End of 2019 Dental Trade Shows

End of 2019 Dental Trade Shows

Our Fall 2019 Trade Show Travels!

Our team has been fortunate enough to be exploring the country at various trade shows giving demos and educating visitors on our high-quality Digital Doc products. Such products include the IRIS X80 intraoral camera, the XTG Handheld X-ray, and the LUM Transillumination. See what our Digital Doc team has been up to in the article below!

ADA San Francisco - Digital Doc

September Dental Trade Shows

In September, we kicked off the busy tradeshow season in San Francisco at ADA FDI World Dental Congress. We had the opportunity to share our new IRIS X80 with tradeshow attendees!

October Dental Trade Shows

October was one of our busiest traveling months! We started in Vegas, then made our way up to Canada, and then Texas. The following is a list of some of the awesome trade shows that we attended in October:

Dentsply Sirona Show Las Vegas - Digital Doc

November & December Dental Trade shows

In November, we made it to the Mid-Continent Dental Convention in St. Charles, Missouri, where we spent the weekend learning and teaching workshops. 

We finished out the year strong at the Greater New York Dental Meeting in New York, NY. This is the largest dental conference in the US, and we were thrilled to be there representing our latest technology.

Our Digital Doc team wants to take the time to thank everyone for an awesome year! The amount of positive feedback and support we’ve received means the world to us. Can’t wait to see what 2020 brings us!

Check out more pictures from 2019 Tradeshows!

2019 tradeshows

Digital Doc’s Design Engineer: Jim Schmied

In honor of Digital Doc’s 20th Anniversary, we’re featuring some of our team’s finest. We interviewed Jim Schmied, the Design Engineer at Digital Doc, to discuss some his journey. For more information about Digital Doc’s team or Digital Doc products, please contact us today!

Journey with Digital Doc

Jim Schmied originally moved to the Sacramento area in 1998, which is about 21 years ago in June. After Digital Doc presold many of their cameras, he was hired to help get the very first camera model into production and design new products. He knew it was crunch time to get production moving so Digital Doc could fulfill the orders. Although we have better tools now to do so, Solidworks, a 3D modeling software, helped reduce the time to market. Jim currently works in purchasing, production support, and minor IT.

Outside of Digital Doc

When Jim is not at work, he enjoys woodworking as a hobby. He started woodworking in high school, where he made tables and cabinets. Over time, he’s moved toward woodturning. Now, he enjoys making wood bowls, platters, and round wooden boxes.

Personal Growth and Growth As A Company

Jim says bringing new products to the dental market is always a very exciting time, especially when they are well received. Seeing all the design and prototypes from concept to finished product, then to shipping it out to the dentists is the most gratifying part of his job.

How Dental Technology Has Evolved

Jim loves seeing new technology in the dental market. From 3D scanners, pan x-rays, to portable x-rays, and new materials used to make it safer for patients and more efficient for dentists. Modern dental technology has made a difference in Jim’s personal life as well. He had to have Cerec crowns, and he was able to keep his existing teeth. Years ago, the doc would have no choice but to pull his teeth and have full crowns put in place. Similarly, intraoral cameras used to be huge. You’d have to push them on carts with dye-sublimation printers. Now connected to computers, small and portable cameras are much easier to use.

What Separates Digital Doc From Similar Products

Jim says the images that Digital Doc products produce speak for themselves. Side by side comparisons of Digital Doc images is more crisp and sharper than competitors. Additionally, Digital Doc’s customer service isn’t your typical corporate customer service department. When calling during business hours, a real person will answer the phone. Customers don’t need to navigate through a phone tree to reach someone. Many times support techs answer the phones, and the customer is usually surprised to hear that they can help right then and there.

Tips for Dental Teams

If you’re new to intraoral cameras or on the fence about considering this new technology, Jim wants you to keep in mind that a picture is worth a thousand words. Having intraoral cameras in your office will always increase your bottom line. They will pay for themselves in no time. Consider the fact that it’s easier to show a patient the issue rather than explaining it to them. Show the patient what the problem is and why the procedure is necessary. Jim says you’re more likely to get the patient to commit to treatment instead of wait.

 

Digital Doc’s Operations Manager: Shawn Kavert

Shawn Kavert - Digital Doc

In honor of Digital Doc’s 20th Anniversary, we’re featuring some of our team’s finest. We interviewed Shawn Kavert, the Operations Manager at Digital Doc, to discuss some his journey with the company. For more information about Digital Doc’s team or Digital Doc products, please contact us today!

Journey with Digital Doc

Nineteen years ago, Shawn started his journey with Digital Doc. His first position was in Customer Service and Technical Support. Shawn handled everything at times from Quality Control, Shipping, Accounting, etc. Today, Shawn’s role as Operations Manager includes handling the accounting functions.

Outside of Digital Doc

Shawn enjoys spending his days off being active with his wife and two boys. He loves the outdoors and has a passion for fly-fishing.

Personal Growth & Growth as A Company

Shawn is mostly proud of the quality of Digital Doc’s products and their capabilities. Additionally, Digital Doc has a strong reputation in the market place.

How Dental Technology Has Evolved

Shawn says dental technology has evolved just like the consumer market has, although at a slightly slower pace. When he started in the year 2000, there weren’t many computers being utilized chair-side in dental offices. It was all analog video running on TV. Now everything is digital. Intraoral cameras, digital sensors, hand-held x-rays, and intraoral scanners all make the practice more efficient and provide a better experience for the patient.

What Separates Digital Doc From Similar Products

Shawn believes Digital Doc’s customer service and technical support separates themselves from similar products on the market. He says having a great product is a significant factor, but everyone is a consumer, and we’ve all experienced high quality and low-quality customer service. Shawn says that Digital Doc’s team strives to always provide a high level of service that stands out in the industry.

