How ClearDent’s Online Booking Nearly Eliminates No-Shows for Ellerslie Dental

About

Located in Edmonton, Ellerslie Dental has been serving the community for 16 years, focusing on providing a relaxed dental experience for their patients while offering a comprehensive list of services, including dental veneers, fillings, sealants, crowns, bonding, bridges, root canals, extractions, and much more. Ellerslie Dental prides itself on its holistic approach to patient care, ensuring that patients are well taken care of from the moment they book their appointments until they leave the chair.

Meet the Manager

At the forefront of delivering top-notch patient experiences is Sheena Nicholl, the office manager at Ellerslie Dental. With over 10 years of experience in the dental industry and a background in client and customer engagement, Sheena is always looking for ways to deliver exceptional patient care in a smarter, more efficient and simpler way.

See How Online Booking Nearly Eliminates No-Shows for Ellerslie Dental

All the features you love from ClearDent On-Prem, now enhanced with the accessibility and growth tools of the Cloud.

The Problem

Before switching to an integrated solution, Sheena struggled with the inefficiencies of a disjointed software setup. They were using a third-party patient engagement system for patient communication, including texting and recall reminders, which forced her to switch back and forth between different platforms. “We’d have to leave ClearDent and then go into this other system and put in all the information. It was a lot of back and forth.” Sheena recalled. A time-consuming process prone to errors, Sheena and her team would have multiple windows open simultaneously so that they could manually cross-check patient details to ensure the data was entered correctly across platforms.

In addition, Sheena spent a lot of time playing phone tag with patients, which added even more time to the process. This inefficient procedure became even more frustrating when managing appointment bookings, as the system only allowed patients to request a time rather than book it directly. Sheena and her staff had to manually block off times when unavailable, adding unnecessary work and risking double-bookings. Moreover, critical information was often “lost in translation” between systems, further complicating the workflow. The constant back-and-forth not only wasted time but also made it difficult to maintain a seamless experience for both staff and patients.

The Solution

Sheena decided to contact ClearDent and make the switch to ClearDent’s integrated online booking system. The decision came after researching alternatives and confirming that ClearDent’s solution could streamline communication and eliminate the need for multiple platforms. “I put my foot down and said that I didn’t want to deal with this other system” Sheena explained. As they began the early preview program with ClearDent’s Online Booking, Sheena realized how much her team appreciated the system, particularly how everything worked flawlessly—from how the booking system integrates with the scheduler to the implementation of the Online Booking link on their website.

ClearDent’s Online Booking system allowed Ellerslie Dental to stay within one platform, with all their patient information accessible in one place. With everything seamlessly synced between ClearDent and Online Booking, any adjustments to the schedule, such as blocking off times or setting appointment exceptions, could now be made quickly and effortlessly. Communication with patients also improved significantly, as they were able to send welcome texts, intake forms, and other information directly through ClearDent’s system.

The Results

Since implementing ClearDent’s online booking system, Ellerslie Dental has experienced significant improvements in both efficiency and patient satisfaction. Many of Ellerslie Dental’s patients have irregular work schedules or live in remote areas without reliable access to cell service, but they now have the convenience of booking appointments online at any time—whether it’s midnight or mid-day. Sheena highlighted that this arrangement is perfect for patients, as they are empowered to book appointments at a time that works for them. Sheena also found that patients are more committed to their appointments, which has reduced the number of cancellations and no-shows, as patients are more likely to honour appointments they booked themselves.

Additionally, the integration of ClearConnect, ClearDent’s patient engagement add-on, has further enhanced communication with patients. “It’s super easy, I shoot them a welcome text saying like, ‘Hey, so glad you could book with us.’” Sheena explained. “It’s so easy to let them know we’re looking forward to seeing them, and we also send intake forms ahead of time via text or the patient portal, so we’re prepared before they arrive.” Sheena was able to automate recall messages to include the Online Booking link, making it easy for patients to book appointments at their convenience and saving staff from having to make manual follow-up calls. This seamless communication has contributed to a smoother workflow, reducing the back-and-forth that previously complicated the booking and onboarding process. The practice has even seen an increase of 1 to 2 new patients per week, thanks to the ease of online booking combined with ClearConnect’s ability to engage patients before their appointments.

“I honestly would have appreciated this system ten years ago when I just started in the dental industry,” Sheena commented, reflecting on how much easier their operations have become with ClearDent’s Online Booking. The seamless, real-time integration with ClearDent has saved Ellerslie Dental significant time, and both existing and new patients appreciate how accessible and convenient the Online Booking system is. The ability to book appointments anytime, without needing to call the clinic, has not only improved patient satisfaction but also streamlined the practice’s workflow, allowing the team to focus on providing excellent care.

“I honestly would have appreciated this system ten years ago when I just started in the dental industry”

How ClearDent’s Integrated Online Booking Transformed Promontory Heights Dental’s Efficiency and Patient Experience

About

Promontory Heights Dental is a boutique, family-owned dental clinic located in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Committed to delivering exceptional dental care with a modern touch, the clinic offers a comprehensive range of services, including general dentistry, surgery, implants, Invisalign, Botox, and more. Their goal is to provide each patient with high-quality care in a relaxed and trusted environment, fostering relationships built on respect, trust, and a proactive commitment to dental health.

Meet the Team

Dr. Jehan Casey

With 16 years of experience, Dr. Casey has owned Promontory Heights Dental for the past two years. She is passionate about providing high-quality dental care and continually invests in ongoing education and modern dental technologies to enhance patient experiences.

Natalie D’Alesandro

With 17 years in the dental field, Natalie serves as both a Certified Dental Assistant and Reception Coordinator. Her dual expertise bridges clinical and administrative functions. Natalie’s commitment to patient care and operational efficiency contributes significantly to the welcoming atmosphere and smooth operations of the clinic.

See How Online Booking Increased Efficiency and New Patient Growth for Promontory Heights Dental

All the features you love from ClearDent, now enhanced with integrated online booking and seamless patient communication.

The Problem

Before integrating ClearDent’s online booking system, Promontory Heights Dental faced several challenges that hindered their efficiency and made it harder for patients to access their services. Dr. Casey found that most online booking solutions did not integrate directly with their existing ClearDent software. This lack of integration would have required staff to manually transfer patient bookings from the online platform to the scheduler, leading to wasted time and potential errors. Dr. Casey recalled thinking, “That’s such a waste of time. Really, ClearDent should be doing this.”

In the mean time, patients were unable to book appointments outside of office hours, resulting in missed opportunities and frustrating “phone tag” situations. This was particularly inconvenient for patients who remembered to schedule appointments late in the evening and for those who worked during weekdays. Furthermore, Promontory did not want to have to rely on multiple software systems for recalls, messaging, and scheduling as it would further complicate workflows and increase the likelihood of glitches and inefficiencies, which Dr. Casey had seen at other practices. She wanted her team to focus on learning one software and utilize all of its features and functionality for maximum efficiency.

The Solution

The turning point came when Dr. Casey received an email announcing ClearDent’s new integrated online booking system just before the Pacific Dental Conference in 2024. Excited about a solution that would seamlessly integrate with their existing software, she immediately reached out to ClearDent. “I was very, very excited when I heard ClearDent was doing this because I knew that would increase our efficiency and patient bookings” Dr. Casey said.

The setup process was smooth and user-friendly. Natalie noted, “The setup was actually quite easy. With the ClearDent software, everything is very manageable.” There were minimal errors, and any necessary adjustments were quickly addressed during the beta testing phase. The integrated system allowed patients to book appointments directly into the scheduler in real-time, eliminating the need for manual data entry and avoiding double-bookings. This ensured that appointment slots were filled efficiently, even outside of regular office hours.

Additionally, incorporating ClearMessaging in ClearConnect enabled instant communication with patients through text messages. Staff could confirm appointments, request additional information, and send personalized messages. Natalie explained, “It’s nice that we can just go in, right-click, and send a text message right away.” The unified platform not only streamlined administrative tasks but also enhanced the overall patient experience by making communication more efficient and personalized.

The Results

Since implementing ClearDent’s Online Booking and messaging system with ClearConnect, Promontory Heights Dental has experienced significant improvements in efficiency, patient satisfaction, and schedule optimization. Natalie shared, “When we finish in the evening, sometimes we’ll have an opening, and we’ll come in in the morning and see that the opening has been booked.” This automation both reduced the workload and helped to fill the schedule without extra effort.

Patients appreciated the ability to book appointments at any time, especially outside of office hours. Dr. Casey emphasized, “It’s really valuable, especially for people who work during the week.” The convenience of choosing appointment times that suited them led to a significant reduction in cancellations. Natalie explained, “The cancellations for those patients that book the appointments online are actually very minimal because they book for the date that they know works for them.”

The practice also saw an increase in new patient bookings, averaging a few new patients each week through the online system. Marketing efforts, including QR codes on flyers and social media promotion, could now point potential patients to a place where they could actually schedule an appointment, driving even more new patient growth. Patients expressed appreciation for the new system, finding it easy to use and in line with other online booking experiences in healthcare. “They’re very appreciative that we have introduced this system for them,” noted Natalie.

In addition to the new online booking tools, improved communication through ClearMessaging allowed the team to quickly send personalized texts, gather necessary information, and confirm appointments. The ability to view text message histories ensured that all staff members were up-to-date on patient communications, reducing confusion and enhancing preparedness. Natalie said, “We have a template, and they get back to us right away.”

By using ClearDent’s integrated practice management management and patient engagement solutions, Promontory eliminated the need for multiple software subscriptions, resulting in significant cost savings and better overall efficiencies. Dr. Casey highlighted, “It saves money for me as a business owner because then you’re not utilizing several subscriptions. It’s all in one.”

