?
Debra Finney, MS, DDS, Ivy Zellmer, BSDH, RDH
Who, where, when, with what? Here are the answers. This evidence based course will discuss implant abutment connections and the relevance to tissue stability; to probe or not to probe; peri-implant disease and much more.

• How and when to assess implant health
• What instruments are recommended or not recommended
• Homecare education for patients; protocol for maintenance

10am–12pm • 2 CEU, Core
OSHA Roundup for the Dental Team
Leslie Canham, CDA, RDA
This fast-paced, entertaining program is designed to familiarize the participant with the basic elements of an OSHA safety program while meeting the annual bloodborne pathogen and hazard communication training requirements.

• Explain how to manage an exposure incident
• Understand how to maintain and update the OSHA and SDS manuals
• Understand the new label and SDS requirements

10am–12pm • 2 CEU, 20%
How Patients Find Dentists: Exact Strategies for Dentists to Attract Patients Who Listen
Jake Puhl, Firegang Marketing
There are many options out there to get your phone to ring. But how do you find the patients looking for specific procedures, patients who will actually listen to you as a dental professional? Whether you prefer implant patients, or patients looking for a smile makeover, this course will teach you how those patients search for dentists.

• Strategies that are the most effective for targeting specific procedures
• Step by step blueprint of where to start with billing procedures
• Understanding how patients choose a dentist

10am–12pm • 2 CEU, Core
Controversies and Innovations for Predictable Implant Restorations
Todd Schoenbaum, DDS, FACD
Learn how advances in implants have improved the predictability of care. Discover the best practices in controversial aspects of implant dentistry including: screw and cement-retained restorations, cementation protocols, splinting implants, platform switching, implant selection and more.

• Advances in implant restorations and how they can improve your clinical treatment
• The science behind some of the recent controversies in implant restorations
• How to increase predictability in your implant treatment

1:30pm–2:30pm • No CE
Financial Statements: A Tool to Your Success
Ben Anders, Denton Connor, Terri Davis, CPAs; Innovative Solutions
Did you know that reviewing your financial statements regularly can help you make more money, reduce your taxes, increase collections, manage cash

flow and run your business more effectively? This class will show you what reports to run, what to look for in them, and how often to look at them.
• Identify problems before they progress; increase efficiencies in your business
• Learn helpful ratios and financial relationships
• Improve monitoring of collections and payables

1:30pm–2:30pm • 1 CEU, Core
Am I Safe Yet? The Challenge of HIPAA Compliant Collecting
Robert Tavelli
In today’s healthcare environment it is getting harder and harder for medical professionals to collect on their past due receivables. There is a fear in the air that if you call the patient and ask for repayment that the cost of doing this could outweigh the benefit. Whether it’s due to the fear of a patient complaint on social media or the threat of a lawsuit; some dental practices are not pursuing their past due debts due to this uncertainty and misguidance.

But is this the smart decision and what happens when an entire industries expectation of repayment for services rendered goes out the window? How will patients respond when there is no consequence for repayment? Can we see the forest through the trees?

In this course Robert Tavelli will demonstrate how this line of thinking is a slippery slope and why most of these fears are due to a lack of proper and standardized internal collections procedures and communication skills.

There is little education regarding these topics on the market and Robert has found that once his clients have implemented these correct processes they become more confident in asking for repayment for services performed.

This program will help your practice do two things:

• Improve Internal Collection Processes
• 2) Improve Staff Communication Skills with Patients

1:30pm–3pm • 1.5 CEU, Core
Do Your Gums Hang Low?
Debra Finney, MS, DDS
This is a sensitive topic – everything you wanted to know about gingival recession, tissue grafting and root sensitivity. This course will review classifications of gingival recession, protocols for root coverage grafting and treatment options for root sensitivity.

• Evaluation of gingival recession
• Treatment options and when referral is indicated
• How to wade through the myriad of sensitivity products to assist patients with root sensitivity

1:30pm–4:00pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
Treating Snoring and Sleep Apnea in the Dental Office –
An Effective Protocol with Medical Billing
Marty R. Lipsey, DDS, MS (Sponsored by Sleep Group Solutions)
One out of every three patients who enter the doors of a dental office has symptoms of a sleep breathing disorder; learn how to identify and treat them. Know the basic terminology and pathophysiology of sleep disordered breathing and present a practice and patient-friendly protocol for implementation or improving the Dental Sleep Medicine program in your dental office.

