Congratulations on getting into a Dental Assistant program; you’re on your way to becoming a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA). You’ve worked hard to get where you are; skills have been taught and knowledge learned. You’re almost there, but first you must take and pass the dental assistant certification exam.

Taking the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) exam may sound intimidating and put you on edge thinking about it, but don’t let it. You’ll do just fine. However, it will require your time and effort to pass with flying colors.

Reviewing your notes the day before the exam is not enough when preparing for the National Boards. Cramming just hours before taking the exam won’t cut it either. Preparing for the exam should start at least three months before the exam date.

Know What to Expect

Before you can start preparing for the test, you must learn as much as you can about the exam.  First and foremost, know and write down the date of the exam, where it will take place and at what time. You may think this is a given, but it’s all part of being prepared, since you don’t want to be scrambling to find this out at the last minute and find you’ve run out of time to prepare.

Once you’ve got the date, the time and the location of the test, you can begin to focus on preparing for it. CDA exams vary from state to state. Know what is expected on the test for the state where you’ll be taking the exam. For example, know what skills will be tested, how many sections there are and the allotted time for each section. This helps you focus and learn to pace yourself when doing practice tests.

Actively Study

This means making a commitment to doing what you need to do: make time. Time management is extremely important. Set aside a time for studying and practicing each day. This, at minimum, will be about 20 minutes a day; that’s all you’ll need.

Cramming for a big exam such as this will not work. In fact, cramming for any test seldom works. Cramming the night before or even hours before test time increases anxiety levels. It makes it difficult to remain calm and relaxed. You may even find it difficult to stay focused and to obtain what you need to know. Most people suffer a little test anxiety as it is; no need to add extra stress and anxiety to an already stressful time due to procrastination.

Allowing ample time to prepare and study the material is beneficial to understanding it and retaining it in long-term memory. You’ll gain self-assurance and confidence by making time to study along the way.

How To Study

There are a number of ways to study. You, at this stage of your academic career, probably know them, but as a refresher, here is a list of different methods of learning:

• Outlines – help you organize your thoughts.
• Flashcards – a method to test yourself. Great for learning new terms and definitions.
• Flowcharts – a great visual aid. They easily show you how one thing leads to another.
• Diagrams – tools showing how concepts are related.
• Listing – another great tool for learning new terms.

You may already use one or more of these methods, but remember they only really work when you’ve allowed enough time to use them.

As Test Time Approaches

Knowing the material is vital to passing the exam. That is a given. But you must also believe in yourself and maintain a positive attitude. You must visualize what you’ve been striving for all these months.

We all have that inner voice that gives us self-doubt – don’t listen to it. Don’t allow that inner voice to give you negative thoughts. When you do have negative thoughts, tell yourself, “I CAN DO THIS!” Tell yourself that as often as it takes to believe it.

Also, do not pay attention to those that tell you how difficult the boards are. You don’t need or want to hear that. Believe you will do well no matter how difficult it may be.

Believe in yourself. Visualize. Self-confidence and a good attitude will get you where you want to be – and soon you’ll have the proof in your hand with that document that proclaims you a Certified Dental Assistant.

Young Lee is a college graduate with a degree in finance, and is currently studying to be a dental assistant. She loves to ski and spend time with family and friends.

The IBBC, which stands for the Interdental Brush Buyer’s Club, was developed by a colleague periodontist, Dr. Paul Crane. Through partnerships with leading interdental brush manufacturers including G•U•M^®/Proxabrush^®, Piksters™, TePe^® and Staino^®, a novel marketing approach has been created which offers a winning outcome for patients, dentists, the IBBC mission and interdental brush manufacturers.

The Dental Geek: Hi Dr. Crane. First of all, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. We’re eager to learn about the IBBC and how it benefits us “dental geeks” who are passionate about the industry and providing the best possible oral care for patients.

To get started, would you mind giving us a brief summary of what the IBBC is all about?

Dr. Paul Crane:

Sure, I’d love to. The Interdental Brush Buyer’s Club is a “one of a kind” dentist and patient-friendly information website and web store developed to solve interdental brush compliance problems.

Our mission is to improve periodontal, dental and general health through incentives, education and promotion of interdental brushes. The IBBC recognizes and addresses the many reasons why interdental brushes have been so underutilized.