Conclusion

The integration of ClearDent’s Online Booking and ClearConnect systems has transformed Promontory Heights Dental’s operations, enhancing both efficiency and patient satisfaction while driving practice growth through new patient acquisition. By embracing these tools, Dr. Casey and her team have streamlined appointment scheduling, improved communication, and provided patients with the convenience of booking appointments at their leisure.

Dr. Casey offers this advice to other dental practices:

“If you have a software solution, utilize every feature in it because it will improve processes and efficiency in the practice. It’s all about efficiency. And finding a program that provides all these services in one has been great.”

Promontory Heights‘ experience shows the significant advantages of embracing integrated dental software solutions. The practice has not only improved its operational efficiency but also enhanced the overall patient experience, setting a benchmark for modern dental care.

"If you have a software solution, utilize every feature in it because it will improve processes and efficiency in the practice."

ClearVault Saves the Day for LifePath Wellness International

About

LifePath Wellness International, based in Chestermere, Alberta, is one of the largest clinics in the region, featuring over 300 dental and wellness services, 20 operatories, and a team of more than 50 dedicated providers and staff. With a commitment to comprehensive family care led by Practice Director Craig Hayes and a team of experienced professionals, LifePath serves as a cornerstone of the community. Since its founding, LifePath has focused on creating a welcoming, reliable, and comfortable environment for its patients.

The Problem

In the fast-paced environment of comprehensive wellness practices, data integrity is non-negotiable. LifePath Wellness encountered a major issue when their primary fee guides, with hundreds of critical modifications, were lost from their ClearDent system. The issue occurred when the previous year’s fee guides were accidentally selected and inadvertently altered all code prices. Without these guides, the practice’s ability to perform procedures, bill accurately, and maintain operations was severely jeopardized.

The stakes were high: the absence of the fee guide would result in operational downtime, revenue loss, and significant stress for both the team and their patients. Quick recovery was essential.

The Solution

Fortunately, LifePath Wellness had subscribed to ClearVault, a robust cloud-based backup solution designed to ensure secure, compliant, and reliable data management. Thanks to ClearVault’s automated daily backups and stringent compliance with Canadian privacy laws, ClearDent’s support team was able to swiftly restore the lost data with just one call. Within a few hours, the team had everything back up and running, minimizing disruptions and ensuring the practice could continue serving patients without significant delays or lost revenue. The solution’s comprehensive backup system and audit trail not only facilitated the recovery of the fee guide but also enabled the team to identify and address the root cause of the issue efficiently.

Why ClearVault Was Critical

ClearVault’s built-in backup solution ensured that LifePath Wellness avoided the catastrophic consequences of prolonged downtime:

Immediate Recovery: Daily automated backups enabled ClearDent to restore the lost data with minimal disruption.

Compliance and Security: ClearVault adheres to Canadian privacy laws, encrypting and storing all data within Canada.

Proactive Safeguards: With a 3-2-1 (+1) backup strategy, including offsite cloud storage, ClearVault mitigated the risk of operational paralysis.

Why Backing up Your Data Matters

Craig Hayes and his team at LifePath Wellness were spared the stress and financial implications of losing critical data because of ClearVault. This incident highlights a universal truth for practices: Data is the new gold. Losing it could mean losing your ability to operate and generate revenue. Buildings can burn down, offices can flood, and accidents happen—but ClearVault ensures that your practice’s data is always secure and recoverable.

For practices like LifePath Wellness, ClearVault is not just a backup solution—it’s a security blanket, safeguarding operations and patient care.

Take the first step toward complete data security today.

Why Digital Marketing Matters for Dentists

In the modern world, almost every potential patient starts their journey to find a new dentist either from referrals from friends and family, or by doing an online search. Whether through a Google search, scrolling through social media, or checking out online reviews, the first impression many people have of your practice is digital. This shift in consumer behaviour means that digital marketing has become not just an option, but a necessity for dental practices that want to compete and thrive.

Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies, from search engine optimization (SEO) and online advertising to social media engagement and reputation management. Each of these elements plays an important role in ensuring that your practice is visible, accessible, and appealing to potential patients. This guide will go through the key digital marketing strategies every dental practice should consider, providing you with the knowledge and tools you need to build a strong digital presence.

Key Benefits of Digital Marketing for Your Dental Practice

1. Increase Your Visibility Online

Why Visibility Matters in Today’s Digital Landscape: Many people looking for a new dentist will start their search on Google or another search engine. They’ll type in terms like “dentist near me” or “best family dentist in [your city],” and then they’ll typically look at the first few results. If your practice isn’t among those top results, there’s a good chance they’ll never find you.

How Digital Marketing Enhances Visibility: Digital marketing strategies, particularly SEO and advertising, help ensure that your practice ranks highly in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is achieved through a combination of keyword optimization, quality content creation, and strategic use of online advertising. By appearing at the top of search results, your practice becomes more visible to those who are actively looking for dental services.

Practical Example: Let’s say your dental practice specializes in periodontology. By optimizing your website for keywords like “periodontist in [city]” and “dental implant services,” you can attract patients who are specifically searching for these services. Additionally, running targeted Google Ads for these keywords can further boost your visibility, ensuring that your practice is the first one potential patients see.

Advanced Tip: Don’t just focus on broad keywords. Long-tail keywords—more specific phrases that people search for—can be incredibly effective. For example, instead of just “dentist,” try optimizing for “pediatric dentist for special needs children in [city].” These more targeted searches may bring in fewer visitors, but those visitors are more likely to be looking for exactly what you offer.

2. Engage and Educate Patients

The Importance of Patient Engagement: Digital marketing isn’t just about getting more people to visit your website—it’s also about keeping them engaged and turning them into loyal patients. This is where content marketing comes into play. By providing valuable information and resources, you can educate your audience on common dental concerns, the services you offer, and why they should choose your practice.

Creating Engaging Content: Start by identifying the questions and concerns that your patients frequently have. These could be topics like “How often should I get a dental cleaning?” or “What are the benefits of Invisalign over traditional braces?” Once you’ve identified these topics, create content that addresses them. This could be in the form of blog posts, educational videos, infographics, or downloadable guides. To get maximum SEO benefits, it’s best to use a combination of content types.

Example of Content Marketing in Action: A dental practice that specializes in orthodontics might create a series of blog posts and videos that explain the different types of braces available, what patients can expect during their treatment, and tips for maintaining oral hygiene with braces. This content not only educates potential patients but also helps establish the practice as an authority in orthodontics.

Maintaining Ongoing Engagement: Beyond creating content, it’s important to keep your audience engaged over time. Consider starting a monthly newsletter that highlights new blog posts, shares patient success stories, features new services, and offers special promotions. (With tools like ClearDent’s ClearConnect newsletter templates, you can easily automate these communications, ensuring that your patients receive regular updates without adding to your administrative workload.)

Advanced Tip: Use analytics to track which types of content are most popular with your audience. This data can inform your future content creation efforts, helping you produce more of what your audience finds valuable and engaging. Google Analytics can identify your top performing blog posts and content.

3. Improve Patient Experience

Enhancing the Patient Journey: Today’s patients expect more than just good dental care—they expect convenience and a seamless experience when engaging with your practice. Digital tools like online booking, email or SMS reminders, and patient portals make interacting with your practice easier and more enjoyable.

Implementing Online Booking Systems: One of the simplest yet most impactful ways to improve the patient’s experience is by offering online booking. This allows existing and new patients to schedule appointments at their convenience, without the need to call during office hours. An online booking system should be easy to use, mobile-friendly, and integrated with your practice management software to avoid double bookings or scheduling errors.

Automating Reminders and Follow-Ups: Missed appointments can be a significant issue for dental practices, leading to lost revenue and inefficiencies. Automated reminders sent via email or SMS can significantly reduce no-show rates by reminding patients of their upcoming appointments. Additionally, automated follow-up emails can encourage patients to schedule their next visit or provide feedback on their experience (which you can then use in your social media programs).

Providing Patients With 24×7 Access: One of the simplest yet most impactful ways to improve the patient experience is by offering a patient portal. This not only enhances the patient’s experience but also streamlines your practice’s operations. Patient portals allow patients to complete and sign documents at their convenience, without the need to go in during office hours. An online patient portal should be easy to use, mobile-friendly, and integrated with your practice management software so that you don’t have syncing errors or missing documents.

4. Stand Out from Competitors

Why Differentiation is Crucial: The dental industry is competitive, and patients have more options than ever before. To attract and retain patients, it’s important that your practice stands out from the competition. This is where digital marketing can have a significant impact by highlighting your unique selling points and showcasing what makes your practice special.

Building a Unique Brand: Your brand is more than just your logo and colour scheme—it’s the overall impression patients have of your practice. A strong brand communicates your values, your approach to patient care, and what sets you apart from other dental practices. Digital marketing helps you build and amplify your brand through your website, social media, and online reviews.

Showcasing Your Expertise: Use your digital platforms to highlight the areas where your practice excels. If you specialize in pediatric care, for example, create content that showcases your expertise in this area. Share parent testimonials, friendly photos, and case studies that demonstrate the quality of your work.

Example of Differentiation: A dental practice that focuses on family dentistry might create a series of social media posts and blog articles that highlight their kid-friendly environment, flexible scheduling options for busy parents, and the importance of regular dental check-ups for children. By consistently communicating these points, the practice can attract families who value these qualities.

Advanced Tip: Use targeted digital advertising to reach specific patient demographics. For example, if your practice offers specialized services like dental implants or sleep apnea treatment, run targeted ads that highlight these services to patients who are searching for them in your area.

