Dental Success

Cynthia McKane-Wagester is a Registered Dental Hygienist whose diverse professional activities reflect an avid interest in all aspects of the dental profession.

From 1979 to 1988, Ms. McKane-Wagester worked as hygienist in two private practices in Owings Mills, MD. Concurrently, she served as part-time clinical team member of the Community College of Baltimore, and as part-time Public Health Hygienist for the Baltimore City Health Department where she developed and implemented a K-3 program.

In 1983, Ms. McKane-Wagester established Dental Placements, Inc., an agency that provided temporary personnel for private practices and public dental healthcare institutions in the Baltimore-Washington area. In 1987, the agency’s outstanding track record and her managerial acumen led to a position as senior consultant with Paragon Management Associates, Inc., a nationally recognized firm based in Maryland. As Senior Consultant and hygiene coach with Paragon, Ms. McKane-Wagester provided hands-on training and implemented quality control systems for more than 200 healthcare practices. She planned and presented seminars and workshops and recruited speakers to represent the organization at local and regional events and continuing education programs.

McKane & Associates, a full service management consulting firm offering healthcare professionals a series or coordinated programs that support and teach a “win-win” approach to profitability, optimal patient care, and excellent customer service, was established in 1994. The firm now has a client base of more than 600 dental healthcare practices in the United States and Canada and remains committed to helping healthcare professionals meet the new challenges of the profession by constantly updating, enhancing, and individualizing programs and services. In 1997, McKane & Associates was expanded to include a Training and Placement Services Division, specializing in human resource training and developmental services. Presently there are four comprehensive, dental training programs running throughout the state of Maryland. A medical division of McKane & Associates was established in 1999.

Ms. McKane-Wagester holds an AA from Frederick Community College, a BS from the University of Maryland Dental Hygiene School, and an MBA in Health Care Management from Century University. In 1998, she established the Dental Hygiene Mastermind Alliance, an assembly of dental hygienists who meet four times a year to exchange ideas and support each other through networking and continuing education. She has also served as president of the state and local components of the Maryland Dental Hygiene Association and as coordinator of fundraising efforts for the University of Maryland Dental School. In 1999, she was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland Dental School.

In 2001, Ms. McKane-Wagester established a Dental Assisting training programs for Prizm Dental Partners and for Baltimore City Community College. That same year she established a Front Desk training program (Pathways to Success) for the Welfare Back to Work Empowerment Zone project in Baltimore, Maryland. The 15-week program comprised a series of core courses leading to internships at more than 100 sites, including Union Memorial Hospital, the City of Baltimore, and numerous private dental and medical practices.

Ms. McKane-Wagester joined the staff of Dental Book Kamp Coach with Planned Marketing Associates in 2003, and her wide range of skills and talents have made her an excellent coach and an asset to the organization in numerous ways. She is a contributing editor to The Dental Success Letter, Dental Boot Kamp’s weekly publication, and McKane & Associates now offers custom-tailored telephone consultations that supplement the strategies presented in the DSL 12-Marketing Plan.

Ms. McKane-Wagester's articles have been published in Dentistry Today, Dental Economics, MAGD’s Impressions newsletter, The Profitable Dentist, and other nationally recognized professional journals, and she serves as an editorial consultant to RDH Magazine. Her articles can also be accessed via the Internet at Dentistry.com and Dental Angle On-Line. Cindy McKane-Wagester's new column, Dental Economics for the Master Practice Team, debuted in the July 2005 issue of DE. Focusing on "dental economics" for the entire dental team, the column explores strategies that every team member can utilize to promote the practice and market excellent dentistry.

Cindy McKane-Wagester's first book, Dental Hygiene: Pulse of the Practice, was published in June 2002 by Pennwell Books. Now supplemented by a Student Workbook and Instructor's Manual, Pulse of the Practice has been adopted as a course textbook by the University of Maryland Dental Hygiene Program. Her 2-tape video library series, A Practice Within a Practice (available on DVD and VHS), is an excellent blueprint for a hygiene department that integrates restorative and preventive dentistry through improved scheduling, marketing, case acceptance, customer service, and patient education.

Ms. McKane-Wagester's most recent publishing venture is the Master Practice Procedures Quartet, a series of integrated manuals that take the concept of teamwork to new heights. Focused on the business of dentistry, the MPP Quartet is revolutionary template of coordination that is designed to transform the practice where everyone is playing "my way" into a Master Practice in which everyone plays the same tune. Introduced at the recent Crown Council Meeting held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the manuals (Employment, Administrative, Clinical, and Hygiene) are available individually or as an integrated unit. The MPP Quartet has been widely acclaimed by leaders in the profession as the quintessential tool for the doctor who is working to create a practice environment that fosters cooperation, coordination, and consistency.

Cynthia McKane-Wagester is committed to helping health care professionals meet the new challenges of the profession by constantly updating and enhancing programs and services offered by her firm. This commitment recently inspired a new endeavor. In 2004, she co-founded The Chesapeake Institute for Dental Studies, a revolutionary continuing education enterprise that presents an alternative program of studies for dental practices and their hygienists. The Institute, which is to be staffed by a highly qualified and diverse faculty with wide-ranging experience in all aspects of dentistry, will offer a curriculum designed to build a practice from a unique foundation—the untapped potential of the hygiene department.

Ms. McKane-Wagester's professional accomplishments have been recognized in Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals (2004). She is a member in good standing of the American Dental Hygiene Association and Maryland Dental Hygiene Association, and has served in line officer positions in both organizations. Cindy is frequently invited to speak at professional conferences and seminars and was recently awarded the 2008 Practice Management Consultant of the year at the Annual Crown Council event in Nashville Tenn.

The Goal is Simple…Create Excellence!