• Learn patient screening, diagnosis, treatment modalities, and medical billing for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
• Discuss sleep dysfunction in order to provide service to the millions of sleep apnea sufferers
• Billing medical insurance and Medicare for Dental Sleep Medicine services

1:30pm–4:30pm • 3 CEU, Core
Dental Materials Update and Troubleshooting
Victoria Wallace, LDA (Sponsored by Ultradent Products, Inc.
It’s important to be open to change in dental materials and procedures so patients can be provided with the best dentistry possible. New techniques surface almost daily which in some ways can be overwhelming. This program will review new restorative information, along with a review of things sometimes taken for granted…like how we hold the curing light! Simple and easy changes can result in a longer lasting and possibly more beautiful restorations.

• Learn how to stay up-to-date with new products without being overwhelmed and/or frustrated – and getting the most for your money
• Discuss and troubleshoot dental products you use everyday

1:30pm–4:30pm • 3 CEU, Core
Implant Restorations in the Aesthetic Zone
Todd Schoenbaum, DDS, FACD
The restoration of implants in the aesthetic zone varies significantly from implant treatment in other areas. Successful outcomes require creation of appropriate gingival architecture, selection and fabrication of an abutment/crown system that balances aesthetic and functional demands. Special attention will be given to temporary techniques, cementation and impression techniques, emergence profiles, and gingival shaping.

• Understand the aesthetic issues and solutions for anterior implants
• Learn how to create implant temporaries that maximize the aesthetic outcome and increase predictability
• Learn about abutment selection and design for challenging cases

1:30pm–4:30pm • 3 CEU, Core
Set Down the Syringe, Pick Up the Drill:
Uncover the Latest Advancements in Anesthesia
Gregory Tuttle, DDS
It’s time to rethink dental anesthesia. Dr. Tuttle has developed a straightforward technique for the most experienced dentist and specialist, to the recent dental school graduate and hygienist. This process is a new primary injection of choice for lower posterior teeth replacing the IA nerve block, and this course will give you an exclusive look into the technique, benefits and suggested uses.

• Learn the exact steps to perform this anesthesia technique safely and effectively
• Be guided in optimal uses, cases and best practices
• Uncover exclusive troubleshooting tips and practical hints

3:00pm–4:00pm • No CEU
Actionable Strategies and an Exploration of Your Options for Creating Your Retirement Paycheck
Tom Chandler; The Chandler Group
Whatever your dreams are, you need a framework for making wise decisions about your money that will help enable you to achieve all that is important to you. A broad range of financial issues calls for a broad, comprehensive outlook. It’s for this reason that many affluent individuals want help with more than just investments. They want real wealth management—a complete approach to addressing their entire financial lives. When you’re free from worry about your finances, you’re more able to be who you want to be and go where you want to go.

• Setting the framework to make wise decisions with your money
• 7 essential components of smart investing
• How to design reliable strategies to live a comfortable retirement

3:00pm–4:30pm • No CEU
How to Turn Price Shoppers into Lifelong Patients
Jake Puhl, Firegang Marketing
What are patients looking for in a dental practice? What makes some patients remain loyal for life and others jump from one practice to the next? These strategies will teach doctors and front office staff how to turn every new patient into long-lasting ones. Learn easy-to-use tips to create the best new patient experience possible from the first phone call to the time they are in the chair, and beyond.

• Fundamentals of new patient marketing
• How patients choose a dentist and what makes them stay
• Tips to use to provide an amazing patient experience

3pm–5pm • 2 CEU, Core
Infection Control Teamwork – How to Make Infection Control ‘Sticky’
Leslie Canham, CDA, RDA
Breaches in Infection Control demand that we review, update, and fine tune our infection control knowledge, skills, and procedures. Participants will learn how to update their existing infection control practices to meet the current CDC Guidelines for infection control while meeting dental board requirements for license renewal.

• Understand how to incorporate the CDC Guidelines in your practice
• Achieve a culture of infection control though teamwork
• Identify resources for infection control

3:30pm–5:00pm • 1.5 CEU, Core
Ask the Periodontist: Refer or Not?
Debra Finney, MS, DDS
Inquiring minds want to know – this is your opportunity to ask! This course will include answers to questions commonly asked by hygienists and also provide you with an opportunity to ask your own questions. Learn the scoop on lasers and subgingival agents.

• When referral to a periodontist is indicated
• Maintenance recommendations for patients with periodontal disease
• Additional topics as determined by questions submitted – bring your questions!