5. Cost-Effective Growth

The Economics of Digital Marketing: Traditional marketing methods, like print ads, radio spots, and billboards, can be costly and difficult to measure in terms of effectiveness. Digital marketing, on the other hand, offers a more cost-effective way to reach your target audience and provides clear metrics that allow you to measure your return on investment (ROI).

Digital Advertising on a Budget: One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is that it allows you to control your budget and target your spending more effectively. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads let you set daily or monthly budgets, so you never spend more than you intend to. Additionally, these platforms offer sophisticated targeting options, allowing you to focus your budget on the patients most likely to convert.

Measuring Success and Adjusting Strategies: Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing provides real-time data on how your campaigns are performing. This allows you to see what’s working and what’s not and adjust your strategies accordingly. For example, if you’re running a PPC campaign and notice that one ad is getting a lot of clicks but few conversions, you can tweak the ad copy or targeting to improve results.

Example of Cost-Effective Marketing: A dental practice looking to increase new patient appointments might start by running a small-scale Google Ads campaign targeting keywords like “new patient special” or “dental cleaning discount.” By closely monitoring the campaign’s performance and adjusting as needed, the practice can optimize its spend and achieve a higher ROI.

Advanced Tip: Use remarketing strategies to get the most out of your digital advertising budget. Remarketing involves targeting ads to people who have already visited your website but didn’t convert. These ads can serve as a reminder and encourage them to return and complete an action, like booking an appointment.

Essential Digital Marketing Tactics for Dental Practices

1. Your Website: The Foundation of Your Online Presence

Why Your Website is Critical: Think of your website as the digital equivalent of your practice’s front door. Its where potential patients will first interact with your practice, and it’s often where they’ll decide whether or not to book an appointment. A professional, user-friendly website is essential for making a positive first impression and converting visitors into patients.

Designing Websites for Success:

- Aesthetics and Branding: Your website should be visually appealing and reflect your practice’s brand. This includes using a consistent color scheme, professional imagery, and clear, readable copy. Avoid clutter and make sure that your website’s design is clean and modern.

- User Experience (UX): Your website should be easy to navigate, with a clear menu structure and intuitive layout. Patients should be able to find the information they’re looking for—like your services, contact details, and appointment scheduling—quickly and without friction.

- Mobile Optimization: With a significant portion of web traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s absolutely critical that your website is mobile-friendly. This means it should automatically adjust to fit different screen sizes and load quickly on all devices.

Clear Calls to Action (CTAs): Every page on your website should guide visitors towards taking a specific action, whether it’s booking an appointment, calling your office, or filling out a contact form. CTAs should be prominently displayed, easy to find, and clearly worded. For example, instead of a generic “Submit” button, use action-oriented text like “Book Your Appointment” or “Get in Touch Today.”

Advanced Tip: Consider using landing pages for specific services or promotions. A landing page is a dedicated page that visitors land on after clicking a link from an ad, email, or social media post. These pages are designed with a single focus in mind—whether it’s booking an appointment, downloading a guide, or signing up for a newsletter—and typically have higher conversion rates than general web pages.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Be Found Online

The Importance of SEO: SEO is the practice of optimizing your website and online content to rank higher in search engine results. The higher your site ranks, the more likely it will be seen by potential patients. SEO is a long-term strategy that requires ongoing effort, but the rewards—higher visibility, increased traffic, and more patients—are well worth it.

Key Components of SEO:

- Keyword Research: The foundation of SEO is understanding the terms and phrases your potential patients are searching for. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you identify these keywords. Once you have a list of relevant keywords, incorporate them naturally into your website’s content, including titles, meta descriptions, and headings.

- On-Page SEO: On-page SEO involves optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. This includes using your target keywords in strategic locations, optimizing images with alt text, and ensuring that your website’s structure is easy for search engines to crawl.

- Technical SEO: Technical SEO refers to the behind-the-scenes elements of your website that impact its ability to rank well in search engines. This includes ensuring that your site is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and has a secure (HTTPS) connection. Regularly auditing your site for technical issues can help maintain your rankings.

- Local SEO: For dental practices, local SEO is especially important. This involves optimizing your online presence to appear in local search results, including “dentist near me” or “[your city] dentists.” Key tactics include claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile, ensuring your practice’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all online listings, and encouraging satisfied patients to leave reviews.

Example of a good SEO strategy: A dental practice in Kelowna that specializes in cosmetic dentistry could optimize its website for keywords like “cosmetic dentist Kelowna,” “teeth whitening Okanagan,” and “veneers Kelowna.” By consistently using these keywords in blog posts, service pages, and meta tags, the practice can improve its rankings in local search results, driving more traffic to its site and ultimately attracting more patients.

Advanced Tip: Content is a key component of SEO. Regularly update your blog with fresh, informative content that addresses the questions and concerns of your target audience. Not only does this help with SEO, but it also positions your practice as an authority in the field. Additionally, consider implementing schema markup, which is a form of microdata that helps search engines better understand the content on your pages, potentially leading to rich snippets in search results.

3. Digital Advertising: Target Your Ideal Patients

The Power of Digital Ads: Digital advertising allows you to reach your ideal patients with precision. Unlike traditional advertising, which casts a wide net, digital ads can be highly targeted. This means you can reach people who are actively looking for the services you offer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Types of Digital Advertising:

- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: PPC ads, like those offered by Google Ads, allow you to bid on keywords related to your services. When someone searches for those keywords, your ad appears at the top of the search results. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making this a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your website.

- Social Media Advertising: Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer powerful advertising tools that allow you to target specific groups of people based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors. For example, you could target new parents in your area with ads for pediatric dental services or reach people interested in cosmetic procedures with ads for teeth whitening.

- Display Advertising: Display ads are visual ads that appear on websites across the internet. These ads can be targeted based on demographics, interests, or past behavior, such as visiting your website. Display ads are a great way to build brand awareness and keep your practice top of mind.

Example of a Digital Ad Campaign: A dental practice in a competitive urban market might run a Google Ad campaign targeting high-intent keywords like “emergency dentist [city]” or “24-hour dental care near me.” By bidding on these keywords and creating compelling ad copy, the practice can appear at the top of search results when people are in urgent need of dental care. This can lead to a high conversion rate and increased patient bookings.

Advanced Tip: Use A/B testing to optimize your digital ads. A/B testing involves running two versions of an ad with slight variations—such as different headlines, images, or CTAs—and comparing their performance. This allows you to identify which version resonates most with your audience and refine your campaign for better results.

4. Social Media: Connect with Your Community

The Role of Social Media in Modern Marketing: Social media is no longer just a place for personal updates—it’s a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience, build brand awareness, and drive engagement. For dental practices, social media provides an opportunity to showcase your expertise, share patient testimonials, and engage with both current and potential patients.

Choosing the Right Platforms:

- Facebook and Instagram: These platforms are ideal for sharing before-and-after photos, patient testimonials, educational content, and promotions.

- LinkedIn: While LinkedIn is primarily a professional networking platform, it can also be valuable for dental practices, especially those looking to connect with other professionals, share industry news, or recruit new team members.

- TikTok: For practices looking to reach a younger audience, TikTok offers a unique platform for creating short, engaging videos. This could include dental tips, behind-the-scenes looks at your practice, or fun, educational content.

Creating a Social Media Strategy:

- Content Creation: The key to a successful social media presence is creating content that resonates with your audience. This could include educational posts that answer common dental questions, testimonials that highlight positive patient experiences, and promotional offers that encourage new patients to book an appointment.

- Consistency: Posting regularly is critical for maintaining engagement on social media. Create a content calendar to plan your posts in advance, ensuring that you’re consistently sharing valuable content with your audience.

- Engagement: Social media is a two-way street. Don’t just post content—engage with your followers by responding to comments, answering questions, and participating in conversations. This helps build a community around your practice and fosters patient loyalty.

Example of a Social Media Campaign: A dental practice might launch a social media campaign focused on oral health awareness during National Dental Hygiene Month. The campaign could include a series of educational posts on proper brushing techniques, the importance of regular check-ups, and the benefits of flossing. By using relevant hashtags and encouraging followers to share their own tips, the practice can increase its reach and engagement on social media.

Advanced Tip: Use social media analytics tools to track the performance of your posts and campaigns. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer insights into metrics like reach, engagement, and conversions. Use this data to refine your social media strategy and focus on the types of content that resonate most with your audience.

5. Online Listings: Make Sure Patients Can Find You

The Importance of Online Listings: Online listings, like those on Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Apple Maps, are often the first place potential patients will see your practice. These listings not only provide essential information like your address, phone number, and hours of operation but also influence your practice’s visibility in local search results.

Maximizing Your Online Listings:

- Claim and Optimize Listings: Make sure your practice is listed on all relevant platforms, and that the information is accurate and up to date. This includes your practice’s name, address, phone number (NAP), hours of operation, and website URL. Consistency across all platforms is crucial for improving your local SEO.

- Enhance Listings with Photos and Descriptions: Add high-quality photos of your practice, team, and services to your listings. A well-written description that highlights your services, specialties, and what sets you apart from other practices can improve your listing’s appeal.

- Encourage Reviews: Online reviews play a significant role in a patient’s decision-making process. Encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews on your Google Business Profile, Yelp, and other review platforms. The more reviews you have and the higher your overall rating, the more likely potential patients will choose your practice.

Example of an Optimized Online Listing: A dental practice in a small town might ensure that its Google Business Profile is fully optimized, with up-to-date information, high-quality photos, and a detailed description of the services offered. The practice also encourages patients to leave reviews, resulting in a high rating and positive comments. As a result, the practice consistently appears at the top of local search results, attracting new patients from the surrounding area.

Advanced Tip: Monitor and respond to reviews regularly. Positive reviews should be acknowledged with a thank you, while negative reviews should be addressed professionally and constructively. This not only helps maintain a positive online reputation but also demonstrates to potential patients that you value their feedback.