The Dental Geek:  As a periodontist, why did you see the need for a system like this?

Dr. Paul Crane:

My passion to promote interdental brushing starts with a firm belief that when embrasure space allows and when used correctly, interdental brushes are considered by a majority of dental professionals to be an easier and preferred means to clean in-between teeth and consequently maintain dental, periodontal and overall health. On the website, you’ll find a bibliography and abstracts of many clinical studies that support this position.

For years I've been thinking about a better way to help myself, my fellow dentists and all of our patients to overcome obstacles inherent to the way interdental brushes have been brought to market.

1. The first obstacle is the overhead costs to dentists for a sufficient sample supply of interdental brushes to properly introduce their patients to the habit with instruction, appropriate sizing and trial and error.
2. The second obstacle is that too frequently patients are only briefly introduced to interdental brushes and are told to find “whatever” brand is available. Pharmacies typically have poor selections, limited sizes and are most often overpriced.
3. The third obstacle is maintaining long-term compliance in that even patients who are doing well with the habit often lose the routine if and when they forget to repurchase a new supply.
4. The fourth obstacle is the extensive amount of time and effort required from dental professionals to educate and adequately reinforce this lifelong quality habit for their patients.

The Dental Geek: What are you hoping the IBBC brings to dental professionals?

Dr. Paul Crane:

The IBBC website is framed on a unique (patent pending) marketing method. It starts by recognizing that since dental professionals are the gateway to patients, promoting interdental brushes, they should receive their sample brushes at no cost. The use of online purchasing and custom shopping cart software makes this possible. The method includes a partnership with “best quality” interdental brush manufacturers (including G•U•M/Proxabrush, Piksters, TePe and Staino) and the ability for dentists to accumulate credit towards the purchase of their office supply of samples. This will create an allegiance to the represented brands and give incentive for the dentist to recommend the brand most suited for a particular patient.

In participation with the IBBC, the dental professional introduces the preferred brand of brush to their patient with adequate instruction, sizing and supply of samples. The patient is then instructed to purchase their brushes from the IBBC website and enter a dentist-specific discount code (we suggest the easy-to-remember dentist’s office telephone number) which will persuade the patient to purchase on the website and allow tracking. The dentist then accumulates purchase credits (7% of their patient’s accumulated purchases) towards samples of any of the brands on the website. Free samples will enable improved education and utilization of interdental brushes. Disclosure of dentists’ credits for patients’ purchases is not only ethical but may create further compliance in that the patient will know that the dentist will be receiving a secure report on the quantity of their interdental brush purchases. I think patients will appreciate having dentists receive samples for their purchases as payback for the samples they have received themselves.

The Dental Geek: What benefits are unique to the patient?

Dr. Paul Crane:

The IBBC facilitates continued compliance and long-term periodontal dental and general health by promoting reduced pricing, encouraging larger quantity orders, and specializing in automatic shipments of interdental brushes. Finally, a web store where patients can find the exact size and brand recommended providing a stress-free experience.

We also provide unequaled education and instruction through text and the following original 3-D videos:

• “What Are Interdental Brushes and Why Are They So Important?”
• “How Do Interdental Brushes Compare to Dental Floss?”
• “How to Use an Interdental Brush.”
• “Why is Interdental Brushing So Important After Pocket Reduction Gum Surgery?”

In summary, the IBBC website strives to make it as easy as possible for patients to learn how to use interdental brushes and to remain compliant with them.

Prescription pads are provided to the dental office, making it simple to direct the patient to the website, view the instructional videos and purchase the size and brand recommended.

We also offer a toll free customer service number to help patients who prefer a live voice to answer any questions and assist in joining and purchasing.

For incentives, the IBBC provides patients with a 5% discount for using a doctor’s referral code, a 5% discount for ordering with recurring shipments and free shipping for purchases over $49.

The Dental Geek: Why does the IBBC offer an incentive discount for automatic shipments?

Dr. Paul Crane:

IBBC emphasizes automatic shipments because I've found that a “weak link” regarding the continued use of interdental brushes is that patients who are doing wonderfully with the habit often lose the routine if and when they forget to repurchase an adequate supply.

