Friedman, DDS: Practicing Dentistry’s Future
Dentistry is a profession that attracts the meticulous. Spend just a few minutes chatting with Dr. Mark Friedman and you realize he epitomizes the breed. Articulate in conversation, methodical in presentation, mindful of details and acutely observant, he’s the type of person whose 30 years of expertise shine in every nuance of behavior. The type you’d instinctively trust to alleviate your pain, optimize your smile, even inspire you to floss more often.
Dentistry is also a profession that cleaves to routine. With standard operating procedures taking decent care of most everyday dental complaints, it can be easy for practitioners, no matter how skilled, to settle into the comfortable role of technicians — not trailblazers.
Tomorrow’s Care, Today
And that’s where Dr. Friedman stands apart from the crowd. With an equally keen eye for the micro and the macro, Friedman’s Center for Dental Aesthetics and Dental Sleep Medicine in Encino, California, is a showcase of original thinking. Using advanced tools, innovative techniques, and new concepts in office design, this practice exemplifies the dental healthcare you’d expect to be practiced ten or twenty years from now.
Except Dr. Friedman is doing it today, in an office that relies entirely on the extraordinary powers of over a dozen state-of-the-art Mac computers, and takes maximum advantage of virtually every aspect of the Mac OS X operating system.
“There’s nothing we do here that doesn’t involve interfacing with a Mac,” says Friedman. “From examination to treatment to insuring comfort, from record-keeping to patient education, we’re using Mac in ways that go far beyond just knowing a patient’s account balance. Of course our Macs do that, and very well, but they’ve also become co-associates in every aspect of patient care — and that, even more than administrative efficiency, is what’s most important to me.”
Seeing Is Believing
You enter one of Friedman’s five spotlessly clean treatment rooms (called Infection Control Environments, or ICE) through no-touch, sliding glass doors. The contoured dental chair is positioned in full view of a 30-inch LCD flat screen. Instead of peering into your mouth nose-to-nose, Dr. Friedman performs all his dentistry with the aid of a surgical microscope. “It’s a piece of equipment you don’t normally find in a general dentist’s office, though I’m sure that will change,” he says. “Using the microscope eliminates the sense of claustrophobia some patients have. And coupled with the Mac, it’s altered every aspect of my patient treatment protocols.
“It’s not just about the obvious advantages of seeing better and improving posture. It’s about the microscope’s video camera feeding the magnified images I see — crystal clear, well lit, free from shadows — onto a high definition screen and into the Mac in real time. This greatly improves communication and reduces patient anxiety, because they understand what’s taking place and feel more in control.
Paradigm Shift
“But the real beauty is, with the click of a mouse, we’re recording. The ability to use a robust yet easy-to-use application like iMovie to capture and edit video of examinations and restorative procedures, complete with spoken audio, is a genuine paradigm shift in dentistry.
“The implications are countless,” he continues. “Say my hygienist detects a speckled white spot in a patient’s mouth during a prophylaxis. She can capture it, at differing magnification levels, right into iMovie. Then, while the patient’s still having his teeth cleaned, an assistant can share the automatically compressed video file with an oral surgeon via e-mail. iMovie also lets us export a still image that we adjust in iPhoto and send to our color photo printer. So by the time our patient leaves, we know whether the surgeon wants a biopsy now or prefers to re-check it in a week. Furthermore, we have clear, baseline video and still images for comparison at the re-check appointment. Best of all, this documentation and collaboration with a colleague didn’t disrupt our workflow for a minute.
Maximum Give-and-Take, Minimum Time
“Of course, I’ve already created a brochure template about oral lesions in Pages, which is another wonderful application, that explains exactly why this little speckled spot may be of concern and why it may require biopsy. And by the way, here’s that brochure for you, complete with a picture of your own white spot as a motivator to take it seriously.
“And I can give example after example of how we rely on our Macs to offer patients more personalized attention, concise information, better motivation — in ways that save all of us valuable amounts of time and improve the quality of care we provide. The seamless integration and creative potential of iLife and iWork applications enhanced my doctor-patient communications. I actually modified my practice workflow to take maximum advantage of these fantastic apps. Patients consistently comment that they find their dental visits to be an enjoyable (Mac) experience.”
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Mark J. Friedman, DDS /
Matthew J. Friedman, DDS
Center for Dental Aesthetics and Dental Sleep Medicine
16830 Ventura Blvd., Suite 258
Encino, CA 91436
And Now, Toothcasting
Three years ago Dr. Friedman’s son, Matt, joined the practice. Having used a Mac since grade school, and having a media arts background, Matt’s enhanced their collective computer skills even further with new ideas to streamline doctor-patient communications and office workflow. “Not only is he a talented dental professional, but his creative skills and youthful perspective are already having a positive impact,” says his dad. The Friedmans are now taking their cutting-edge practice to new levels. Dental Sleep Medicine services now offer dental options for the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea. Communicating about these new services can be time-consuming. So their next project involves the creation of educational podcasts and videocasts.
“We’re experimenting with a number of ideas,” says Mark Friedman. “Say, for example, there’s just not enough time in a 45-minute appointment to go into complete detail about why your tooth clenching and snoring may represent a serious breathing disorder during sleep. Well, why not listen to this podcast when you have some free time, and it’ll explain it in more detail? Or take this video, which may even have pictures of your own teeth and the back of your throat. Watch it when you want on your computer or video iPod, and you’ll gain a better understanding of why this condition needs to be evaluated and treated.
“It takes a conventional static brochure and turns it into something that’s personalized, with compelling multimedia elements, which they can review as often as they like. In dentistry, the best patient care is often about education and motivation, just getting people to listen and understand. Podcasting can do that, so we’re very anxious to include it as another part of our patients’ Mac-based experience with us.”