6. Online Reviews: Build Trust and Credibility

The Power of Online Reviews: In the digital age, online reviews are the new word of mouth. Potential patients often read reviews before deciding which dentist to visit, making it uber important to have a strong presence on review platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Positive reviews build trust and credibility, while negative reviews, if not managed properly, can deter potential patients.

Encouraging Positive Reviews:

- Ask for Reviews: After a successful appointment, encourage your patients to leave a review. This can be done in person, via email, or through an automated follow-up system like ClearDent’s ClearConnect patient engagement platform. Make it easy for patients by providing direct links to your review profiles.

- Incentivize Reviews: Consider offering a small incentive for patients who leave a review, like a discount on their next cleaning or entry into a raffle for a gift card. Just be sure to follow the guidelines of the review platform, as some have rules against incentivizing reviews.

Managing Negative Reviews:

- Respond Quickly and Professionally: When you receive a negative review, it’s important to respond promptly and professionally. Acknowledge the patient’s concerns, apologize for any inconvenience, and offer to discuss the issue further offline. This shows that you care about patient satisfaction and are committed to resolving any problems.

- Learn from Feedback: Negative reviews can provide valuable insights into areas where your practice may need improvement. Use this feedback to make changes and prevent similar issues in the future.

Example of Effective Review Management: A dental practice might have a policy of asking every patient to leave a review after their appointment. The practice consistently responds to all reviews, thanking patients for their feedback and addressing any concerns. Over time, the practice builds a strong online reputation, with a high average rating and numerous positive reviews that attract new patients.

Advanced Tip: Leverage positive reviews in your marketing materials. Testimonials can be featured on your website, in social media posts, and in email newsletters. This not only builds trust with potential patients but amplifies the positive experiences your patients are having.

Conclusion: The Future is Digital

In today’s digital-first world, a strong online presence is essential for any dental practice that wants to grow and succeed. By embracing digital marketing strategies like SEO, online advertising, social media, and reputation management, you can attract more patients, enhance their experience, and build a practice that stands out in a competitive market.

At ClearDent, we partner with Social Ordeals, experts in digital marketing for dentistry, to offer a comprehensive online marketing solution. Social Ordeals has developed a platform and services that help dental practices monitor, manage, and build their online reputations and brands. From building or refreshing your website, to search engine optimization, to digital advertising and more, Social Ordeals coupled with ClearDent’s patient engagement solutions is a win-win for today’s modern dental practice. Get a FREE Digital Audit Report for your practice.

The key to success in digital marketing is consistency and adaptation. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and what works today might not work tomorrow. By staying informed about the latest trends and continuously refining your strategies, you can ensure that your practice remains at the forefront of the industry.

With a growing number of cloud-based solutions available for dental practice management, selecting the right one feels like navigating a Harry Potter-like labyrinth. But it’s important to make sure that the cloud-based solutions you choose aligns with your practice’s specific requirements. This guide demonstrates why ClearDent Cloud is the best cloud-based solution for dental practices in Canada (or at least we think so), and shows you the differences between true cloud-based solutions, cloud-washed solutions, and legacy software, highlighting the top considerations when making a selection.

What’s a “cloud-washed solution” and why should I care?

We’ve written an entire blog post about Cloud-washed solutions and you can read more about it here. Simply put, not all cloud-based solutions are created equal—namely, outdated legacy software that’s been re-packaged and associated with the “Cloud” buzzword for online use (cloud-washed)— and many lack the inherent advantages of true cloud platforms. While there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this type of software deployment, practices looking to grow and scale, enforce better security, or reliably access systems from anywhere, would see a significant impact in both productivity and efficiency over time.

The different functions of a dental practice

At ClearDent, we take a holistic approach to building our products, considering the entire practice’s needs and how each part of the business works together. Whether you’re establishing a new practice, managing a single location or managing multiple practices, our robust set of features keep dental practices running smoothly. It’s important to take a comprehensive view of your overall operations and choose the right cloud-based solution that fits your unique situation. We’ve identified 5 areas of focus for dental practice success:

Schedule Management

Patient Management

Clinical Management

Financial & Insurance Management

Patient Care and Business Operations Management

Schedule Management

The heart and soul of any dental practice lies in the scheduler. Having robust scheduling capabilities is table stakes for efficient, profitable operations. But it’s not just about booking appointments; it’s about ensuring the right procedures are scheduled for the right amount of time, patient intake forms are completed before appointments, and critical alerts like lab case arrivals and account balances are seamlessly integrated into your workflow. While these features should be a priority regardless of the type of software (on-premise, cloud, hybrid), cloud-based solutions offer greater flexibility, allow access to systems from any location, and include real-time system updates and maximum security and privacy.

Has this happened to you?

Consider a typical morning at your practice. Imagine starting your day with a fully optimized schedule, where every appointment is perfectly aligned, patient information is at your fingertips, and your team is prepared for the day’s challenges. Everything seems “perfect”. But without an advanced scheduler, your team will likely have to deal with last-minute patient form updates, could miss out on collection opportunities due to lack of visibility, and may not be aware of important alerts including pre-medications or lab cases arriving for their appointments. This not only affects patient satisfaction but can cause unnecessary stress on your staff.

With ClearDent Cloud’s advanced scheduler management tools, you get a solution that’s both powerful and easy to use. Here’s how we solve common scheduler pain points:

Directly View Patient Insurance Details and Balances: Access patient insurance details and account balances directly from the schedule. This enables the admin team to be prepared for discussions with the patient before or upon arrival, ensuring timely collection of accurate amounts owed by both the patient and insurance.

Easily View Critical Information: Get alerts for important medical issues, allergies, required pre-medications, lab case status, insurance balance, and additional patient details.

Customize Appointment Views: Show multiple appointments, diverse family relationships, and different providers in an easily customizable view.

Improve Patient Retention: Enhance patient retention through recall reminders and notifications including personalized greetings and notices.

With comprehensive patient information readily available, the check-in process becomes seamless. We believe these scheduler features are fundamental in helping your team simplify their workflow.

Patient Management

Having a reliable system with the right tools is critical for running a smooth practice, and managing the unique needs of every patient can be overwhelming when you don’t. Key areas to manage include patient charts, appointment recalls, family accounts, outstanding Accounts Receivables by family or individual, lab cases, and much more.

To achieve full schedules and satisfied patients, three key processes are critical: treatment planning, billing, and lab case management. Let’s explore each of these scenarios in detail.

Billing (Billing Wizard)

Has this happened to you?

It’s a busy afternoon, and you’re juggling multiple tasks—answering phones, assisting patients, and handling billing inquiries. Just when you think you’re all caught up, a patient approaches to check out, settle their bill, and schedule their next appointment. Without an advanced billing system, this can get complicated and take more time than your patient is willing to spend while you manually check records for treatment details, billing, and appointments. This can involve navigating through multiple screens and performing several actions just to find the right information.

As you navigate through your software, the patient becomes impatient and decides to pay later. Not only do you miss the opportunity to get paid on the spot, but you might not see that the patient owes money and is overdue for a recall—leaving money and future revenue opportunities on the table.

With ClearDent’s Billing Wizard, you see all the information you need, when you need it. Here’s how we solve common patient management pain points:

Capture Revenue Opportunities: View outstanding accounts and unscheduled hygiene and recalls, ensuring all revenue opportunities are promptly captured.

Receive Instant Alerts: Get instant alerts for missing patient information like emails, EOB auto-updates, and privacy consent, preventing delays in the billing and scheduling process.

Enhance Patient Satisfaction: Enjoy instant claims processing and coverage determination, providing patients with immediate and accurate information about their coverage, enhancing satisfaction and trust.

Treatment Planning

Has this happened to you?

It’s a typical weekday morning, and you’re juggling multiple tasks—identifying patients needing follow-up appointments, handling billing inquiries, and assisting patients at the front desk. Without custom reporting capabilities, you manually sift through patient records, sometimes missing those with outstanding treatment plans. One patient, needing periodontal treatments, was overlooked, leading to a worsened condition.

Beyond that, when your doctor requests a report to analyze treatment patterns, you struggle to compile the data, resulting in incomplete and delayed reports. The lack of integrated tools forces you to constantly switch between screens, increasing errors and inefficiencies.

An effective Treatment Planning tool like the one built by ClearDent helps you tap into the hidden potential of your patient base. Here’s how we solve common treatment planning pain points:

Prioritize Follow-Ups: Use custom reports to identify patients with outstanding treatment plans and prioritize follow-ups accordingly.

Create Customized Reports: Generate reports based on procedure codes, insurance carriers, providers, and statuses.

Access Patient Files Directly from Reports: Save time and improve efficiency by accessing patient files directly from reports.

Save Report Settings as Templates: Save popular report settings as templates for faster future use.

Lab Case Management

Has this happened to you?

It’s a busy afternoon, and you have a full schedule, including an urgent appointment for a patient receiving new dental crowns. As the appointment time approaches, your dental assistant discovers the crowns haven’t arrived. Without built-in lab management, you manually sift through lab scripts, trying to identify the lab responsible. The patient, who took time off work, is visibly upset about needing to reschedule. Amidst this chaos, you juggle other patients and make multiple calls to track down the lab contact. The patient leaves the clinic, uncertain about when his/her treatment will be completed.

With ClearDent’s built-in lab management, you can streamline your workflow and enhance patient satisfaction. Here’s how we solve common pain points:

Track Lab Cases Efficiently: The appointment book shows you what hasn’t arrived and groups all outstanding cases by lab, ensuring necessary materials arrive on time.

Improve Patient Communication: Provide patients with accurate updates and minimize disruptions by having real-time lab case information.