 

Friday, February 10, 2017

 

7:30am–9:30am • 2 CEU, Core
Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges – Infection Control!
Marcella Oster, RDA
Kick off your boots and stay a while and update your knowledge of the latest infection control course for license renewal.

• This course meets the Dental Board requirements for licensure renewal
• Learn everything about the California Code of Regulations 1005 – Infection Control

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Gray Matters: Products, Pedigree and Pricing
Panel of Experts
Whether you are the person in your office who does the actual dental supplies ordering, or you just put items on the “wish list,” it’s not always about finding the cheapest price. Quality matters, no question. So does pricing. Where do you draw the line? How can you ensure that what you buy is really what you thought that you ordered and comes from where you ordered it. Products may be past their expiration date, recalled, fall short of industry and government standards, and present patient safety and dentist liability risks. Join in the discussion to learn:

• What the “gray market” is – cheaper isn’t always better
• What the risk could be to your patients
• How do you know what you are receiving is what you actually requested?

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Mindfulness in Medicine and Dentistry: Peace, Health and Brilliance in Practice
Mark Abramson, DDS (Sponsored by Dream Systems Dental Laboratory)
The effects of stress are seen impacting many aspects of health. Research in neuroscience, genetics, and behavior medicine supports that mindfulness is essential in healthy brain and body as well as quality of life. Dr. Abramson directs the Mindfulness Program at Stanford Medical School and Hospital and will teach how to be mindful in your practice and life.

• Stress when awake and stressful sleep drive the same stress reactions in body and mind
• Proper breathing is essential to good health and a better day
• Mindfulness is a tool to a better quality of life and does not take any extra time – it gives you more time

8am–9:30am • No CEU
Getting Your Practice Ready to Sell
Timothy G. Giroux, DDS
This course will guide dentists through the unique intricacies of a dental transition, illuminating the role and relationship between buyer and seller. The current economic trends in the marketplace will be discussed, highlighting to both buyers and sellers the changing trends that you may not have considered. Sellers will also learn the vital steps necessary to improve their practice value, what improvements to make, and how to avoid common mistakes as they near retirement.

• What are buyers really looking for in a practice?
• Corporate dentistry, debt and insurance: how it affects both buyers and sellers
• What can I do to get my practice ready to sell?

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Out with the Old and In with the New – Coding Changes for 2017
Christine Taxin (Sponsored by Banyan and Weave)
Have you updated your codes for 2017? Do you know how to utilize them to increase collections? Diagnostic and procedure codes change annually and patient insurance coverage varies while practices try to determine how to best incorporate these influences and remain profitable. This interactive, informational course will empower attendees to take charge of the dental claim billings.

• Tips for navigating dental benefits to maximize production, collection, and insurance benefits
• Optimize the use of this year’s updated and revised dental codes; know the importance of utilizing diagnostic codes for accessing additional insurance benefits
• Learn the ins, outs, and secrets of dental insurance

8am–9:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
Save Me – Save you! Ergonomics and Effective Patient Care
Tricia Osuna, RDH (Sponsored, in part, by Q Optics)
This course will review ergonomics, increase awareness of repetitive motion problems and how they may be impacted by operatory design, instrument utilization/design/selection, sharpening skills/options and a variety of other issues.

• Enhance patient treatment while identifying ergonomic needs; provide increased quality of care
• Identify and recognize instruments available to select from for a variety of patient conditions and improved clinical outcomes
• Identify habits that lead to repetitive movement which may cause harm to the clinician’s instrumentation abilities

9:45am–11:45am • 2 CEU, Core
CAL-OSHA on the Ponderosa Ranch? Yup!
Marcella Oster, RDA
Even the Ponderosa Ranch had to adhere to the OSHA requirements! Head ‘em up and move ‘em out and get your little doggies over to this CAL-OSHA refresher class!

• Learn about the CAL-OSHA requirements in safety, SDS, labels, storage and disposal, proper clean up
• Are you in compliance with the medical waste management provision?

9:45am–11:45am • 2 CEU, Core
Improving Clinical Quality and Providing Exceptional Service: A Practice Analysis that Helps the Whole Team Improve Everything
William Van Dyk, DDS
Dental practices always hope to provide quality care and plan to maintain high ethical standards, but the pressures of the market place make it difficult to practically achieve. The most successful practices are those that combine quality care with exceptional service to help patients see the care they are receiving and evaluate it compared to alternatives.

