Katherine Marten, RDH, shares her experience with VoiceWorks

Katherine Marten, RDH, shares her experience with VoiceWorks, the lightweight wireless headset that allows dental hygienists to verbally transcribe pocket depths, recession, bleeding, mobility, large restorations (i.e. bridges, crowns) and allows dental professionals to solely focus on patient education, while also keeping them actively engaged throughout their treatment:

"I began LifeSmiles Dental Hygiene in 2015, with a vision to provide my clients with an enhanced interactive, educational, and client-centered approach to preventive oral care; while, also offering that “WOW” factor during appointments. As a busy mom with three young children at home, it was also key that I structured my business to ensure a healthy work-home life balance.   

As LifeSmiles grew and evolved over the years, many challenges arose when it came to running the administrative and clerical aspects, and charting was one of the main time-consuming issues I struggled with. I began investigating options to streamline this process and took advantage of Oral Science’s three-month money-back guarantee with VoiceWorks.  

I began integrating VoiceWorks’ headset and software into my business practices in 2020, and since doing so, the program has become invaluable, with numerous benefits for my office, my work as a clinician, and my clients.   

• Saves Time: Charting is completed chairside with the voice recognition software, and without the need for an assistant. There are many shortcut commands that allow for faster, more effective, and more efficient charting.  

• Increased Accuracy: VoiceWorks records as you chart; therefore, eliminating missed or inaccurate information. The software quickly records missing teeth, probing depths, recession, furcation, mobility, bleeding points, exudate, and large restorations such as crowns, and bridges. Its voice recognition technology is trained to pick up each provider’s voice, so it understands what you are calling out. Background music and client conversations do not impact charting and it repeats the data to ensure it is accurately recorded.   

• Handsfree: VoiceWorks is completely handsfree, preventing cross-contamination or the need to remove gloves during charting. It can be used under a face shield and with an N95 mask. This makes it a breeze to work with during client appointments. 

• Aids in Diagnosis and Evaluation: VoiceWorks uses the recorded information you relay, and breaks it down into useful data, which makes charting far simpler and helps with determining a dental hygiene diagnosis. VoiceWorks summarizes pocket depths, recession, furcation, plaque sites bleeding points into number of sites noted as well as percentages, which streamlines setting and evaluating goals.   

• Interactive and Educational: I’m a strong believer that knowledge is power. I spend quite a bit of time educating my clients on their existing oral health conditions and how to achieve improved results. VoiceWorks has also become a solid resource for client education. As you are charting, VoiceWorks repeats the data, calling out a caution for probing depths over 4mm and the danger for probing depths over 5mm alerting the client to areas of concern. Once charting is complete, I can show the client their chart and review the dental disease process and other findings. The chart is visually stimulating and easy for clients to understand and can be printed or emailed for the client’s record. They often comment on how thorough and educational their appointment is, and how no one has ever explained this process to them in this capacity before. Thanks to the information VoiceWorks provides during visits, clients return motivated and eager to see their improvement.  

• Assists With Treatment Acceptance:  When clients have a better understanding of their oral health and the state it is in, they have a better acceptance of recommended treatment. This not only helps promote good oral health for my clients but also assists with my practice’s bottom line. 

• Cost-effective: While there is an initial investment and a monthly fee, the value-add that VoiceWorks provides outweighs these costs. It has helped me to save time, which can be spent focusing on my clients, other areas of my practice, or with my family. Clients often comment that they have never had their oral health explained to them so well, which not only assists with retention but also increases my client base through referrals. Plus, it offers that “WOW” factor during client visits that I envisioned for my practice when I first launched this business. 

At the end of the day, VoiceWorks has been an asset to our office. In addition to the many accolades I’ve listed above, the training provided with the software was straightforward, the tools themselves are user-friendly, and the technical support offered with the product is outstanding. Along with integrating GBT, clients are more involved in their appointments and excitedly return to see the progress they’ve made. I highly recommend VoiceWorks to any dental hygienist or oral healthcare practice."

To learn more about VoiceWorks, visit oralscience.com