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New U.S. tariffs on imported dental products are driving up costs for dental practices, especially for items like imaging systems, implants, and consumables. These rising expenses, combined with supply chain delays, are pressuring margins and prompting industry-wide calls for tariff exemptions.

Dentistry has largely resisted adopting modern internet tools, continuing to rely on outdated systems, insecure practices, and old-school processes. The lack of urgency to change stems from the mindset that “things work fine,” even as the rest of the world moves forward.

Chicago Midwinter stands out as a prime gathering place for vendors, educators, and innovators, offering the perfect environment to witness and test the latest advancements in dentistry firsthand. Despite initial pandemic fears, this in-person event remains strong, showcasing cutting-edge technology and enthusiastic support from industry leaders.

Last week Henry-Schein Announced 12% of the stock purchase by a Private Equity Firm.

According to BeckersDental.com, “31% of dentists plan to retire in the next six years. DentalPost surveyed nearly 3,500 dental professionals to create this year’s report, which was conducted from October to November 2024.” Right away, I thought this is very positive news for the industry because it creates opportunities for associates to enter the ownership game. Most retiring dentists are not looking to just “hang up their coat” and be done; they are often open to...

According to Reuters, Patterson Dental is being taken private in a deal worth $4.1bn. The article cites a major struggle for Patterson Dental:“Analysts have highlighted easing demand for dental products and surgeries as inflation-weary customers prioritize the purchase of essential products.”However, if you ask anyone in the industry, they would all disagree that this is the primary reason for Patterson’s decline. Many factors contributed to the downturn of what was once the “Nordstrom” of dental supplies—ranging from leadership changes to adopting new norms, to missing the boat on DSO growth. Yet I would like to focus on what could be exciting in the future.

This article challenges common misconceptions about running a dental practice, emphasizing that success comes from mastering the basics, taking ownership of problems, and consistently implementing solutions. Financial management is just as critical as clinical quality, enabling better patient care and long-term growth. Ultimately, success requires action, discipline, and the willingness to move beyond comfort zones.

Our team is quite expansive, spanning across a few countries, but for the U.S. members, we make it a priority to gather every quarter. These retreats allow us to visit our member practices, collaborate closely, and share meals together. While remote work offers numerous benefits, it does come with the downside of missing out on face-to-face interactions with colleagues. These quarterly get-togethers truly make a difference.

My goal is to learn how Zen works in real life—how people actually interact with what we designed. There is no right or wrong way of using it, and my aim is to see how it’s actually being used so I can convert that into a list of improvements for our team to tackle. Not to get ahead of myself, but I finished the trip with a list of five major improvement requests and 10-15 minor fixes

Imagine a world where managing dental inventory becomes not just easy, but thrillingly efficient. Even with nine years of experience under our belts, we're still discovering new ways to streamline and organize. In this article, get ready to delve deep into the latest game-changing update: the integration of QR codes across three distinct dental offices (Georgetown Elite Dental, Prime Time Dentistry, Holman Family Dentistry), all powered by the cutting-edge ZenOne platform. And here's the kicker—it's accessible to users on both iOS and Android devices. Let's uncover how this innovative approach is revolutionizing dental inventory management!‍

There are many aspects we can all agree are missing in dentistry today. However, from my perspective, having worked with dental teams daily, I can clearly see that onboarding, training, and nurturing for your team is sorely lacking. Let's refer to it simply as "training".How do I know? Well, I constantly hear phrases like, "They don't even know how to put on a rubber dam" or "How many times do I need to say that I use plain cetonest?" or my personal favorite, "I just need a dental assistant who can get the work done." What does this mean?Each dental practice is unique, with its own methods and procedures. This is the one area where I'd agree that every practice differs. Some have morning huddles, some do not. Some use the radio, while others do not

Trend 1: I think one of the most important trends is the gain in popularity of buying groups. Especially after the COVD, a lot of dental practices are being approached and are interested in saving money on supplies and having a membership with a buying group is a good start. There are different options on the market, from free to a monthly membership ($125-$299/month) and most provide a vast range of savings options, equipment, labs, credit card processing and supplies....

From what I experienced and learned about the headset, we can see 3 possible scenarios of this technology being adopted in dentistry. 

We are so excited to announce to the dental world that we are soon launching our new product, ZenOne. First, only in Texas and to a small group of practices who love the thrill of being first and are up for an adventure. So let’s dive in why Texas is our first State to launch a new product.

Listen to the podcast here Watch the full video on Youtube Dear Zen Members, We launched ZenSupplies in 2016 with a simple goal to streamline the ordering process and help organize the dental world one order at a time. Step by step we made progress and I personally met most of you at conferences or in your office. All of these meetings made ahugeimpact on me and most importantly allowed me to see how Zen was being used in real time in a dental office. It also added a sense of responsibility to build the right product that truly brings value to each one of you. These one-on-one meetings allowed me to learn and deeply understand the challenges of each practice, team dynamics, and how Zen needed to better function in order to solve your problems. As we learned and continued to grow I realized there were decisions I made early on that were holding us back from the potential we were capable of. For example, how we structured catalogs or how order approval processes were made. I can remember many instances when I visited one of your offices and saw how painful it was to use certain parts of the Zen site. I had this growing desire inside of me and I knew Zen could be better and have a platform that every practice would love using. In 2021, I decided it was time to build a new platform from scratch. This would take everything we had learned into account and provide our members with a much better, faster, and more importantly- smoother experience. Prices and stock levels are updated in real time and search is so intuitive that it feels as if a human is listening to you and finding what you are looking for. This new platform would also give us the flexibility we needed to scale to many more vendors and add long-awaited features such as expense management, budget labels, and predictable ordering through integration with your practice management software. I am very excited about the near future and can’t wait for you to see what this new Zen platform can do for your office. We will begin offering demos and a preview of the new platform starting early November into December with a goal of starting migration on January 1, 2024. My team is relentlessly working around the clock to make this process as smooth and easy for each of you as possible. My hope is that you will find the new Zen platform to bring even more efficiencies, a better user experience, and even more amazing savings to your office. Please keep an eye out for email updates and important information as we get closer to the launch date. And please make sure to sign up for a demo. I am confident you will love it! You can reach me attiger@zenone.comand by phone 872-225-2090 or Delaney atdelaney@zenone.comor by phone 872-225-2894. Tiger and the entire Zen Team