Enhance Workflow Efficiency: Access lab case reports and email lab scripts directly, reducing the time spent on manual tracking and calls.

Organize Lab Contacts and Information: Maintain an organized system for lab contacts and case information to streamline communication and coordination.

The scenarios above demonstrate how a robust system can significantly enhance your team’s productivity and patient satisfaction. Using cloud-based solutions to optimize your practice’s workflow allows you to make informed decisions and improve performance.

Clinical Management

Good dental software should have all the basic clinical management tools including Odontogram and Perio charting. But a great dental software should help you better diagnose and make better decisions to plan treatments and increase overall patient care with speed and accuracy. There are other components involved in efficient treatment planning to consider, like making sure imaging equipment integrates well with the software and having productivity tools to quickly view and generate clear and concise clinical notes.

Has this happened to you?

You’re preparing for a complex procedure and need to review the patient’s history, current x-rays, and treatment notes. Without an integrated system, you must switch between different screens and software applications, wasting valuable time and risking miscommunication, or potentially missing key information.

ClearDent’s comprehensive Clinical Management tools simplify your workflow by integrating and making all patient and clinical information easily accessible. Here’s how ClearDent can transform your practice:

Integrated Digital Imaging: View detailed x-rays alongside your odontogram, notes, and treatment plan. Images are auto rotated, mounted, and labeled by tooth number. Easily import x-rays and create comprehensive treatment letters with one click. Complete your clinical workflow seamlessly within a single platform.

Complete Charting View (and more): Intuitive electronic charting displays clinical notes, treatment plan, and patient history in one view. Color-coded clinical information about existing conditions, planned, and completed treatment is visible from the odontogram. Plan and prioritize treatment plans with templates, improving accuracy, speed, and patient acceptance.

Templated Clinical Notes: Save time with customized clinical notes, referral letters, and templated post-treatment letters. Create templates with auto-merge fields for rapid, consistent documentation.

Additionally, with ClearDent you can access patient and clinical information on the cloud, eliminating worries about server failures and allowing access from anywhere. This ensures you have all practice information at your fingertips, anytime you need it. This integration enhances your ability to diagnose, present cases, and convert treatments efficiently.

System delays can have a domino effect on productivity and patient experience, potentially delaying appointments and reducing productive time that could be used for patient care. It’s important to identify the goals of your practice and find the right solution that fits your needs—balancing cost, performance, and features.

Financial & Insurance Claims Management

Managing finances and insurance information can be a beast unto itself. Updating patient ledgers, managing insurance information and claims, and handling family finances is just scratching the surface. Practices wanting to grow the business and patient base need to know the numbers inside and out or at least be able to find important information easily. Ensuring you have a bird’s-eye view of your revenue, along with tools for swiftly sending claims and updating ledgers, will ensure that your practice maintains financial health and is always up-to-date and accurate.

While legacy software and cloud-washed solutions can achieve ledger functions for basic use, finding a solution that updates ledgers reliably through a cloud infrastructure gives your practice peace of mind, eliminating system delays and lags that could cause a domino effect of information mismatches.

Has this happened to you?

You’re dealing with a mountain of insurance claims, patient record updates, and managing payment plans—all while trying to maintain the financial health of your practice. Each claim must be meticulously checked for accuracy, submitted to the correct provider, and tracked until payment is received. Without an efficient system, you spend hours manually processing these claims and entries, leading to delays, errors, missed payments, and write-offs that hurt your practice’s revenues.

ClearDent’s Claims and Ledger features eliminate common challenges by providing a seamless, automated solution for managing insurance claims. Here’s how ClearDent addresses the pain points associated with insurance and claims management:

Automatically Adjust EOBs: Automatically update EOBs, calculate insurance deductibles, and process claims. This reduces manual errors, saving valuable time and labor costs that can be better spent on more important tasks.

Integrated and Intuitive Ledger: Visually intuitive ledger for generating financial and management reports, managing family financials, and calculating patient and insurance sides of the ledger. This ensures comprehensive, organized record-keeping and minimizes the need for backdating and manual adjustments.

Dashboard Analytics for Better Decision Making: Get a real-time snapshot of your practice with comprehensive performance metrics. Leverage a user-friendly dashboard that provides quick views of key metrics like production, recalls, chair utilization, accounts receivables, and more. This enhanced visibility allows the office to make informed business decisions and improve overall practice performance.

If we haven’t mentioned it yet, ClearDent is a solution made by Canadians, for Canadians—so we understand the nuances of Canadian insurance processes. To that end, we’ve built tools that empower practices to automate workflows, reduce the administrative burden, and maximize revenue.

Patient Care and Business Operations Management

Running a dental practice involves a lot more than booking appointments, treating patients, and processing billing. Effective practice management requires tools that streamline both the patient side and the business side of your operations. And not all practices are alike; your needs will differ if you are a small family practice versus a large group practice. Practice management software companies like ClearDent offer additional functionality to cater to these varying needs. Identifying the specific needs of your practice is crucial to choosing a system that enhances efficiency and reduces the administrative burden on your team.

Has this happened to you?

Your practice is bustling with patients, but your administrative team is overwhelmed with managing schedules, inventory, and coordinating staff hours. The lack of an integrated system results in inefficiencies, errors, and stressed-out staff.

ClearDent’s comprehensive practice management tools are designed to address these challenges, ensuring your practice runs smoothly and efficiently. Here’s how ClearDent can transform your practice:

Improve Productivity: With built-in task management, you can assign and manage tasks, create lab prescriptions within a patient’s chart, and track case status. Easily create waitlists and send bulk messages to keep your schedule full.

Streamline Employee Hours: Employees can clock their hours directly through ClearDent, eliminating human error and saving thousands of dollars per year caused by clerical mistakes and overpaying.

Enhance Team Communication: Stay connected with your team without leaving your chair. Discuss cases, request providers to operatories, announce changes, and send direct messages to ensure coordinated and excellent patient care.

We know that no two practices are the same, and each has unique business goals and approaches. ClearDent understands that practices require flexible solutions to help you reach your goals. With the ability to mix and match your tools, you can save resources for other components of your business.

Conclusion

Choosing the right dental software for your practice is paramount for you, your patients, and your staff. This article has highlighted the key factors to consider when searching for the software that best meets your needs. With the rise of cloud-based solutions, it’s important to understand the differences between true cloud, cloud-washed, and on-premise solutions and the features and functionality each provides.

Understand what your practice needs and do your research—use free demos to assist in making the right choice. The last thing you want is to select software that falls short, forcing you to switch and waste time, money, and resources down the road.

Do you remember the first time you implemented dental software at your practice? It likely required extensive planning and preparation. As a ClearDent user, you’re familiar with the decisions involved in integrating practice management software to improve operations and have likely reaped the benefits of that decision for years, if not decades. Now there’s an opportunity for even greater improvements in flexibility, security and accessibility by moving to the Cloud. But transitioning to ClearDent’s cloud solution follows a similar path of thoughtful planning as your initial move to dental software did. In this post we’ll guide you through moving your existing ClearDent setup to the cloud, outlining the steps that will ensure a smooth transition.

Dental offices looking to grow revenues and streamline workflows while maintaining high-quality patient care require careful planning and decision-making. For example, expanding to or connecting different locations, adding remote teams, or developing an off-site call center or billing department may be the next step for your practice growth initiatives. A cloud environment is at the heart of making all those things possible. But when choosing a cloud solution, it’s important to consider more than just features, pricing, operations, and equipment compatibility. You have to consider the potential disruption, training requirements, and overall change management.

Each practice’s unique needs will determine the best strategy for a smooth and effective cloud transition but in general, there are two ways you can transition to the cloud in: a Hybrid approach or a Phased Transition approach. What’s the difference? Let’s explore further below.

Oak Dental Partners successfully connected multiple offices to a single call center, making patient bookings fast and seamless without overloading their staff and server—thanks to the cloud. Read more here to see how they did it.

#1: Cloud Hybrid Approach

Imagine your dental practice operating in multiple locations. You currently use physical servers at each site to manage patient records, appointment scheduling, and billing. However, you face challenges in accessing and synchronizing data between your offices, especially when patients visit different locations. You want to improve efficiency by enabling remote access to patient data while continuing to use the existing physical servers.

In this scenario, you have existing servers and require synchronization and remote access. This situation would greatly benefit from a hybrid system which involves seamlessly integrating both server and cloud systems, combining the familiarity of an on-premise system with the connectivity of the cloud.

At ClearDent, we offer a unique solution, ClearDent Link, to leverage the power and robust features of both on-premise and cloud systems. Click here to learn more about ClearDent Link.

Who is this for?

While having both systems that deliver the “best of both worlds” seems like a no-brainer, practices vary in size and operational scope, and it may not always make sense. While some practices would greatly benefit from a hybrid system, others might not. Here are the key criteria determining whether a hybrid system would be beneficial at this time:

Current Infrastructure Investments: Practices that have already invested heavily in on-premise infrastructure (servers, etc.) and are not ready to fully abandon it.

Remote Access Needs: Practices that need the reliability of an on-premise server and the connectivity of the cloud access data and applications from multiple locations or for remote work.

Solution

The core characteristics of a hybrid approach:

Centralized Data Access: Allows remote access to data stored on physical servers at each office. This hybrid solution integrates cloud capabilities with the existing server infrastructure so that anyone with the proper credentials can access information from wherever they are.

Data Synchronization: Access patient files, appointments, treatment notes, and treatment letters across all locations, so patient records are updated in real-time regardless of the office they visit.

Security and Compliance: Uses physical servers for primary data storage while leveraging cloud backup and remote access features to achieve tier 1 data security standards.

The benefits of implementing a Hybrid Approach:

Enhanced Accessibility: Staff can access patient data remotely, enabling better coordination and flexibility. For example, a dentist at one location can view the treatment history of a patient who visited another branch office.

Improved Patient Experience: Patients benefit from seamless care as their records are accessible online, reducing wait times and eliminating the need to contact other offices to repeat their medical history.

Cost-Effective Transition: By using a hybrid approach, practices can gradually transition to the cloud without the immediate need for a complete overhaul of their IT infrastructure. This phased approach minimizes disruption and allows staff to adapt to new processes gradually.

Business Continuity: The combination of physical servers and cloud capabilities ensures data redundancy, safeguarding patient information against potential hardware failures or cyber threats.

#2: Phased Transition Approach to the Cloud

Imagine your dental practice group is planning to fully transition to a cloud-based dental software solution, however, you want to do so gradually to ensure a smooth changeover, allowing your team to adapt comfortably and to minimize disruptions to patient care.

This approach involves a full migration from on-premise software to a web-based cloud solution. Practices that choose a phased approach typically want to leverage the full features and performance of cloud-based software.

ClearDent offers web-based cloud software, ClearDent Cloud, which includes the features of our proven on-premise software, with enhanced performance and additional functionality. Learn more about ClearDent Cloud here.

Who is this for?

While we believe most practices should leverage the benefits of the cloud (we’re biased, of course), there are certain situations where practices would greatly benefit from directly migrating to the cloud:

Outdated Servers: Practices looking to avoid the high costs of upgrading and maintaining their servers and save that money for other expenditures.

Growth-Oriented: Practices expecting moderate to rapid growth needing systems that can scale quickly.

Remote Access: Practices needing access to data and applications from multiple locations or for remote work. This includes creating interconnectivity between team members, clinic locations, and patients, allowing access to patient files, appointment scheduling, treatment notes, and billing operations from anywhere.

Solution

Below are the main steps to implementing a Phased Transition Approach:

Initial Phase: Begin by moving non-critical functions like appointment scheduling and billing to the cloud while keeping patient records on physical servers.

Training and Adaptation: Provide comprehensive training to staff on using the cloud-based features, ensuring they are comfortable with the new system.

Full Transition: Gradually migrate patient records and other critical data to the cloud, ensuring all staff members are proficient with the software before the final cutover.

Benefits of implementing a Phased Transition Approach:

Reduced Disruption: A phased transition minimizes operational disruption, allowing the practice(s) to continue functioning smoothly while staff adapt to the new system.

Tailored Training: Staff receive training specific to each phase, reducing the learning curve and increasing overall confidence and proficiency with the new software.

Scalability: As your practice grows, a fully cloud-based solution provides the scalability needed to add new locations without the need for additional physical servers.

Cost Management: Spreading the transition over multiple phases allows the office to manage costs more effectively, avoiding a significant upfront investment in server infrastructure, including installation, maintenance, support, upgrades, and emergency services.

Minimal in-house IT Burden: With a web-based cloud system, the reliance on server maintenance is significantly reduced as the cloud provider takes care of most technical aspects of the cloud, ensuring your data is triple-backed up and secure.

Meet MAP (Management Advisory Practitioners)

MAP (Management Advisory Practitioners) faced significant challenges managing rapid growth, feeling bottlenecked by the need for staff to travel between locations to access reports and manage scheduling. Their attempts to use third-party VPN and tunnelling software were unreliable and raised security concerns. Despite their eagerness to grow, the steep learning curve of transitioning to new technology initially intimidated them.

ClearDent’s trainers provided invaluable support, offering structured and personalized training that eased the transition. Once ClearDent Cloud was implemented, MAP immediately saw the benefits. They eliminated the need for third-party remote applications, enabling staff to access everything they needed from any location. This increased efficiency and freed administrative employees from constantly travelling from practice to practice.

Senior Clinical Team Lead Sarah Wakefield noted how ClearDent Cloud streamlined operations and cut down on redundancies, preparing MAP for continued growth. With real-time information at their fingertips, management could confidently make decisions quickly, empowering their teams and ensuring sustainable growth. Click here to learn how MAP got everything at their fingertips by partnering with Cleardent.

Conclusion

In short, we understand that switching software and moving to the cloud requires significant time, resources, and considerations. Factors like data management, staff training, IT costs, and long-term growth plans can and should influence your decision, even if you want a solution with shiny new features. It’s important to note that there are different ways to approach the transition and you should consider your options carefully based on your unique situation.

As we’ve emphasized, every practice has different systems and requirements. While we’ve provided a general comparison between the two cloud transition approaches, there may be additional benefits for each approach depending on your specific situation. We highly recommend leveraging external resources and reaching out to client account representatives to determine the best approach for your practice. They’ll help you assess your situation and offer the best solution for your needs. Gathering as much information as possible will help you make the right decision for your practice, increasing your chances of long-term success.

When selecting dental software, practices typically emphasize features that enhance patient care like patient management, clinical tools, and workflow optimization. However, one often overlooked core piece of functionality is ledger management, the backbone of strong practice and financial operations. While basic financial ledger functionality is table stakes when it comes to dental software, not all ledgers are created equal. While a good dental ledger presents accurate, timely, and detailed data, a great dental ledger reduces manual work and errors, enhances productivity, improves staff efficiency, boosts profitability, and elevates patient care by allowing the dental team to focus more on patients and less on administrative tasks. It’s critical that the system you adopt aligns with your long-term goals and can both simplify and streamline your financial operations today, and into the future.

Has this happened to you?

As a dentist running a busy practice, you spend countless hours perfecting patient care, ensuring every visit is a pleasant experience. However, at the end of each month, you may notice that the financial reports don’t reflect the hard work. Collections are low, and accounts receivables are piling up. This discrepancy isn’t due to poor patient care, but rather an inefficient financial management system. That’s where the ledger comes in.

The hard-hitting truth is that dental schools don’t emphasize the importance of the dental billing process and how important it is for the overall financial health and success of the practice. Some data suggests that as much as 11% of all claims are initially denied due to errors that could have been prevented with proper documentation and coding practices. Because many dental professionals are completely new to billing, claims management and other financial processes, they often overlook the need for technology that optimizes these functions – leaving money on the table every day. That’s why it’s so important for dental professionals to understand how their practice’s success is tied to efficient operations and financial management which are enabled by a good ledger system.

What is Ledger Management?

Ledger management in dental software is a comprehensive financial management tool designed to streamline and organize financial transactions within the practice. Main features include patient account management, billing and invoicing, insurance management, adjustments and write-offs, and financial reporting. With systems like ClearDent, you also get EOB auto-adjustment, flexible payment plans, and can easily manage a whole family’s financial claims in one place. (You can learn more here.) Think of it as a built-in, smart assistant for your administrative team that ensures all the financial details are handled efficiently and accurately, reducing manual data entry and automating important billing adjustments and insurance claims. It’s a win–win with more billing accuracy in a lot less time.

Here’s a breakdown of the main ledger features in simple terms:

Patient Account Management: Keeps track of what each patient owes and what they’ve paid.

Billing and Invoicing: Automatically generates bills and sends them to patients, enabling payment without a bunch of manual paperwork.

Insurance Management: Handles insurance claims seamlessly to ensure you get reimbursed correctly and on time.

Adjustments and Write-offs: Manage any changes or corrections in billing, like when an insurance company pays only part of a claim.

Financial Reporting: Generates reports that show how your practice is doing financially, helping you make more informed business decisions.

In short, the ledger is an essential tool to ensure all the financial management needs of your practice are taken care of. It streamlines billing processes and ensures regulatory compliance, ultimately contributing to strong cash flow and profitable practice operations.

Why is the ledger important and why does it matter?

While most dental software includes basic financial management tools, if your goal is to streamline practice operations—whether to reduce staff workload or attract new patients—it’s important to evaluate these solutions with your unique practice needs in mind.

Without an effective ledger management system, your practice will likely face several challenges. For starters, your administrative team may spend countless hours manually tracking payments and claims (time that could be spent on higher value work), leading to errors and inefficiencies. Uncollected balances will increase, and your cash flow will suffer, impacting your ability to invest in growth initiatives.

Imagine the frustration of working within a system that doesn’t clearly show which patients owe money or whether or not an insurance claim has been processed. Your staff would have to chase down payments that causes delays and ultimately leads to patient dissatisfaction. These inefficiencies almost always have a compounding effect, ending in financial instability.

Has this happened to you?

As a dentist running a bustling practice with a full schedule of patients every day, you invest in different marketing activities to drive a steady flow of new appointments. But despite the high patient volume, your revenue goals aren’t materializing. Accounts receivables (A/R) continue to rise, and write-offs are becoming increasingly frequent. Initially you may think the issue lies in not enough patients, but in fact, the root cause is an inefficient financial management system. Without the right tools, your practice will continue to struggle to track outstanding balances, leading to missed payments.

Understanding the importance of a well-designed ledger is the first step in recognizing which tool is critical for your success. In the next chapter, we’ll explore how different systems can vary in effectiveness and what to look for when evaluating your current software.

Ledger Navigation and Functionality

There’s a saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” This rings especially true in the context of software system usability. There are many components to dental ledgers including billing, insurance allocation, adjustments, accounts receivable, and integration with patient engagement software for collections follow-up. It can get messy. While having more features can be a good thing, having a system where you can easily navigate between different sections of the ledger, like patient accounts, EOB responses, and family views, is equally important. The name of the game is a comprehensive yet concise, easy to use ledger for both staff and patients alike.

Has this happened to you?

Imagine you’re an admin staff member handling patient billing. One of your patients has an outstanding balance, but when their family member comes in for an appointment, this balance is not displayed due to current software limitations. As a result, you miss the opportunity to collect the balance owed during the checkout process.