The IBBC offers additional discounts to patients if they select an automatic shipment option, as this would be a good start to help solve this compliance problem. Patients will no longer have the need to remember to repurchase and they will be enticed to buy in larger quantities. The idea is that if patients have them readily available… they will use them!

It’s also a way for dentists to passively pyramid their sample purchase credits, with encouragement to suggest an automatic shipment option for a 2-, 3-, or a 4-month larger order. The most important thing is that this is what our patients truly need!

The Dental Geek: How can dental professionals sign up?

Dr. Paul Crane:

Participation with the IBBC requires a no-obligation, no-fee membership. Registration is simple and can be completed either directly on the website or by phone. All we ask for is your name, office/mailing/email address, telephone number and to create two passwords. One password is to distribute to your patients to use as a discount code.This will track your referred patients’ purchases and link them to your credits for samples. The second password is for your secure log-in page which will show a ledger view of how many credits you have collected and used as well as a description of your patients’ transactions, including automatic shipment selection. You can then use these credits instead of money to obtain your supply. Isn’t this a great idea?

The Dental Geek: What questions should a dental office ask when deciding whether or not to join the IBBC?

Dr. Paul Crane:

1. Would you recommend interdental brushes more to your patients if they were easier to properly introduce, easier to find and were more affordable?
2. How much do you currently spend each month providing interdental brush samples to your patients?
3. Do your patients already think you get your interdental brush samples for free?
4. Would you be interested in an easy-to-join, risk-free program that would provide your office with free interdental brush samples and at the same time provide unparalleled education and instruction to reinforce your in-office introduction?

If you answer yes to any or all of the questions, I think it’s a simple choice!

The Dental Geek: The IBBC slogan, WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN refers to patients, dentists, the IBBC mission and manufacturers. What do manufactures gain by participating in the IBBC?

Dr. Paul Crane:

The IBBC method offers manufacturers the opportunity to expand their marketing base and advertise to dentists and their patients. The IBBC promotes participating brands by enabling distribution of samples to dental offices at no additional cost to the manufacturer. Certainly more interdental brushes will be sold.

Each brand has its own web page offering product and parent company information. We presently represent four of the highest quality interdental brush manufacturers available. These brands include G•U•M/Proxabrush, which will be launching its new design in June 2013, Piksters, TePe and Staino. The Interdental Brush Buyer’s Club is the perfect site for dentists and their patients to make comparisons and have a wide selection to choose from.

Dr. Paul Crane has been practicing periodontics on Long Island, NY for almost 30 years. His belief and passion that interdental brushes are regrettably underutilized led to the creation of the IBBC. The IBBC method offers a winning outcome for consumers (patients), dentists, interdental brush manufacturers and the IBBC mission.

As most of us Dental Geeks know, laws regulating who can and cannot offer tooth whitening services differ from state to state. For instance, in North Carolina, personnel at salons, spas and mall kiosks can offer whitening services, however, in Alabama, the whitening process can only be administered by licensed dentists, hygienists or dental assistants.

(More info about recent lawsuits on the subject can be found here on DrBicuspid.com.)

There are different perceptions as to why some of these laws are in place, some believing dental professionals are aiming to capture a greater share of the whitening market by banning anyone else from offering these services. Others feeling strongly that limiting this service offering to licensed dental professionals eliminate potential issues that can occur when non-dental parties perform these procedures.

The purpose of this post is to start an open discussion regarding your thoughts on the subject – should teeth whitening services be provided by licensed dental professionals only? Should teeth whitening be considered a form of practicing dentistry and therefore be restricted to those with the proper oral health training? Or, should non-dental cosmetic business owners be able to use the same OTC whitening products on clients that consumers can buy and use freely without a dentist’s supervision anyway?

What do YOU think?

One of the most common questions that I receive as The Dental Geek is: “Mike, how do I get my product on a dentist’s radar screen?” I always supply my stock answer, “Brand It Properly”. What I mean by this is MAKE IT MEMORABLE. At any given moment in time, a dental office could be stocking upwards of 40,000 individual products…each of them with a name. I liken dental products to ice cream flavors. Imagine if Baskin Robbins had 40,000 flavors. How many would you really try? Which new flavors would you try? How hard would it be for Baskin Robbins to convince you to stray from your favorite flavor?

