By Steven Goldberg, DDS Are you offering your patients the “wow experience"? As a dentist, I am always looking to grow my practice and attract and keep as many new patients as I can. Unfortunately, the fact is that as dentists, we are so focused on our technical skills while we perform our craft that we lose sight of one of the most important issues on the “business” side of dentistry — that is, delivering the “wow experience.” Consider this: You spend a half hour with a new patient, treating tooth No. 14 with a MOD bonded filling. You carefully excavate the decay; skillfully prepare the tooth with perfect cavosurface margins; etch, prime, and place adhesive and composite; and cure for the appropriate time period. You spend a great deal of time creating a beautifully artistic representation of occlusal anatomy. After perfecting the occlusion, you even place secondary grooves in the marginal ridges. Then you polish like you’ve never polished before. You’re proud of the artistic piece that you have created. And you’ve provided a tremendous service to your patient. When your patient leaves the office and reports back to family and friends, is he or she going to tell them how wonderful your secondary grooves are? More likely, what they will say is, “I had a filling today, and it hurt so much!”
However, my goal as a dentist is to have my patients say, “I went to the dentist today for a filling, and it didn’t hurt at all! My dentist really cares about my comfort; you should go there too!” What patients remember is the very beginning of the appointment — the dreaded injection. If you anesthetize your patients painlessly, you will be considered a painless dentist. After all, once your patient is numb, you are practicing painless dentistry. But if you hurt the patient during the injection process, you are no longer considered a painless dentist.
Now, you can deliver the “wow experience” with the DentalVibe Injection Comfort System, currently in its second generation. According to Dr. Joe Blaes, editor of Dental Economics, “It’s the ‘wow experience’ that will truly grow your practice.” (January 2011 Dental Economics) This patented, award-winning device uses revolutionary VibraPulse technology to send soothing pulsations deep into the oral mucosa. This stimulation is picked up by the submucosal nerve receptors, sending a message to the brain, effectively closing the neural “pain gate,” allowing for the comfortable administration of intraoral injections. Adults and children report painless injections with DentalVibe, and dentists report less stress during the injection process. DentalVibe is cordless, portable, nonthreatening, and easily affordable. It has received positive reviews internationally from key opinion leaders in dentistry and has been featured on numerous television networks. This is one dental product that can be marketed to consumers because of its universal appeal. Nobody wants to feel pain and these days, patients are no longer willing to accept it like they may have in years gone by. Remember, a filling doesn’t hurt — even a root canal doesn’t hurt — but an intraoral injection does! Thankfully, with DentalVibe, it doesn’t have to hurt anymore. Give your patients the “wow experience” with this injection system, and you both will enjoy the dental visit a little bit more.
Steven Goldberg, DDS, graduated from New York University’s College of Dentistry and has been in practice for more than two decades. In that time, Dr. Goldberg went on to build a successful general and cosmetic dental practice in Boca Raton, Fla., and invented the new DentalVibe Injection Comfort System. Dr. Goldberg first recognized the challenges of the pain associated with dental injections during his years as a student at the NYU College of Dentistry. He teamed up with senior engineers and designers at Bresslergroup in Philadelphia, Pa., to co-develop DentalVibe using Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall's "Gate Control Theory of Pain"; that is, redefining the injection process and changing the perception of dentistry worldwide. The theory states that vibrations travel much faster to the brain than the feeling of pain. Once vibrations have reached the brain, the “pain gate” is closed and patients won’t be able to feel the prick of the needle nor the injection pressure.
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