From patient care to bookkeeping, clinical instruments to advertising, the digital age has brought paradigm shifts to all aspects of dentistry. Many clinicians are experiencing changes in patients’ motivations for seeking care (as being explored by Dr. Susan McMahon), while others (such as Dr. Brian Harris) allow patients to virtually test drive new smiles before committing to treatments. File cabinets have shrunk into hard drives and newspaper ads have been replaced by social media campaigns. The latter has created a cottage industry to help dentists navigate the stormy seas of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and whatever new platforms pop up next month (shout out TikTok, you perplexing dumpster fire).

Have you ever seen a drunk pigeon? I hadn’t, until Thursday:

The unprecedented global corona-halt is bearing down on all avenues of commerce and forcing industries to leverage creativity to stay productive. This is often manifesting in adopting technologies and stretching the current capabilities of telecommuting. Unfortunately for dentists, remaining productive can’t be done by simply shifting morning huddles to Zoom calls. Clinicians have to interact with patients, simple as that. This is giving early adopters of teledentistry a chance to shine, such as Dr. Brian Harris, an Arizona-based clinician and founder of Smile Virtual. He hopes dentists use this “shutdown time” as an opportunity to explore new possibilities for their practices.

In all avenues of life, folks behind the scenes often don't receive the acclaim they deserve. From hospitality, to healthcare, to Hollywood, people operating out of the spotlight can be ignored while the front-and-center stars get showered with praise. Travelers thank pilots, but air traffic controllers go about their duties without garnering the gratitude flight crews receive. Dental assistants are in many ways the air traffic controllers of their practice, directing the complex flow of an office while caring for patients and undertaking tasks others overlook.