Dr. Gary B. Carr
TDO Founder and President
“THE JOURNEY TOWARD EXCELLENCE”
The short version of the TDO story is that TDO began with the commercial launch
of our software in early 2000. The true story of TDO however goes back much farther
than eight years or even ten. It predates our current location and even the name
TDO. In fact, the true story of TDO has nothing to do with software, but starts
with a group of concerned endodontists trying to better the state of our specialty.
Early in my career I was puzzled by the fact that endodontic surgeries had a 50%
failure rate. So with the help and mentoring of Dr. Terry Tanaka, I undertook a
microscopic and ultra-structural study of surgical failure using fresh human cadavers.
Our study showed conclusively that there were two primary causes of surgical failure.
The first was inappropriate surgical armamentarium, which lead to my development
of a radically different system of microsurgical instruments. The second was inadequate
placement of retro-filling material due to poor visibility, a problem that could
easily be solved with a high magnification microscope.
These insights eventually lead to dramatic improvements in the safety and success
rate of endodontic surgeries for hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
The specialty immediately realized the value in the new microsurgical instruments
I invented. Surprisingly, however, my decision to start using a microscope was initially
met with skepticism and ridicule (surprisingly because microscopes were already
common practice in neurosurgery, micro-vascular surgery, ENT and OBGYN).
For me and a loyal group of like-minded clinicians, it was our first lesson that
excellence doesn’t come easy, and that humans are surprisingly resistant to change
even when all evidence points to the need for it. Today, training in “Microscopic
Endodontics” is required by postgraduate programs in order to become certified.
But it took 15 years of lectures, training and workshops through PERF (The Pacific
Endodontic Research Foundation) to get this change accepted on a widespread scale.
Then, in the late 1990s, my office manager Amy Taylor and I began developing a practice
management software as a natural compliment to working with a microscope. The goal
was not to produce just another practice management software, but to develop a truly
integrated digital office that would simplify and unify all functions within an
endodontic practice. At the same, time we hoped to create a disciplined way of collecting
data that would allow for a scientific analysis of endodontic outcomes as well as
provide standardized evidence-based endodontic protocols, which are solely needed
in our specialty.
We began testing Version 1.01 of TDO in 1998. Thirty dedicated endodontic specialists
culled from prior PERF faculty members volunteered to be the beta testers. After
two years of extensive beta testing and further refinement of the ergonomic concepts
first developed at PERF, TDO was introduced commercially in early 2000 revolutionizing
the field of endodontic record keeping. Eight years later we are preparing to launch
Version 11, and in the future we will continue to regularly evolve our software
to stay at the forefront of the field.
TDO - The Digital Office for Endodontists - is presently the most widely used endodontic
software in the world. Through TDO we have built a community of quality-centered
endodontists united in our search for excellence. Each day, I and my fellow TDOers
strive to push the boundaries of our specialty—most recently through the “TDO Outcomes
Project,” the first multi-centered randomized controlled clinical trial in the history
of endodontics.
We hope that TDO improves your quality of life as it has for countless other endodontists
and their patients, and we invite you to join us on our journey toward excellence.
Only by working together as a group can we continue to advance our specialty and
guarantee our patients the best possible care.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gary Carr