Things like family view are non-standard features that can benefit the practice in many ways. It’s important to understand what your next ledger offers down to the last detail, so that you can maximize both productivity and profitability. Now, let’s talk about common pitfalls and things you should avoid.

Negative impact of weak ledger functionality:

Staff Frustration and Inefficiency: You don’t want your administrative staff struggling to find and update patient financial information. Time is money and clicking through multiple screens leads to frustration and inefficiencies.

Errors and Inefficiencies: Systems that require any manual adjustments are prone to human error that leads to billing mistakes, resulting in time-consuming corrections and unhappy patients.

Missed Collections: Without clear visibility, collecting outstanding balances becomes a daunting task negatively impacting your cash flow. Unpaid balances can easily slip through the cracks, leading to missed revenue and higher overdue accounts receivable.

Key features and benefits to look out for:

User-Friendly Interface: A visually intuitive ledger can help staff quickly and easily manage patient accounts. Navigation is straightforward, reducing training time and errors.

Comprehensive Views: The ability to easily switch between individual and family accounts ensures all financial claims are managed effectively. This feature ensures that all outstanding balances are visible, allowing the front desk to address and collect payments promptly, thereby improving cash flow and reducing overdue accounts receivable.

Seamless Automated Updates: The system automatically updates all necessary information across patient accounts and EOB responses in the background. This minimizes human error from manual updates and ensures accurate, up-to-date records.

Insurance Management

Making sure that a practice has steady cashflow is critical to keeping the lights on, but to achieve that, practices have to make sure that collection and claims are set up correctly, especially when it comes to insurance management. Insurance management is a top priority and a reliable system that can seamlessly handle claims and collections goes a long way to avoiding mounting accounts receivables.

At ClearDent, we built EOB Auto Adjust to help you stay on top of what you’re owed.

EOB (Explanation of Benefits) Auto-Adjustment automatically updates patient accounts based on the insurance company’s explanation of benefits. Once the EOB is received in the system for a patient procedure, it automatically adjusts what falls under the patient’s responsibility versus the insurance’s responsibility and applies it seamlessly in the patient ledger, eliminating the need for manual adjustments and write-offs.

Negative impact of weak ledger functionality:

Wasted Time: Staff spend hours manually processing insurance claims, often leading to delays and errors. Some office managers spend entire days sorting through stacks of EOBs, struggling to reconcile them with patient accounts.

Inaccurate Adjustments: Manual EOB adjustments require users to interpret insurance coverage and calculate patient costs. For instance, determining 80% coverage for a $100 cleaning means estimating the patient’s cost at $20. Errors in these calculations can lead to incorrect balances, write-offs, and the need to chase patients for additional payments, causing confusion and financial discrepancies.

Patient Frustration: Errors in insurance claims can result in denied claims, causing frustration for patients and potentially damaging the practice’s reputation.

Key features and benefits to look out for:

EOBs that adjust automatically: Having systems that automatically adjust accounts based on insurance payments drastically reduces manual work and errors. With tools like ClearDent’s Auto-adjust EOBs, office managers can focus on more critical tasks instead of manually updating EOBs.

Efficient Claims Management: Claims that are auto-adjusted are processed more accurately, ensuring timely reimbursements and fewer patient complaints. When an insurance claim is processed, the system updates the account immediately, eliminating any guesswork for your team and patients.

Payment Plans (Contract Billing)

A challenging economy significantly impacts treatment adoption and appointment frequency, particularly when it comes to high-cost, optional treatments. Dental practices often face the dilemma of providing essential care while managing the financial constraints of their patients, as well as selling higher value services that aren’t must-have treatments. Payment plans emerge as a valuable solution, offering patients the opportunity to receive treatments without the financial burden of paying for everything up front or at the time-of-service delivery. However, these types of plans can require considerable time and resources for administrative staff to manage, often leading to inefficiencies and errors.

Has this happened to you?

Imagine that you are an admin who handles billing for a busy dental practice offering various treatments. If the practice has over 50 patients enrolled in the payment plan system, each with different fees and payment dates, the admin team will be overwhelmed with paperwork, tracking who needs to pay what amount and when. They have to post transactions, send claim forms, process payments, and send receipts to each patient, all while managing new payment plans coming online every day.

Doing things manually can quickly become chaotic. The solution is a good payment plan system that integrates with the ledger to significantly streamline operations in your practice.

Negative impact of weak ledger functionality:

Wasted Staff Time: Staff spend countless hours creating individual payment plans, generating invoices, posting payments, sending claims, and updating ledgers manually. This process is not only time-consuming but can also lead to errors, delayed payments, and frustrated patients.

Treatment Avoidance: Without flexible payment options in your ledger, some patients might struggle to afford their treatments, leading to lower patient conversion and retention rates. Worse, because the management burden is so challenging for staff, they are less likely to encourage patients to adopt treatments requiring payment plans.

Key features and benefits to look out for:

Automated Payment Plans: A built-in automated payment module in your ledger system allows administrative staff to set up flexible payment plans quickly and efficiently, ensuring patients can afford their treatments without financial strain. The Contract Billing feature in ClearDent can create invoices, post payments, send claims, and update ledgers for up to 50 patients at a time. Learn more here.

Higher Treatment Acceptance & Steady Cashflow: By offering flexible payment options, your practice can attract and retain more patients. Imagine a scenario where a family has three children that all need braces. With ClearDent’s Contract Billing, your staff can easily set up a monthly payment plan for the braces, making it affordable for families to manage the expenses. This not only keeps patients satisfied but also ensures steady cash flow and low accounts receivable for your practice.

Business Analytics

A dental practice is a business after all, and running a successful business requires strategic decision making at every turn. To make informed decisions, dentists need access to information about their practice’s performance. Business analytics is an indispensable tool that provides insights into what’s going on in your practice, analyzing daily performance, trends, and more.

Accounts Receivable (A/R) Aging Report: View statistics for outstanding payments, grouped by the length of time they have been outstanding. This helps identify overdue payments and manage cash flow effectively.

Overall Production Trend: Assess your practice’s production over time to understand which procedures are generating revenue. This includes tracking how insurance companies or patients are paying out claims, highlighting any delays or reductions in insurance reimbursements.

Billed vs. Planned Production: Compare the dollar amount of billed productions versus planned productions. This metric can reveal inefficiencies in billing processes, missed billing opportunities, or issues with treatment acceptance. It provides insights into expected revenue versus actual revenue, enabling better financial planning and resource allocation.

Production by Treatment Type: Analyze the amount of production generated by each treatment type. Understanding this can help you develop targeted strategies to increase acceptance of higher-margin procedures through patient education, improved communication, and tailored treatment plans.

With ClearDent Cloud, you can customize charts like these and more to meet the needs of your practice, and access them as often as you’d like with a single click. Access to business analytics tools helps you make better business decisions and keep your practice on a growth and profitable path.

Conclusion

Selecting the right dental software is a big job. From scheduling to procedure to billing, the system is the heartbeat of the practice. It’s easy to get “wowed” by all the other features in dental software, but an often overlooked, yet business-critical feature is the ledger system. Effective ledger management drives smooth operations and the overall financial health of your practice. By ensuring that your ledger system is user-friendly, comprehensive, and capable of handling complex financial transactions, you can reduce staff workload and keep your patients happy and loyal. Its important to do your research! If you are diligent in your evaluation, considering both system features and how everything fits into your operational goals will bring you long-term success to your practice.

Authored by marketing strategist, Robin Jones, this final part of our digital marketing for dentistry series dives into online listings.

The patient journey begins long before they set foot into your clinic. It often starts with a simple search, a hunt for the right practitioner to trust with their smile and overall oral health. As dental professionals, it’s more important than ever to recognize that this journey is a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour. And for that reason, it’s critical for practices to embrace the significance of online listings as an integral part of their overall marketing strategy.

The Search Journey

Every interaction a potential patient has with your clinic, whether through advertising or word-of-mouth, inevitably leads to a “Google” search. Your clinic needs to not only appear in those searches but present itself in the best possible light. Online listings can ensure that your practice is discoverable and appears reputable across multiple platforms.

Understanding Online Listings

Online listings are more than just digital directories; they are virtual storefronts that showcase your practice to the world. It’s not enough to have listings scattered across the internet; they must be claimed, consistent, and regularly updated. Platforms like Google Business Profile and the new Apple Business Connect aren’t just optional; they are important lifelines for your practice in today’s digital world.

Harnessing the Power of Data Aggregators

Data aggregators are companies that collect, organize, and distribute vast amounts of business information from various sources across the internet. These sources may include public records, business directories, social media platforms, and other online databases. Data aggregators compile this information into structured databases, which are then licensed or sold to other companies, including search engines, online directories, navigation systems, and marketing platforms.

For dental practices and other businesses, being listed on data aggregators is important for improving online visibility and local search rankings. When practice information is consistent and accurately represented across aggregators, it enhances its credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of search engines and potential patients. Approximately 6-7% of the reasons why businesses rank locally can be attributed to this factor alone. Therefore, making your clinic’s information accurately represented across various digital services should be a priority.

Answering Queries and Controlling Information

To improve overall visibility, you should always answer questions on directories and listings. This proactive approach increases the likelihood of your clinic being found by potential patients. Taking control of the facts about your practice across multiple digital platforms—from search engines to social networks—is paramount.

Embracing Enriched Listings

Enriched listings go beyond basic business information and provide more dynamic and engaging experiences for potential customers or patients. They involve enhancing your online presence with additional content like photos, videos, descriptions, reviews, and other interactive features. Enriched listings differentiate your practice from competitors, showcase your brand personality, and provide valuable information to potential customers. Every interaction with your practice online is an opportunity to showcase your expertise and foster trust.

