Flying Smiles joined Dentally at the end of the first lockdown in July 2020, we talk to Fiona the independent domiciliary hygienist about her experiences with using Dentally and how it is helping her move around Scotland to her patients' homes.
"Dentally fulfils your legal and professional obligations with regards to storing and collating information but because it is a small team they are flexible to work with new businesses that are doing dentistry in different ways. "
- Fiona Perry: Flying Smiles
Why did you choose Dentally?
I didn't change the software. As an independent hygienist who was starting from scratch, I hadn't considered using software before as originally everything was paper-based and I was anxious about the costs involved in switching to software-based. I met Dentally at a dental show and was taken by the fact that they were a small team who seemed quite adaptable. I knew I wasn't going to be like any other dental practice and I had certain demands that no one else would require. The flexibility Dentally seemed to offer appealed to my individual needs. I have to admit I haven’t looked back.
How did you find the move to Dentally and the process involved?
Yes, it all went very well. I didn't have to convert from one thing to another so it was slightly easier - I just switched my computer on and started working from it! So from that point of view, it was great. It was slightly mind-blowing as is learning any new software. How much information do you need to get told on the first point of contact is the question? Any problems I have had and the boys and girls at Dentally have got back to me very quickly. Kevin has also been very open about having chats with me about the things that I want from Dentally.
How do you feel Dentally benefits you?
Not being paper-based any more makes recording so much more efficient. The cloud-based element provides me with the mobility I need when travelling around the patients and the iPad app has been great for acquiring signatures especially in post covid times and also moving forward. Getting a few more hygienists on board would be great as I feel this would help me encourage Dentally to tailor around more individualised needs. I also like the templates being able to make this up yourself and I can send off 4 different forms to new patients as well as invoices. I can do that by clicking from within Dentally. At the moment my chaperone is my husband who isn't in the dental industry so the templates become very useful for him to just select things that I am telling him on the template. Of course, the accessibility is good. I can hotspot off my phone to connect my iPad and off we go!
What do you see as being the key benefits of Dentally?
Every day I find something new that I can do on Dentally - which is great. I find it professional that I can send emails out. Today, for example, I have been to see someone who has Parkinson's and is bed bound. They don't have a computer but with Dentally I can take my iPad and the medical history with them and get them to sign it and it means I don't have bits of paper lying around that shouldn’t be!
How do you rate our service?
Well, I never give anybody a ten! I would say a generous 8. I would like a bit more flexibility around the things I require but I am also a business person and I understand that I am just one person. Other than that everything has been great. The help has always been there and Kevin and I have spoken a lot about how I view things and what I would like from Dentally. For example, I would like implants to be visible so I can show my patients.
Would you recommend us and why?
I have recommended Dentally before. Because of flexibility, remoteness and also I believe if I can get enough independent hygienists together Dentally will be able to adapt further to suit us better. If we are all using different software nobody will be able to move forward with things that would be good for all of us.
What you would love from Dentally?
Addresses being visible on the day sheets would be so helpful. Especially for us domiciliary hygienists. I don't want to end up travelling miles between patients so having a feature that allows for me to see this would be great. I'm quite persistent on this as I feel it could bring in more people for Dentally. But also I worry because I don't use online bookings for this reason that I may be missing out on patients - especially younger generations. So I would like to switch to online bookings within Dentally. Sometimes you have to invest to get back but addresses on the day sheet’s are quite important for me to decide to do this.
Flying Smiles is a 100% domiciliary independent dental hygienist run by Fiona. Since Fiona has been running Flying Smiles she has been quite public about her business and people have been very interested in her services. The Dentally sales team quite enjoy discussing it too! Based in rural Perthshire Scotland Fiona always used to joke to her patients about their families having to clean grubby food out of their teeth - they needed her! Fiona also highly recommends that people watch the film ‘The Appointment’ as this highlights the issues dementia patient’s face when going to the dentist and was one of her main focus points for starting Flying Smiles.