That’s it…make it different. Make it appealing. Be VERY careful not to get lost in the shuffle. Do you know how many dental products have the letters DENT in them?

About 10 years ago, I was tasked with naming a new diamond polisher for Dentsply Caulk. It really was an innovative technology…but how do we break through all the other thousands of files, burs and polishers?!? I sat with my then Creative Director, Dawn Fenn. I gave her the sample and she held it and told me that it looked like a little Pogo Stick. That was it! PoGo! Now we had to make it mean something to the dental professional. Luckily we defined it as “polish and Go!” To this day, it was one of my favorite naming exercises and the product did and continues to do an amazing volume of business.

Three Tips when Branding a New Product:

1. Keep it simple and memorable
2. Make the product MEAN SOMETHING to the dental professional who will be using it
3. Find new avenues to penetrate the dentist’s SHARE OF MIND. Always think how you will get her to try a new flavor of ice cream when she has been enjoying Rocky Road for the past 15 years.

Below are some memorable Megabrands in dentistry….think to yourself….what makes them different and memorable?

• CEREC
• J Chair by DentalEZ
• Cavitron
• PreviDent
• Splash

As always, comments welcomed!

-Michael McCarthy, Lanmark360 CSO/Managing Partner

Wishfully speaking, SEO to your office could mean “Send Everyone Over!” In the Internet realm, however, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” If you’ve never engaged in SEO, don’t worry, this blog post will provide you with an arsenal of tips to improve your website visibility. Get ready…because we are about to go beyond the word of mouth business model!

First things first: Make sure that you have a reliable relationship with your webmaster.  If you do your website yourself, well, then reliability is up to you!

Dental SEO Tip #1:

Keep an organized website with easy-to-use navigation and unique, relevant content. Be sure to update your site periodically to keep things sparkling fresh.

Dental SEO Tip #2:

Do keyword research. Start with Google’s free keyword tool:
https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool. This tool will provide you with insights on search volume, competition level, various match types and more.

Dental SEO Tip #3:

Write your website content naturally, without overstuffing keywords! You can focus on 1-3 keyword phrases per page, for example.

Dental SEO Tip #4:

Choose relevant keyword phrases. For instance, if you’re a pediatric dentist in Houston, Texas, consider using keyword phrases such as “Pediatric Dentist Houston” or “Pediatric Dentistry Houston.”

Dental SEO Tip #5:

Use keywords on the title tags of your website. Work on having variety in these title tags across your website. The title tags show the text on top of your web browser.

Dental SEO Tip #6:

Keep the same domain name. Domain age and website reputability can help with search engine optimization.

Dental SEO Tip #7:

List your dental practice website on Google maps/places, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Manta and similar directories. For local or map searches, your practice can show up on page 1 of Google after some time. Encourage patients to leave positive reviews and fill out your business information in detail!

Dental SEO Tip #8:

Include a link from your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages to your website. These links, along with links generated from Tip #7, are what we call “backlinks.” More on backlinks in the following tip.

Dental SEO Tip #9:

Develop more backlinks from relevant sites with a high page rank (PR). You can check page rank using this free online tool: http://www.prchecker.info.

Note that page rank isn’t necessarily what page a site ranks on. Instead, page rank is viewed as the “authority” of a website. The higher the page rank, the better. A link from ADA.org would be golden.

Dental SEO Tip #10:

Create a sitemap for your website. A sitemap provides a detailed listing of pages. Here is a popular online tool to create a sitemap: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com. If this is too technical for you, consider asking your webmaster for assistance.

I hope these SEO tips have been helpful for you. Remember to focus on quality, relevancy and natural, effective link building techniques and website updates. Also, be patient and rational when it comes to ranking highly on Google. Hey, it would be quite hard to rank for the keyword “Dental” on page 1 of a general Google search, right? Alternatively, focus on less competitive keyword phrases, and most important, target the phrases that potential patients would input into Google search to find you.

Good luck!

Eric Slone is the E-Marketing Manager for DEFEND by Mydent International. With over 5,000 fans, Mydent’s Facebook page includes helpful information about dental supplies, various pictures, videos and news updates for the dental community. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn.