The 8 jaw-dropping dental logos below stand out from the crowd and create a favorable first impression.

1. Country Living Dentistry

2. Robin Rutherford, DDS

3. Innovative Family Dental Health

4. Creative Dental Care, P.A.

5. City Dental

6. Huzur Oral & Dental Health Center

7. Garden City Dental

8. Dental Edge

Add to the List

Are you aware of any other jaw-dropping dental logos that should be added to the list? Let us know where we can see it in a comment below.

Don’t Employ the “Wait & See” Approach

Most dentists take the “wait-and-see” approach. That is, they develop a website, publish it to the web, and wait…and wait…and wait for new patients to line up outside their doors. Sadly, new patients never come. Why? Because your website is nowhere to be found in the search engine results pages (SERPS).

Thankfully, there are many techniques that you can employ to increase your position in the SERPS, and be found by patients seeking a new dentist.

Local Business Directories Are Effective

One highly effective technique for generating traffic, and the focus of this post, is submitting your dental practice website to local business directories. Submitting your site to local business directories requires very little time, but has significant upside potential.

Why? Because many of the local business directories that I’ve listed below appear on the first page of the SERPS for local searches.

Here’s Proof

To see what I mean, give this a try: go to Google.com. Once there, search using the following query: “saint louis dentists”(minus quotes). You’ll notice on the first page of the SERPS that several business directories came up, such as: Google local business, Superpages and Citysearch. You can see how a listing in any of these directories would improve your visibility with potential new patients.

I compiled a list below of my 10 favorite FREE local business directories that you should submit your site to in order to increase your online visibility and capture new patients. Without further ado, here’s the list…

Top 3

1. Google Local Business Center

Listing your website in the Google Local Business Center is a must. Your local business listing can include: your business address, website url, maps, location photos, business description, directions, business categories, etc. Your local search listing appears before regular(organic) search listings in the SERPS.

2. Yahoo Local

Submitting your site to Yahoo Local is also very important. Your listing options with Yahoo Local are similar to those in the Google Local Business Center. You shouldn’t expect as much traffic from Yahoo Local as with the Google Local Business Center, but it can be substantial nonetheless.

3. Bing Local Listing Center

Rounding out my top 3 recommendations is the Bing Local Listing Center. Although the Bing Local Listing Center is still in its infancy, people are already receiving significant traffic from it.

Also Recommended

4. Superpages.com

5. YellowPages.com

6. YellowBook.com

7. Yelp

8. Localeze

9. Local.com

10. Hotfrog.com

Stay tuned for future posts highlighting additional powerful tips for positioning your website in the search engines to capture new patients.

Add to the List

Have you found a great free business directory that’s not in my list? Please leave it in a comment below for everyone’s benefit

Top Stories of the Week

1) U.S. House passes ADA-backed Red Flags exemption legislation The U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 20 approved by a 400-0 vote legislation to exempt most dental offices from the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule. Read more about the vote here…

2) Dental Insurance: Few Fans Among Dentists In a survey recently completed by TheWealthyDentist.com, It was determined that 90% of dentists consider dental insurance as “the enemy.” Watch Jim Du Molin & Julie Frey as they comment on the survey results in this video recap…

3) 7 Effective Ways To Market Your Practice in the 21st Century The marketplace is constantly evolving. Your marketing activities must evolve with the market. Ron Zeisler, CEO of Welcometomypractice.com, lays out 7 important pieces to an effective marketing strategy in today’s marketplace…

4) Results of the 2009 DAD salary survey The 2009 Dental Assisting Digest™ salary survey found that dental assistants salaries are on par with those in 2008…

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below.

Top Stories of the Week

1) Lares introduces minimally invasive laser periodontal disease treatment Lares recently announced the release of the Lares Powerlase® AT, a laser that utilizes the Nd:YAG and Er:YAG wavelengths to treat both sides of the perio pocket.

2) The Two Most Common Dental Coding Errors Dental Assisting Digest editor Kevin Henry speaks with coding expert Teresa Duncan about the two most common dental coding errors. Are you making these errors in your practice?

3) Removing the money barrier Gary Kadi discusses 3 necessary actions for “future-proofing” your practice.

4) Direct Mail Dental Marketing for Only Half of Dentists (Video) Jim Du Molin & Julie Frey report the results of a recent study that asked dentists about their usage of direct mail marketing.

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below.

Top Stories of the Week

1) When to Fire a Patient DentalProductsReport.com Senior Editor, Renee Knight, discusses ways to prevent problem patients from plaguing your practice. Instead, she focuses on preventative measures you can employ within your practice to avoid firing difficult patients.

2) Dental School Doesn’t Adequately Prepare Dentists 4 out of 5 dentists don’t believe that dental schools are adequately preparing dental students for the real-world practice, according to a recent Wealthy Dentist survey. Watch this video recap to discover why the stakes are higher now than ever.

3) Colgate launches new Colgate Oral Health Advisor program for dental hygienists Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals recently launched an Oral Health Advisor program that aims to provide dental hygienists with powerful tools to help them educate their patients. Read on to Learn more about the program, and how dental hygienists can get involved in this program.

4) Rapid HIV testing in the dental office The oral cavity is one of several places where signs of HIV infection are found. Previously, dentists who recognized these signs in a patient could only refer them to their primary care physician for testing, diagnosis, and treatment. Catrise Austin, DDS, discusses new methods for HIV testing in the dental office…

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below

Top 5 Stories of the Week

1) Paperless vs. chartless and the Red Flags Rules Kevin Henry discusses some of the newest electronic issues with Banta Consulting’s Laci Phillips.

2) 12 Green Products/Companies You Should Know I’m no Al Gore (thankfully), but I’m of the belief that being “green” is a good thing. If you do as well, check out this post which highlights 12 products and companies that can help your practice “go green”.

3) BPA Safety in Dental Sealants Worries Some Dentists The Wealthy Dentist discusses in this video post a recent survey of dental professionals found that one dentist in four reports being very concerned about the issue of bisphenol-A (the problem chemical in water bottles and baby bottles).

4) American Dental Association Launches Podcast Program for Public The ADA launched a new video podcast series focused on providing oral health care information to the public. Read more about the podcast in this post…

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below

Ultimate Office Sweepstakes

The Dental Product Shopper’s latest sweepstakes is what they’re appropriately calling the “Ultimate Office Sweepstakes”. As the name suggests, Dental Product Shopper is trying to hook up your dental practice with great dental gear. The collective estimated value of the Grand Prize, Second Prize and Third Prize is $293,500!. Click on the links below to view the prize packages that you can win:

1) Grand Prize Package – estimated value ($280,000)
2) Second Prize Package – estimated value ($10,000)
3) Third Prize Package – estimated value ($3,500)

Who’s Eligible to Enter

Before you take the time to enter, keep in mind that “you must be a (i) licensed dentist, (ii) dental hygienist, (iii) dental assistant, or (iv) an office manager that has been employed at a licensed dental office during the entire six (6) months immediately prior to entry(dentalproductshopper.com)” to enter. For a full listing of the official rules, check out the sweepstakes rules page.

How to Enter

Dental Product Shopper has made entering the “Ultimate Office Sweepstakes” real easy. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free to enter? No? Well, it’s FREE TO ENTER. Simply fill out the official sweepstakes entry form to be eligible for almost $294,000 in prizes.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow DentalProductShopper.com on Twitter (@DentalProducts).

What do you think?

What do you think of the prize packages? Which product(s) do you currently use in your practice?

Top 5 Stories of the Week

1) Is the ADA more interested in Dental Specialists than General Dentists? The Wealthy Dentist Blog asked dentists this question in a recent survey. You may be surprised by the results…

2) Marketing your dental practice without taking a bite out of your budget Dr. Gary Solomon suggests ways to market your practice that require thought and creativity, not money.

3) The hole truth about tooth worms Richard Palmer discusses how the Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) has shed new light on these mysterious figures.

4) Why you should stop trying to sell to your patients Read why the Azimuth Dental team recommends that you stop trying to sell to your patients. This is sure to be controversial, but thought-provoking as well.

5) 10 factors that contribute to staff satisfaction Rebecca Boartfield and Tim Twigg share with us the results of numerous employee satisfaction surveys. Is your practice focusing on these factors to attract and retain your employees? If not, start immediately.

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below.