The Rise of Voice Search

Have you ever said, “Hey Siri, find me the nearest XXXX?” Voice search is not just a trend; it’s the future of search and it’s here to stay. With the growth of voice-enabled devices, making sure your clinic is optimized for voice search is non-negotiable. Being found through voice search requires you to optimize keywords and embrace conversational language in your online content.

Words of Wisdom From a 30-Year Marketing Veteran

OK. I’ll admit it. Online listings aren’t the sexiest or most exciting activities in the marketers’ bag of tricks. But let me be clear – they are table stakes. If you don’t make them a priority for your practice, you are probably one or more steps behind the competing practice down the block. Oh, and listings are probably one of the lowest cost things marketers can do these days.

Online listings offer visibility, credibility, and cost-effectiveness. While other marketing activities are important, online listings are the cornerstone of a robust digital presence, providing a cost-effective and impactful way to reach and engage with patients.

In Conclusion

The significance of online listings for dental practices cannot be overstated. They serve as the digital gateway to your clinic, shaping the first impressions of potential patients. By harnessing the power of online listings, clinics can enhance their visibility, credibility, and ultimately, their ability to attract and retain patients in an increasingly digital world.

For more on digital marketing in dentistry, make sure you read our comprehensive eBook The Dental Practice Owners Guide to Digital Marketing.

An actionable guide for dental practice owners and operators

Download eBook

Wonder what it will take to get new patients, keep existing patients coming back, and make more money in the process? You’re not alone. This guide spells it out in 7 easy to read sections.

1. Be a one-stop shop by expanding your services

Include a wide range of dental procedures, specialized treatments, and flexible payment options to cater to diverse patient needs.

2. Offer amazing patient experiences from start to finish

Enhance every part of the patient’s journey with modern facilities, smooth processes, and personalized care plans.

3. Make marketing a “superpower” at your practice

Develop a dynamic online presence by building a killer website, managing online reviews, and engaging with the community on social media.

4. Build financial management excellence into your DNA

Improve financial health by optimizing billing processes, diversifying payment options, and reviewing operational costs and supplier contracts.

5. Empower your team to be your secret sauce

Use staff development and standardized systems to elevate your team’s capabilities and improve patient care.

6. Leverage technology to put you on the leading edge

Embrace cutting-edge technology to enhance service delivery and make everything run smoothly, every single day.

7. Pursue partnerships that will really pay off

Build referral networks and collaborate with local businesses to reach more of your community.

Download eBook

Fairview Dental Embraces the Cloud With ClearDent Link and Stays Focused on Patient Education

In 2021, Dr. Dylan Olver, a passionate dentist dedicated to patient education and innovative dental practice, became the owner of the Fairview Dental Centre in Vancouver, BC, which was an early adopter of ClearDent. Dr. Olver’s journey with the clinic began in 2017 after completing his Doctor of Dental Medicine at UBC. From its inception, the practice fostered the philosophy that a picture is worth a thousand words, especially in patient care – making patient education a top priority.

Today, that philosophy is supported not just inside the operatory, but beyond the clinic walls using the latest in Cloud technology. With the introduction of ClearDent Link, Fairview Dental has expanded how it works, giving doctors and staff secure, reliable access to the practice at anytime, from anywhere. For Dr. Olver, this addition hasn’t meant reinventing workflows — instead, it’s delivered something just as valuable: convenience and flexibility.

From Early Adoption to Remote Accessibility

His first impressions from his early days at Fairview Dental highlighted ClearDent’s user-friendliness, especially in charting, imaging, and accessing patient history. According to Olver, “Compared to other software like PowerPractice, ClearDent stood out for its ease of use, comprehensive features, and streamlined scheduler. Its odontogram and imaging integration capabilities were particularly appealing, enhancing the practice’s educational philosophy.”

Upon taking over the practice, Dr. Olver was already familiar with ClearDent having used it for five years, making the transition to ownership that much smoother. He was also aware of ClearDent’s upcoming product roadmap, and looked forward to ClearDent’s Cloud solutions, ClearConnect, and Online Booking.

Recently, ClearDent Link has become the latest step along Fairview Dental’s journey. Previously, they relied on remote desktop tools like TeamViewer, which were clunky, limited to a single terminal, and prone to downtime. With Link, the team can log in from any device, at any time, without those frustrations.

Comparative Advantages and Valuable Retention

Before, Dr. Olver considered other practice management software. However, the intuitive nature of ClearDent, coupled with its robust features, solidified his decision to retain it during the practice transition. As an owner, the comprehensive reporting tools within ClearDent have proven invaluable, offering insights into production averages per procedure and staff performance – things he hadn’t been as focused on when he was an associate. And knowing that ClearDent had a clear product roadmap that would power the practice today and into the future, it was a no-brainer.

Daily Impact: Straightforward, Reliable, Convenient

ClearDent is used daily at Dr. Olver’s practice for patient education, imaging workflows, and easy access to patient histories. The practice has successfully integrated ClearDent into their unique workflow, emphasizing the importance of dental photography for comprehensive records. Their unique approach to patient education using ClearDent’s software has allowed the practice to attract 3-4 new patients weekly without advertising — showing the power of client reviews, referrals, and word-of-mouth.

ClearDent Link builds on that foundation with its biggest impact being everyday convenience:

Doctors can finish clinical notes or send referrals from home.

Emergency calls are easier to manage with access to charts and historical imaging from anywhere.

Staff can complete documentation outside office hours, improving work-life balance.

Remote reception is now on the horizon, thanks to Link’s compatibility with VOIP phone systems.

Equally important, Link didn’t require a steep learning curve. Implementation was smooth, setup was straightforward, and the user experience mirrored what the team already knew from ClearDent On-Prem. For Dr. Olver, it wasn’t about changing how his practice operates but extending flexibility to his team without disruption.

Long-Term Vision and Impact on Patient Relationships

Looking to the future, Dr. Olver envisions moving the practice to the ClearDent Cloud platform to leverage analytics and data-driven insights, plus all the other benefits of a full Cloud solution. The anticipated features, such as cloud-based services, client engagement and online booking, promise to further streamline workflows, reduce administrative burdens, and grow the practice.

ClearDent has significantly impacted patient relationships, efficiency, and service quality at the practice. The software’s forms and automation relieve the front desk of significant workloads, allowing the team to focus more on patient care. Dr. Olver’s treatment philosophy relies heavily on ClearDent’s workflow, especially in educating patients through detailed imagery and records.

Personal Insight and Advice

A standout moment for Dr. Olver was realizing how ClearDent enabled his hygienist team to meticulously update and record dental changes, supporting the practice’s educational approach. His advice to other practices is pragmatic: “Think about how much remote access your team really needs. ClearDent Link won’t change how you treat patients in the chair, but it will give you peace of mind and flexibility. For us, it’s not about efficiency gains — it’s about reliability and the freedom to work when and where you need to.”

Conclusion

Dr. Olver’s dental practice exemplifies how embracing innovative technology like ClearDent can transform patient care, improve operational efficiency, and support long-term growth. ClearDent’s comprehensive features and user-friendly interface have made it an indispensable tool for Dr. Olver, allowing him to stay true to his philosophy of education through imaging and ensuring his practice remains at the forefront of dental care innovation.

With ClearDent Link now part of the story, Fairview Dental has extended its capabilities beyond the four walls of the practice. The result isn’t flashy — it’s straightforward, effective, and dependable. For Dr. Olver, that’s the biggest benefit: convenience that makes dentistry easier to manage, anytime, anywhere.

How ClearDent’s Online Booking Nearly Eliminates No-Shows for Ellerslie Dental

About

Meet the Manager

See How Online Booking Nearly Eliminates No-Shows for Ellerslie Dental

The Problem

The Solution

The Results

“I honestly would have appreciated this system ten years ago when I just started in the dental industry”

How ClearDent’s Integrated Online Booking Transformed Promontory Heights Dental’s Efficiency and Patient Experience

About

Meet the Team

See How Online Booking Increased Efficiency and New Patient Growth for Promontory Heights Dental

The Problem

The Solution

The Results

Conclusion

"If you have a software solution, utilize every feature in it because it will improve processes and efficiency in the practice."

ClearVault Saves the Day for LifePath Wellness International

About

The Problem

The Solution

Why ClearVault Was Critical

Why Backing up Your Data Matters

Take the first step toward complete data security today.

Why Digital Marketing Matters for Dentists

Key Benefits of Digital Marketing for Your Dental Practice

Essential Digital Marketing Tactics for Dental Practices

Conclusion: The Future is Digital

What’s a “cloud-washed solution” and why should I care?

The different functions of a dental practice

Schedule Management

Patient Management

Billing (Billing Wizard)

Treatment Planning

Lab Case Management

Clinical Management

Financial & Insurance Claims Management

Patient Care and Business Operations Management

Conclusion

#1: Cloud Hybrid Approach

Who is this for?

Solution

#2: Phased Transition Approach to the Cloud

Who is this for?

Solution

Meet MAP (Management Advisory Practitioners)

Conclusion

What is Ledger Management?

Why is the ledger important and why does it matter?

Ledger Navigation and Functionality

Insurance Management

Payment Plans (Contract Billing)

Business Analytics

Conclusion

The Search Journey

Understanding Online Listings

Harnessing the Power of Data Aggregators

Answering Queries and Controlling Information

Embracing Enriched Listings

The Rise of Voice Search

Words of Wisdom From a 30-Year Marketing Veteran

In Conclusion

An actionable guide for dental practice owners and operators

Fairview Dental Embraces the Cloud With ClearDent Link and Stays Focused on Patient Education

"For us, it’s not about efficiency gains — it’s about reliability and the freedom to work when and where you need to.”