Tips for Dental Offices & Teams

One tip Shawn suggests if you’re new or considering Digital Doc’s products, is buy a camera first. Buy any camera. If utilized, the return on investment is proven. Digital Doc likes to think of cameras as the gateway technology that will increase revenue allowing the dentist to continue adding technology to the practice.

Digital Doc’s Vice President: John Sellers

John Sellers Executive Vice President

In honor of Digital Doc’s 20th Anniversary, we’re featuring some of our team’s finest. We interviewed John Sellers, the Executive Vice President at Digital Doc, to discuss some his journey with the company. For more information about Digital Doc’s team or Digital Doc products, please contact us today!

Journey with Digital Doc

John’s first day was October 22nd of 1988, and he was only twenty-three years old. John was hired as a Design Engineer out of Denver, Colorado, and has been with Digital Doc for twenty years. Today, John holds six years with the company as the Executive Vice President. His many years of experience provides a unique perspective to his role as a leader. John runs everything in Digital Doc’s marketing, works with the sales team quite a bit, manages his team inside the office, and still works on some engineering and design. If you’re not impressed yet, you’d be pleased to hear that John helped design many of  Digital Doc’s products.

One of John’s many responsibilities today is being in charge of Digital Doc’s marketing. He divides marketing into two parts – Grenade Marketing and Buzz Marketing. John designs Digital Doc brochures, and with Grenade Marketing, you just hope to bump into somebody and get them interested. For Buzz Marketing, they bring Dealer guests out to the company, train them on the product and introduce them to the culture and peoples that make Digital Doc who they are today. The guests take this message home and help grow the Digital Doc brand.

John is also responsible for much of the liaison between the inside office and sales. So, because John worked in both realms, he’s a very effective communicator with the engineers and sales teams. John follows the principle of “move like liquid.” He’s your go-to-guy when you need something done.

John also works with Jim and Shawn to project manage all new designs coming out. The team’s role is in research and development of  Digital Doc’s new products. John worked closely with Jim Schmied and the Owner David Wilson to come up with the idea of building the LUM sub-enamel Illumination product. John keeps the company moving forward in the right direction.

Outside of Digital Doc

John and his wife Lara have been together for 28 years now and John said that Lara has been a huge part of his motivation and strategies to help keep the company growing, In John’s free time, he likes to cycle. He says it keeps him healthy, it’s good exercise, and it’s cheaper than therapy. John averages about 50 miles a week riding in the Placerville area. Those two hours of cycling is his time to decompress and let go for the day. John said that during the 20 years of managing people, he found that if they have continuity and happiness at home, it makes them a better employee when they’re here. John also enjoys and fly fishing – anything outdoors. A good balance in life is so important.

Personal Growth & Growth as a Company

Since John started at the age 23, he’s acquired the experience equivalent to two PhDs. John is proud of the fact that he’s learned not only in the industry itself but who Digital Doc is as a company. From answering the phones to launching products, John has tried really hard not to have a weak point in his business acumen. If he found that he wasn’t good at something or didn’t understand it very well, he focused more time on it. Overall, John is proud of his bird’s eye view of how the industry works and how to manage people, personalities, products, and timelines that all just come together. John’s spent a lot of time learning how it all works but feels that there is so much to still learn.

John is very proud of the evolution of the company itself. Digital Doc is not a policy-driven company, but a company that four or five people can sit down in an office and make decisions that could change the whole trajectory of the company. John is proud that Digital Doc has stayed small enough to be versatile but big enough to impress our customers. A lot of guests come to visit Digital Doc, walk through the doors, and say, “Oh my gosh, I thought you guys were ten times as big.” It makes him proud because that means the company’s phone presence, social media presence, and tradeshow presence is excellent.

How Dental Technology Has Evolved

About twenty years ago, many of us used prototypes like 3D printing and stereolithography, which seemed like magic back then. John would have to drive 300 miles to a facility to grow a prototype, and it would cost twenty-five thousand dollars. Now, Digital Doc has one in Jim’s office. Prototype technology has been amazing.

However, John says that it’s not dental technology that they’ve had to wrap their heads around. It’s understanding that consumer changes over time. Digital Doc originally sold to Baby Boomers and now they’re selling to Millennials. Times have changed and the whole idea of “what got you here, won’t get you there,” couldn’t be more exact. There is a generation of buyers now that are as educated as any dealer out there. Meaning, customers have done the research, they know what they want and why they want it. As a company, they’ve kind of moved away from educating customers as to why they need a camera. Now they help them decide on which camera they need.

John has had to change his marketing and grow and change products to compliment the customer’s needs. Ten years ago, image quality was the most important thing. Today, it’s ease of use. Elon Musk said, “If your product needs a manual, it’s broken.” Meaning, you need to have intuitive products that people can pick up and use.

What Separates Digital Doc From Similar Products

John explained that at trade shows, people would often come up to him and ask him why Digital Doc products are better. He usually says, “Because of Jim, Shawn, Erin, James…” They’ll look at John confused, and he’ll explain that if you buy with Digital Doc, you’re not only investing in the product but the support behind the product. Digital Doc doesn’t just hand you a camera and say here you go. Digital Doc shows you how to use it and how you can increase your profitability. You get customer service of a company that answers every phone call live! Digital Doc will never have a phone tree. When you invest, you get the dedication of a tech support team that has a combined experience of thirty years.

Tips for Dental Offices & Teams

John’s number one tip is to use your camera every day on every patient. When they see cameras that don’t realize their potential in offices, it’s because there’s only one camera in a nine operatory office. It becomes a gimmick because no one ever seems to know where the camera is, and then team members go along with their exam without using it. Offices that really excel have intraoral cameras in every room. That’s when you realize the intraoral camera’s full potential.