4 Ways and 6 Great Reasons to Document Your Dentistry – IC046

As part of Documentation Month, Jaz dives into the crucial realm of documenting dentistry. In this episode, he shares four methods he utilizes to document his daily dental practice, followed by six compelling reasons – in reverse order – why documenting your dentistry is indispensable. So, get ready as we count down from six to one! But first, let's recap: In our previous episode, we explored the marvels of employing AI to automate note-taking, saving precious time and boosting efficiency. If you missed it, make sure to catch NEVER WRITE NOTES AGAIN! HOW I USE AI FOR AWESOME AND EFFICIENT DENTAL RECORDS – PDP181. https://youtu.be/e6pNhWhyhNU Watch IC046 on Youtube Need to Read it? Check out the Full Episode Transcript below! Highlights of this episode:00:53 Utilizing Intra-Oral Camera2:30 Investing in good DSLR Camera3:16 Documenting with Intra-Oral Scans3:51 Camera Mounted on Loupes4:56 Portfolio Building7:34 Monitor Changes9:00 Patient Communication11:35 Good Mentorship13:24 Medico-Legal14:29 Fulfillment in Dentistry Access the CPD quiz through our app on https://www.protrusive.app, either on your browser or by downloading our mobile app. For the full educational experience, our Ultimate Education Plan gives you access to all our courses, webinars, and exclusive monthly content. Join us on Protrusive Guidance, our own platform for dental professionals. No need for Facebook anymore! 😉 If you loved this episode be sure to watch 6 Signs You are a Comprehensive Dentist – IC010 Click below for full episode transcript: Jaz's Introduction: In this episode, I'm going to share with you the four ways that I document my daily dentistry. And I'll give you six great reasons in reverse order. So like my top six, if you like. So six, five, four, the countdown all the way to the number one reason. So if you listen to the end of the episode, I'll tell you the number one reason to document your dentistry. Jaz’s Introduction:Hello, Protruserati. I'm Jaz Gulati and welcome back to your favorite dental podcast. This is kind of like the non clinical arm of the podcast, but actually you could argue that it is clinical. I've just got so many mishmash of episodes, and because it's still just about documentation month, like if it's March, and hopefully we managed, our team managed to publish it in March, then it was documentation month. In the previous episode, I talked about how I use AI to to auto generate my notes so I don't have to type my notes anymore, which is the most blissful thing ever. So if you haven't listened to that, please do check it out. But just to wrap up Documentation Month, I just want to go a bit deeper into what are the ways I'm documenting my dentistry and give you six great reasons to do so. So the first great way to document the dentistry is with an app. intraoral camera. Now, I know so many of you have suggested I make some content specifically for this and it's coming soon. We're just going, literally, by the time you'll be hearing this, I'll probably be coming back for my vacation. I'm going to Tenerife. Family holiday much needed. Oh, it's been so nice to have this holiday to look forward to. So when I come back, top of my list is to make a video showing you exactly which intraoral camera I'm using. And by the way, it's like super cheap. It's like amazingly cheap and it's been brilliant. I'll tell you how to look after it. So it's essentially nurse proof. And the ROI on that is just phenomenal. So I'll make bespoke content just about the intraoral camera. And this is just magic. Every dentist I truly believe needs to have an intraoral camera to take a quick snap of a tooth to explain something to a patient or an ulcer or a swelling or a sinus tract or a crack big time. Like I will air abrade a crack and I'll take a photo of it. And so just so handy and easy to do it. Like if you have to reach for a DSLR, then you have to get your mirror out and zoom in and take this shot, which I'm totally comfortable doing. Don't get me wrong, but sometimes for convenience, the intraoral camera is a great way to document your dentistry. In fact, every patient, every time. Any restoration I'm doing, I'll always take a pre op photo. I'll also take a photo with the articulating paper marks. I will then also take a photo once I've just entered the caries. Why do I do that? Because medically, legally, like, I want there to be proof that, hey, there was caries, there was a reason to treat this. And I like to show it to my patient afterwards as part of their story. Their own story of their tooth. I always say, let me share with you the story of today's treatment. And I just cycle through all the intraoral camera photos that I've taken and of course the post op photo and the patient's like, wow, that's amazing. And it's great to add value to your treatment. The second way I document dentistry is of course with a DSLR camera. This was like my first purchase, my first paycheck. I literally blew 60 to 70 percent of my first paycheck on a used body lens and I used a ring flash. Now that one lasted for eight years and I gave it to my wife and she's also a dentist and she used it for her dental photography and I managed to get the upgraded camera. Is there a massive difference in the quality of photos between my old camera and my new camera? Not really. Thing is, to get started, you don't need the fanciest of gears. And very soon, in the next part of this episode, I'll go over the six reasons why we should document. But just because you have an intro camera, which I think is foundational, doesn't mean you shouldn't have a DSLR camera. A DSLR camera is crucially important in lab communication, portfolio building, a higher level of documentation, also for marketing of the wonderful dentistry that you do. The third way I'm documenting cases, and I have to really think about whether this is included in like, do I document my cases? I mean, I don't necessarily do crowns, veneers, and some composites, and then think, oh, let me take a scan to document this, but it kind of serves that purpose as well. Like you have a record, post op record, like for example, after orthodontics and you've got your fix retainers on, you'll take a scan. You've now got your record. You are documenting it in a way and you get a before and after scan and the ability to actually check for changes is one of the top reasons I'll be coming to shortly. So I have included intraoral scans. I know so many of us are scanning nowadays, really moving on from impressions. And the last way is using a camera mounted on my loops. Now I already have a video all about how I do this. The brand of camera that I use is OXO and there's a coupon code that you can use to get that as well. But it's not for everyone, to actually record video, I have to be in a really good mood and I have had to not yell at my children. To record, people don't appreciate that actually record clinical footage, you don't just walk in and switch the camera on and start recording. You have to do so much set up and get the framing right and pick the right patient and have that conversation with the patient telling what you're doing and then constantly check that the quality is good. And it's just a lot of effort. And if you're already running late, or you haven't got a clear mind that day. Or your nurse is just not in the mood today. She's fighting her own battles and she's a bit stressed out. Then it's very difficult to actually record clinical video. Not to mention that once you've recorded your video, what do you do with all those massive files? So, it's a beast of a thing to do. Like, it's amazing. And I'll talk about it in the six reasons why we should be documenting, but the video one is the least applicable for our daily dentistry. So now that we know the four main ways I document my cases, let's talk about the six top reasons to document your dentistry. Number six is portfolio building. Now, let me tell you a quick story. I was part of something called Toastmasters. And this is like a group of people that come together and they practice improving their speaking skills. Think over public speaking, think of thinking on your feet. And I'd always been inspired by people who'd done Toastmasters. So I joined my local club and I went every week and then we had a competition, like there's an annual cup that they have. And I gave a five minute speech on how we named my first born son, added some humor in it. I watched some Ted talks and how to make my talks more engaging. And I thought it went really well. And actually I won the cup. And you know what happened afterwards? So we just finished, they awarded me the cup. This guy who was in the audience, he comes up to me saying, wow, I was blown away. I really want to be your patient. Let me say that again. He was like, wow, this is brilliant. I really want you to do your dentistry in my mouth. And I'm thinking, hang on a minute. You just know that I'm a dentist. I've just given a speech completely unrelated to dentistry about my son and how we named him in my culture. And I just made it humorous. You know nothing about my dentistry or me as a dentist, but you are excited at the prospect of me becoming your dentist. Now, I always knew that communication mattered, but that experience I had really hit home for me. And so the lesson here, guys, is that our communication skills and our interpersonal skills, whether you love this or hate this, outweigh and are far more important than our clinical skills, i. e. how you make the patients feel and how you greet them and how you talk to them and how you explain things to them, and your charisma and your emotional intelligence, is more important than the degree of taper on your crown preps. Now, how is that related to point number six about portfolio building? Well,