Master the clinical skills in Dentrix and earn the recognition you deserve.
Updated 7/15/20
There is nothing more important in your dental practice than maintaining accurate, thorough patient records. According to the ADA, the dental record provides for continuity of care for the patient and is critical in the event of a malpractice insurance claim. The dental record is the office document that records all diagnostic information, clinical notes, treatment performed, instructions for home care, and consent for treatment.
An important part of creating a dental record in today’s dental industry is entering procedures, clinical notes, and treatment recommendations digitally. The Clinical track in Dentrix Mastery Tracks™ is designed to help you master those skills in Dentrix.
The Clinical track will give you the Dentrix knowledge and skills to enter procedures, conditions, and referrals in the Patient Chart, record medical conditions and patient health history, and create and track patient prescriptions. You’ll also gain insight and learn practical steps to create clinical notes to document treatment, organize treatment plan options, and present treatment to patients and encourage case acceptance.
Best of all, when you complete all of the courses and tests in the Clinical track, you’ll receive a Dentrix Clinical Specialist certificate and earn the respect and recognition you deserve from your dentist, your practice team members, and your peers.
What is Dentrix Mastery Tracks?
Dentrix Mastery Tracks includes courses and tests that help you improve your Dentrix skills and master the tasks you do every day. There are four tracks: Front Office, Financial, Clinical, and Practice Analysis. The Clinical track is ideal for dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, treatment coordinators, and other team members who routinely chart treatment, write clinical notes, or document treatment plans.
The courses are online and on-demand, so you can study wherever and whenever it’s convenient for you and learn at your own pace. All you need to get started is a Dentrix Customer Service Plan and your Dentrix customer ID number.
Take a course. Take a test. Earn a certificate.
The process is simple. You take a course and then take the test that goes along with the course. When you pass the test, you earn a certificate.
There are two courses in the Clinical track: Charting Mastery and Treatment Planning Mastery. You can take both courses from start to finish, focus your study on new skills you want to learn, or study processes you want to improve to make your routine daily tasks easier.
Each course contains three to six lessons, and each lesson is made up of several topics. Each topic includes an introduction that describes a Dentrix task and when to use it, a short video that shows how to perform the task, additional tips that give extra insights about the task, and a practice exercise that helps reinforce learning. When you complete a course, you can take a test to check your understanding. If you pass the test, you’ll earn a certificate to show your achievement.
Become a Dentrix Clinical Specialist.
When you pass both tests in the Clinical track, you’ll earn the Clinical Specialist certificate. Earning the Clinical Specialist certificate shows that you have mastered the Dentrix skills to support accurate and complete procedure entry, clinical note documentation, and treatment plan creation.
In addition, you’ll learn about some of the Dentrix clinical features and processes that you may not be aware of or use in your practice, including prescriptions, perio charting, and lab case management. You’ll improve your clinical documentation skills in Dentrix and make your clinical processes more efficient.
Get the Recognition You Deserve.
You have a wide range of experience and expertise, and you deserve to be recognized for everything you can do! As a Clinical Specialist, you’ll be able to demonstrate your value as a skilled member of the dental team and earn greater respect, trust, and responsibility. You’ll enjoy greater confidence in your own skills and find more opportunities to grow in your career.
Learn on your own schedule.
We know your office is busy. We designed Mastery Tracks online learning and testing with flexibility in mind so you can easily fit it into your day. You don’t have to go through an entire course or lesson at once. Each lesson has 10-15 short topics, and each topic will only take three to five minutes to complete. Plus, the courses are set up in a system that allows you to mark what you have completed as you study. That means you can study a few topics at a time when you can fit in a little learning with the other things you’re doing in the office. Then, when you return to the course, you’ll know exactly where you left off.
Each Clinical mastery test includes 33-40 questions and may take up to 60 minutes to complete. The good news is that you don’t have to take a whole test at once. You can pause a test and save what you have done, and then come back to the test at a more convenient time. Note: Mastery tests cost $19.95 per test and include two attempts to pass each test.
Get the whole office involved.
You know all too well that the clinical team is always busy. Wouldn’t it be nice if some of the front office team members could help chart treatment, verify clinical notes, or organize treatment plans? It’s common for front office team members to view and call in prescriptions and describe post-treatment care to patients, so it’s important that those team members know how to find that information in Dentrix. And just think how much more likely patients would be to accept treatment plans if everyone in the office could see the doctor’s recommended treatment plan and express confidence in the doctor’s skill and reassure the patient that they will feel happier and healthier.