The List

1) Sonicare To Launch Flexcare+ @ ADA Meeting In Hawaii – Teresa Duncan, of The Dental Implant Blog, announced the launch of Philips Sonicare FlexCare Plus electric toothbrush at this year’s annual session of the American Dental Association in Hawaii. Clinical studies have shown some promising results…

2) ADA Membership? Not for One in Four Dentists Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey, of TheWealthyDentist.com recently conducted a survey asking dentists about their ADA membership status. You’ll see in the video recap of the study results that dentists across the country have very different opinions regarding the ADA’s usefulness and agenda…

3) Dental Practice Transition Planning Learn the numerous factors that must be taken into account when planning a practice transition, and why its more important than ever do your due diligence.

4) Reality in this appropriately titled post, John Gammichia, DMD, FAGD, author of The Daily Grind and general dentist offers his “real” take on the toll this economy is having on his practice. Many of you can empathize with Dr. Gammichia, I’m sure…

5) Marty Jablow, DMD, and author of the Dental News and Technology Blog provides us with a nice summary of the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) data security requirements…

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below.

The List

1) Working Interviews: Dentists, Beware the Pitfalls! – Human resource advisor Barbara Freet, PHR, presents a special feature about how working interviews for hiring dental professionals can be a lot more complicated than it might seem…

2) Air Techniques Spectra Receives FDA Approval John C. Flucke, DDS, Editor of Dental Products Report magazine, noted that Air Techniques Spectra just received approval by the FDA. Dr. Flucke reports that the Air techniques Spectra is the only high-tech device that can find decay visually. For more Spectra information, visit the Air Techniques website.

3) What medical can do for dental Renee Knight, Senior Editor of DentalProductsReport.com, explains in this post why dentists should run their practice in accordance with the evidence-based medical model.

4) The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons(AAOMS) Position on Diprivan (Propofol) Shawn Watson, Dentistry Guide at About.com, discusses the AAOMS position regarding the drug, Diprivan (Propofol). Shawn underscores mounting concerns over the availability and administration of agents of this nature. You may remember that this drug has been linked to the death of the late Michael Jackson.

5) Oral Healthcare Can’t Wait…The New PSA Kevin Henry talks to Gary Price, the CEO of the Dental Trade Alliance about a new campaign that is targeting dental teams, patients, and the dental trade. For more information about this campaign, visit the Oral HealthCare Can’t Wait website.

…and there you have it. There’s a look at the top stories coming out of the Dental Blog Community this week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Are we missing anything?

Did you read an interesting dental-related blog post this past week? I certainly can’t hit on them all, so please share what you found in a comment below.

So, without further ado…here’s this weeks list:

The Top 10 List

1) Operation Smile: Making the World Smile One Child at a Time (DentalBlogs.com)

2) How dirty is your toothbrush?(Complete w/Photos) (howdirtyisyourtoothbrush.com)

3) Photo ID may soon be required at the dentist’s office (kndo.com)

4) Managing erosion caused by everyday beverages (medicalnewstoday.com)

5) Teeth and gums also benefit from the healing power of aloe vera (medicalnewstoday.com)

6) Congress must not overlook dental coverage (newjerseynewsroom.com)

7) Dental clinic treats 1,400 patients for free (ketv.com)

8 ) Many Americans would drop employer dental insurance if taxed (dentalplans.com)

9) Dental floss still #1 choice for cleaning between teeth (thewealthydentist.com)

10) Dentists dread Universal Dental Care (thewealthydentist.com)

…and there you have it. There’s my top ten blog post/article list for the week. Look for a brand new list next week!

Am I Missing Anything?

Have you read a particularly interesting dental-related blog post or website article lately? Please share.

According to HeraldTribune.com, a Florida mother has been booked on felony child neglect charges for failing to seek proper treatment for her daughter’s severe tooth decay.

The little girl dealt with tooth pain for more than a year before her grandmother suggested to the offender, Tamika S. White, that she take the child to the dentist. Heeding her mother’s advice, Ms. White took her daughter to see a dentist about her tooth pain. The dentist diagnosed the child’s condition as “bottle mouth,” a common form of tooth decay found in infants and toddlers. At this point, Ms. White was informed that Medicaid coverage would not pay for the treatment – which is incidently quite common these days.

Ms. White refused to attempt to collect child support payments from her child’s father. Furthermore, she failed to search for specialists who could treat her daughter that did accept medicare. Privy to this information, the authorities arrested Ms. White on felony child neglect charges.

My thoughts

I’m admittedly struggling a little with assessing blame in this case. On one hand, it seems incomprehensible that a parent would allow their child to suffer without exhausting all treatment and payment options. This case certainly does seem like outright abuse on its face. However, another part of me wondered if Ms. White had the resources to seek a specialist whom accepted Medicare. I also don’t know what the situation is with Ms. White and her child’s father. There could be something there preventing Ms. White from contacting him to ask for child support payments? We don’t know that part of the story.

Your Thoughts

Should Tamika White be in jail on child neglect charges? Is this case black and white, or is there a gray area that we have to consider as I suggest?

Advice by Age Group

The dental health needs of children are different than those of adults. So, listerinekids.com has provided advice for parents of children in three different age groups: 6-7, 8-10, 11-12. I can’t quite figure out why they didn’t create an age group for younger children, but this is a start.

Games

Your kids can even play a game called “Mission Magnitizer” that purports to teach them the importance of good oral hygiene. Not sure how effectively it drives home that message, but I had fun playing it, and I’m well above any of the target age groups.

Product Recommendations

Another feature found on listerinekids.com is their product recommendation section. Of course, they only recommend Listerine products, so keep that in mind. But, I suspect that many of you purchase listerine rinse products anyway. So, it’s nice to know which products are appropriate for each age group.

Final thoughts

While listerinekids.com isn’t likely to win any awards just yet, it’s one of the few dental health sites I’ve seen dedicated entirely to children. So, if you’re clueless about your kids’ dental care needs, and the proper way of maintaining their dental health, it’s worth a look.

Your thoughts

Have you visited listerinekids.com? What are your thoughts?

1. DrChetan.com

Dr. Chetan’s blog is on my list because it’s a great starting point for anyone interested in learning more about dentistry as a science. Want to know what a “spillway space” is? How about a “permanent detention”? If you’re shaking your head “yes,” then you can find these answers and more at drchetan.com.

2. Blog.Teethremoval.com

Wisdom, the guy behind Blog.teethremoval.com has become a regular contributor at Dental Heroes, and we’re happy to add his blog to our list. I particularly like Wisdom’s blog because he has an uncanny ability to find great news stories that affect all of us. For example, he recently posted about the high levels of mercury in dental chairs. Who knew, right? I’m often left wondering where the heck he find all this great stuff. Visit him at blog.teethremoval.com

3. Dmdstudent.com

dmdstudent.com is a blog detailing the trials and tribulations of a dental student at the Temple University School of Dentistry. He’s quite verbose(in this case a good thing), so be sure you have some time to devote to reading. Check him out at dmdstudent.com

4. Wealthydentist.com

The Wealthy Dentist Blog provides a no BS perspective on successfully marketing your dental practice. This includes both online and offline marketing. You’ll learn how to develop strategic partnerships, how to properly layout a phone book ad, designing signage, website design, how to quadruple your patient referral rate, etc. A real wealth of information from a wealthy dentist. If you own a practice, you owe it to yourself to visit wealthydentist.com

5. Dentalinsider.wordpress.com

If you’re a dentist or just enjoy a blunt look at the world of dentistry, you’ll love this blog. DI, the guy behind dentalinsider provides a unique perspective on the “behind-the-scenes” dentistry news. For example, he’ll often discuss industry group meetings, corporate takeovers within the dental industry, product recalls, etc. I find dentalinsider to be a great way to stay up-to-date with the less publicized dental news. If you’d like to check it out, visit dentalinsider.wordpress.com

Your Favorite Dental Blogs

What would you add to my list? Give us the url and a description of the blog if you can.

Your Reactions

Could you envision yourself ever resorting to Do-It-Yourself dentistry? How do you deal with rising dental care costs? How have you and/or your family been effected?

Human Mouth Crawling with Bacteria

The human mouth is home to many fun creatures, such as protozoa, fungi, viruses, and bacteria. Sexy isn’t it? Of these creatures, “The bacteria are the most numerous: there are 100 million in every millilitre of saliva and more than 600 different species in the mouth. Around half of these have yet to be named and we are trying to describe and name the new species,” says Professor William Wade from King’s College London Dental Institute.

If you’d like to read about the study details, the remainder of the article can be found on ScienceDaily.com.

Your Thoughts

What would you have named the new bacteria?

Sometimes I just feel as if there is too much great dental material on the web to possible cover it all on Dental Heroes, and I’m probably right. So, I’ve decided to incorporate a new feature here at Dental Heroes. Each week, I am going to bring you a collection of interesting links to dental-related material around the net.

The Links

1. Do you enjoy podcasts? The people over at Crest have put together a nice collection of relevant discussions about toothbrush technology, hypersensitivity, etc. in a series of video podcasts. Some really interesting stuff.

2. Continuing with the video theme, ADA.org has posted a number of informative dental-related videos that cover everything from the history of dental care to dental career information.

3. Interested in the history of dentistry as a profession, and its manifestations around the world? One of my favorite sites, Wikipedia, has a great write-up on this very topic.

4. Like photos? Then you have to check out Tammy Davenport’s collection of dental condition pics. Please note, they’re not pretty!

That’s it for today, but I’ll have a new collection of cool dental links for you next week, so stay-tuned.

Men’s Health Magazine recently published an article highlighting 7 oral health problems when DIY Dentistry may be necessary, and how to remedy them. Those instances are as follows:

• Sensitive Teeth
• Lost Tooth
• Burned Palate
• Burned Tongue
• Jaw Sorness
• Canker Sore
• Chipped or Cracked Tooth

In many of these cases, following up with a dentist is probably a good idea. However, Men’s Health will teach you how to appropriately care for your mouth in each of these common situations.

Visit the DIY Dentistry article in Men’s Health Magazine

The result is something that you might find in a horror movie. One man interviewed by the New York Times described seeing several people nursing bleeding gums while they waited in line to enlist with a public dentist. What’s truly horrifying is that their bleeding gums was the result of DIY tooth extractions!

“I snapped it out myself,” said William Kelly, 43, describing his most recent dental procedure, the autoextraction of one of his upper teeth.

The New York Times also reports that the number of public dentists operating in Britain is declining at an astonishing rate due to what they call “the assembly-line nature of the job and by a new contract that pays them to perform a set number of “units of dental activity” per year.”

Ok, but British citizens can still go to private dentist, right? Yes, and no. Sure people have the option of attending a private dentist, but many people can’t afford to. Therefore, they either must travel abroad to countries with less expensive dental care, or perform DIY dentistry.

I can’t help but wonder how the socialized healthcare systems proposed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would compare?

By the way, if you haven’t watched the MadTV comedy sketch I posted last week, Dentist-In-A-Box, be sure to check it out. Sounds like the British could use a product like this.

I think Bill portrays his dismay with this very thing quite well as the dentist asks Bill about his vacation plans:

Dentist:”So where do you u usual go?”
Cosby: (GARGLE)
Dentist:”Yes, ive been there many times myself”

How many times have you had this happen to you? My guess is just about every time you visit the dentist if you’re anything like me.

So, without further ado, let’s watch “Bill Cosby at the Dentist”

Flossing is definitely not on my list of favorite things to do. I’m willing to bet it’s not real high on your list either. However, as much as we don’t want to believe it, flossing is one of the most important ways we can take care of our teeth.

The Problem With Flossing

The problem for most people is that they only know that they need to floss. They don’t know how to select the correct type of floss, when to floss, for how long, and the proper way to do it. This video answers all of these questions in a way that we all can understand. No technical jargon.

Her post highlighted the admirable efforts of a company by the name of Orawave. Orawave is a dental product manufacturer that produces such things as toothbrushes, flossing apparatus, denture brushes, and the like. One of the unique aspects of Orawave is their acute sense of social responsibility in the form of charity. What specifically caught my attention was their dedication to supporting breast cancer awareness.

As a tangible showing of their dedication to breast cancer awareness, Orawave is currently offering what they call the “Pink Ribbon” 2-Minute TwinSpin Power Toothbrush(view image) for $6.99. The “Pink Ribbon” 2 is available in both white and pink colors, and comes packaged in a beautiful display case.

What makes this great offer special is that Orawave is donating 10% of sales to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to fund breast cancer research, education, treatment and screening, according to Davenport.

Breast cancer is a horrible disease, and one that profoundly impacts many peoples’ lives. Its nice this day and age to see a company committed to such an important cause, and I hope we as a society will support such causes.

To learn more about Orawave, and this special offer, visit the Orawave website.