• Understand the ways the whole team can improve the quality of care
• Gain insights into what exceptional service means to patients
• Clearly understand the value of exceptional service in practice

9:45am–12:15pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
A Cookbook of Pearls for the RDA
Joe Blaes, DDS
This course, geared for the RDA (but dentists are invited too!), will focus on clinical procedures from start to finish, how the RDA can be part of the success and improvement of the patient experience, as well as the success and improvement of the practice itself.

• Best products, materials, techniques to produce dentistry in the least amount of time and stress
• Enhanced clinical dentistry; upgraded, simplified, done quicker and made more fun
• Time saving, high quality dentistry tips – a cookbook of pearls!
• Learn to play the “what if” game

10:00am–11:30am • 1.5 CEU, Core
The Wellness Centered Practice: Add the Health/Medical Dimension to Your Practice
Christine Taxin (Sponsored by Banyan and Weave)
Dental practices can add new diagnostic tools and treatments to support the general health of patients. Medical billing for these tools and treatments are essential in coordination with benefits for which the patient has available. The dental office must learn the recommended documentation techniques to support diagnostic decisions, as well as to prevent problems with the medical and dental benefit plans. Patients will appreciate the wellness concern of the dentist, and will be a healthier patient in the long run.

• Establish knowledge of dental and wellness benefits and state/government regulations
• Learn how to consult with your patients’ physicians and gain referrals from them
• Learn diagnostic tests and therapeutic products that can be used in the practice

10:00am–12:00pm • 2 CEU, Core
Evidence Based Restorative Materials Update: Separating Fact from Fiction of Today’s Material Advances
Parag R. Kachalia, DDS (Sponsored by GC America)
This program will look at a broad spectrum of restorative materials available today. Over the course of the last 5 years there has been an explosion in the number of restorative materials that are available to the practitioner. Years ago the practitioner was simply asked to pick between amalgam, ceramo-metal restorations and gold. Today’s practitioner must consider the various generations of bonding agents, composites, ceramics, cements, etc. The course will allow the practitioner to sift through the confusing maze of materials and decide which materials are most appropriate for a multitude of restorative situations. Specific materials that will be covered include, self-etch adhesives, low shrinkage bulk fill resins, advancements in flowable composites, and new generation cements.

• Understand the clinical rationale of various adhesives systems
• Be able to separate fact from fiction with relation to bulk fill resins
• Understand the expanded indications of new age flowable composites
• Be given a clinical rationale for material selection with respect to indirect restorations

10am–12:00pm • 2 CEU, Core
Dental Sleep Medicine: Time to Wake Up to Sleep
Mark Abramson, DDS (Sponsored by Dream Systems Dental Laboratory)
Good sleep is essential to good health. Dentists have a role in solving this public health epidemic of poor sleep in both identifying and getting proper diagnosis and treating sleep apnea. Poor sleep is implicated in cardiovascular disease: heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure, cognitive dysfunction including dementia, sexual dysfunction and cancer.

• Understanding sleep medicine and dental appliance therapy
• The dentist’s role in treating OSA
• Identifying problems with appliance therapy

10am–12:30pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
Oral Cancer: An Important And Often Scary Subject
Tricia Osuna, RDH (Sponsored, in part, by Q Optics)
One procedure, which has not changed over time, is the responsibility as healthcare providers to perform regular oral cancer screenings. With the increase of interdisciplinary education, we have recognized the need to reach out to those health care professionals to support our efforts to save lives. We have the ability to enhance our skills to communicate with patients and staff the importance of the oral cancer screening process.

• Recognize traditional and new risk factors for oral cancer
• Embrace new screening modalities and early discovery success rates
• Understand recording, communication and documentation of the screening process

1:30pm–3:30pm • 2 CEU, Core
John Wayne’s Law – California Dental Practice Act
Marcella Oster, RDA
Keep all skunks, bankers, and lawyers at a distance by herdin’ yourself into this CDPA class. Review and learn about all the new changes and laws affecting your practice and your team, including:

• Patient care, record keeping and staff management: do you comply with the CDPA?
• Current duty tables and new permit holder regulations; limits of scope of practice
• Legal issues for renewal; CE and criminal history reporting

1:30pm–3:30pm • 2 CEU, Core
How to Avoid a Practice Insurance Audit
Christine Taxin (Sponsored by Banyan and Weave)
More and more practices are being audited by insurance companies. Huge sums of money are being taken back by them and fraud is being brought into question. Are you afraid to ask a patient for co-payment when they’ve never paid one before? Are you concerned that your records may be audited? Many practices find it a challenge to remain compliant with insurance rules and regulations.

• Know the true legalities regarding insurance participation
• Identify what may set off an insurance audit and how claims are tracked
• Learn proper documentation to prevent an audit and to defend your claim

1:30pm–4pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
A Little of This and a Little of That: Today’s Dental Products and Treatment Options
Tricia Osuna, RDH (Sponsored, in part, by Q Optics)
Today’s dental sessions require an exhaustive knowledge of products, instruments and equipment. As professionals providing health services, we should be at the pulse of clinical devices and treatment while being able to recommend product protocols for use in the office. The process of care (assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, implementation and evaluation) requires us to understand what new products are, how to use them, contemporary treatment options, how to implement the procedures and evaluate what is and what is not working for us as individuals and as clinicians.

• Distinguish which new-to-market products should be brought into your practice
• Materials and product selection for dental hygiene therapy, patient communication and instrumentation
• Strategies that incorporate efficiency in patient treatment for a more productive schedule

1:30pm–4pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
Tech Check – An Overview of New Technology and Techniques
Parag R. Kachalia, DDS (Sponsored by GC America and Burkhart)
This course will provide an overview of the recent advances in dental technology and techniques with respect to a restorative-based practice. Included topics will be new trends in CAD/CAM systems, digital caries detection, intraoral imaging, digital radiography, iPad integration, LED curing technology, and laser dentistry. The course will look at the implementation of these technologies and how they can help deliver predictable care while allowing for a return on investment.

• Understand the advantages of implementing enhanced imaging protocol in the office and utilizing traditional and fluorescence imaging
• Learn strategies to create an enhanced new patient examination
• Understand the current advantages and disadvantages with respect to CAD/CAM dentistry
• Learn strategies for involving all team members in the utilization and implementation of dental technology

1:30–4:00 • 2.5 CEU; Core
TMJ: It’s Not Just the Joint
Mark Abramson, DDS (Sponsored by Dream Systems Dental Laboratory)
TMJ treatment is plagued by a history of conflicting philosophies. This presentation will look at the history and bring it together with an understanding of how dentistry can prevent and treat the disorders of the head, neck, and jaw system.

• Signs and symptoms of TMJ
• Growth and development

1:30–4:00 • 2.5 CEU, Core
Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Asymptomatic Enamel and Dentin Cracks
Samer S. Alassaad, DDS, FAGD
Through close-up clinical images, this lecture will present the rationales and a systematic approach for early diagnosis and treatment of Asymptomatic enamel and dentin cracks before they become symptomatic and progress to more serious complications involving the underlying pulpal and periodontal structures, in a practical and clinically relevant manner based on current evidence.

• Pathological consequences of Asymptomatic cracks if intervention is postponed
• Incidence of Asymptomatic cracks and early diagnosis utilizing magnification, transillumination, and dyes
• Etiology and prevention, modern classifications, and early restorative and occlusal treatment approaches

1:30pm–4pm • 2.5 CEU, Core
YOU ARE A ROCK STAR Dental Assistant!
Joe Blaes, DDS
Do you love people and believe your patients deserve the very best? A trusting relationship must be developed with OUR patients – and nobody spends more time with a patient than YOU do! Learn how to communicate with your patients, develop communication skills that enable you to quickly establish rapport with your patients; learn interview techniques to discover a patient’s wishes. Learn to develop a level of enthusiasm and passion in your life. In my practice, I cannot work without you. Learn to be outstanding in everything you do. You will become the dentist’s connection to the person we call patient. Your patients will love this new gentler environment and will enjoy returning for more treatment.

• Know how to connect on a fun and emotional level with your patients
• Develop techniques to establish rapport, communicate and interview
• Become the BEST RDA and help your dentist to be the BEST DENTIST
• Give the patient the BEST dental experience

1:30pm–4:00pm • 2.5 CEU, 20%
Get a New Dental Practice Up and Running: Advice for Young Dentists on Building a Successful Practice
William Van Dyk, DDS
This course fills the gap between the dental course work and the reality of practice by looking at the important parts of a dental business and presenting the tools to make the parts work well. Working as an associate, becoming an owner, watching and using practice numbers, handling managed care contracts, finding money to borrow, and marketing effectively are all important parts of business success and are covered in a way that they can be put to use immediately.

• Identify the key parts of a dental business to insure success
• Recognize the leadership skills that are needed to direct the dental team effectively
• Analyze the community to decide whether you are a good fit, and how to use associateships to decide where and when to buy
• Know the important aspects involved in the purchase of a practice
• Marketing techniques to build a quality dental practice