Use the Clinical track to help other team members expand their skills and learn to use Dentrix in new ways. Schedule coordinators can look at treatment plans to determine how many visits to schedule for a patient’s treatment. Office managers can review clinical notes to ensure they are complete and accurate. Insurance coordinators can review treatment plans to estimate coverage for treatment options and determine which procedures may require pre-authorization.
When you help other team members learn how to enter procedures and review treatment plans, you’ll improve teamwork and increase the level of service you provide to your patients. When dental team members are cross-trained, they understand the challenges and tasks associated with each other’s jobs, and that fosters understanding and camaraderie.
What about team members who are new to Dentrix?
The Clinical track is ideal for team members with more than a year of experience using Dentrix who are ready to advance their Dentrix skills. If you’re new to Dentrix, there’s a Mastery Tracks option for you too. You can get up to speed and learn basic Dentrix skills by completing Dentrix Essentials courses and tests.
The Essentials learning level is the foundation for Dentrix Mastery Tracks. It includes brief courses and short tests of fundamental skills that are perfect for team members with less than a year of Dentrix experience.
The Clinical Essentials course will help you build the foundation of charting and treatment planning skills. Then, once you’ve completed the Dentrix Essentials courses and tests and you’re ready to expand your skills, you can move on to the Mastery level courses and tests and become a Dentrix Clinical Specialist.
Get started today!
Today is the day to master the clinical tools in Dentrix and become a Dentrix Clinical Specialist. Visit www.Dentrix.com/Mastery/Clinical to learn more about Dentrix Mastery Tracks and get started.
HOW DO I ACCESS DENTRIX MASTERY TRACKS COURSES AND TESTS?
It’s easy to get started!
- Log in to the Dentrix Resource Center at www.Dentrix.com/Resource-Center.
- In the Get Your Training section, click Enter.
- Click Register to create your learner account, or log in if you already have one. You will be required to create a personal username and password so you can track your learning progress.
- Under Study for Mastery, click Courses, click the course you want to take, and then click a lesson to begin learning.
LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY!
These dental professionals have earned the Dentrix Clinical Specialist certificate. Read on to find out how becoming a Clinical Specialist has helped them increase their Dentrix expertise and become more confident in their Dentrix skills. To read about other specialists, check out the Dentrix Mastery Tracks specialist spotlights at www.Dentrix.com/Mastery/Spotlights.
- I think it’s important to know as much as possible about my practice and the way it runs. The Mastery Tracks evaluation actually helps me identify learning and training needs that I might not otherwise be able to recognize.
-Carla Sullivan, DMD Read full interview
- The Mastery Tracks program helped me learn about several features in the Dentrix software that my practice has not been using. The software is full of resources to help a dental practice run efficiently. It is exciting to learn more about how to effectively use Dentrix in its full capacity.
-Mahara Ibarra, Dental Assistant Read full interview
- Dentrix Mastery Tracks has given me a more comprehensive view of both the software and of our office as a whole. I am now able to be more efficient and thorough with detailed tasks such as charting and setting up comprehensive treatment plans.
-Erin Silva, Hygienist Read full interview
- Becoming a Dentrix specialist has helped me to gain a wider range of opportunities to apply my skill set in the dental industry.
-Anais Dakin, Orthodontic Assistant Read full interview
- By becoming a Dentrix specialist I have helped to shorten the time for the clinical staff to create treatment plans and complete clinical notes, and now they can do it more thoroughly with fewer clinical errors.
-Chuc Nguyen, Registered Dental Assistant Read full interview
- I feel like I can better assist my patients and work better with our front desk to make our office run as smoothly as possible.
-Lisa Dunlap, Registered Dental Hygienist Read full interview
Learn More
Visit www.dentrix.com/mastery to learn more about Dentrix Mastery Tracks training and the courses that are available.
Read “Become a Dentrix Front Office Specialist,” “Become a Dentrix Financial Specialist” and “Help Your New Hires Get Off the Ground Faster” to learn about other ways to use Dentrix Mastery Tracks training.
By Erin Brisk, Senior Editor
Originally published in Dentrix Magazine, Winter 2018
