Month: September 2017
Webinar: Marketing your dental office with video
Creating videos can help differentiate your dental practice from your competitors and increase awareness in your local community. They can also drive traffic to your website or generate interest in a particular service. Videos help build the trust that is important to establish in any patient relationship. A successful video is one that meets your dental practice’s business objectives. Taking the time to map out a strategy will help you develop a quality product to achieve your goals.
Join us Sept. 27, 2-3 p.m. CST, as we walk you through the process of creating a great video, from generating the idea, filming the video yourself or collaborating with a film team, and where you can post the video after it’s produced.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about different types of videos for different audiences
- Determine budget and production value
- Considerations before filming in your office
- Using your video to market your practice
To register for the webinar, click here.
Our Presenter
Christopher Fraze is the Vice President of PBHS and leads the Product Development team. Mr. Fraze has spent the last 17 years at PBHS designing and implementing new Internet technologies for the dental community. By demonstrating how to pre-educate patients, increase case acceptance, facilitate workflow in the office and improve office productivity, PBHS became nationally known as the leading innovator in building an online presence. Mr. Fraze helped bring to market the process of secured patient communication, referral collaboration, in-office patient education tools, and waiting room pre-education and marketing.
New Dentist Conference offers opportunity to network, share experiences
When North Carolina dentist Dr. Kristin Kaelke Miller says that one of the highlights of the New Dentist Conference is the networking, she means it.
Drs. Kristin Kaelke Miller and Scott Driver, best friends from dental school, reunite in Denver while attending the 2016 New Dentist Conference.
“Well, at the meeting last year in Denver, I met someone at my 16th District lunch table that led me to get my awesome new job out of it,” Dr. Miller said. “An associate was there from a practice that was two minutes from where I live. The practice was somewhat new, but I don’t know if I would have found out about them as quickly if we hadn’t sat down and started talking that day. They were looking for someone with my background and experience, and the timing was perfect. Networking doesn’t get much better than that for me.”
Dr. Miller, a member of the class of 2011 of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry, has been going to the New Dentist Conference since 2014, with plans to attend this year’s event in Atlanta in October, concurrent with ADA 2017 – America’s Dental Meeting.
The New Dentist Committee chair at the North Carolina Dental Society, Dr. Miller said there are many reasons why she makes it a point to be a part of each year’s New Dentist Conference. “I love going to see old friends and faces and network with other like-minded dentists, new and old,” she said. “I catch up with old classmates from my dental school in Kansas City, but I get to see a lot of new dentist friends that live all across North Carolina, too. Even though we’re in the same state and all fairly involved in organized dentistry, I don’t regularly see them, so it’s fun to be able to hang out and relax together. I get a lot of opportunity to do continuing education near me, so the continuing education, social events and food are a bonus.”
Dr. Jarvis
Louisiana-based Dr. Raymond Jarvis, who graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in 2010, is one of two national New Dentist Committee members that work with the ADA to organize and plan the New Dentist Conference.
Dr. Jarvis first attended the conference last year, and said he is a strong advocate for new dentists to come to Atlanta.
“One tough part about being a dentist is that we work in our practices by ourselves or with a small group of other dentists day in and day out,” Dr. Jarvis said. “The New Dentist Conference gives us a chance to interact with other new dentists from around the country to share and learn about our successes and failures. It can be very freeing to learn that we all share similar experiences of learning to manage the daily goings on of a dental practice, supporting our student debt, juggling work and family life, etcetera. On top of that, we have an amazing lineup of inspirational speakers and CE courses as part of the New Dentist Conference.”
He added: “We really have put in a lot of work in to make this an amazing conference. I am looking forward to seeing many new dentists at the conference. I hope that everyone takes full advantage of everything the New Dentist Conference and the ADA Meeting has to offer.”
The New Dentist Conference is Oct. 19-21 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, concurrent with ADA 2017 – America’s Dental Meeting. Register at ADA.org/NDC.
Dental Sedation Survey Results Are In
Our dental management survey this week asked dentists if they offer sedation dentistry.
We also asked what fees doctors charge for various types of dental sedation.
All of our survey respondents offer sedation as a service in their practices, and fees vary widely among those who offer it.
Fees ranged from a low of $45 for nitrous oxide to highs of $500 for IV sedation and $600 for pediatric sedation.
Fees average about $300 for oral conscious sedation that helps lower dental anxiety.
When we asked which types of dental treatment prompted the most sedation requests from patients, we found that the type of dental service was not the deciding factor.
Patients who suffer from fear of dentists and dental anxiety request dental sedation for everything:
“All phases from prophies to impacted extractions,” said a New Jersey general dentist.
“All procedures if need be,” said a general dentist who practices in Canada.
Sedation dentistry can be a useful tool for treating patients.
It can also be an effective dental marketing opportunity for dentists who want to differentiate their practice by offering additional services.
However, offering sedation dentistry is major commitment to undertake, due to the additional training involved, state licensing requirements, and the availability and costs of dental practice insurance.
Have you considered offering dental sedation in your practice? Why, or why not?
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Dental Marketing Plan: Should You Include Custom Athletic Mouthguards?
The fall and winter sports season in North America means many dentists will be treating mouth injuries. Missing teeth are all too common among football, basketball and hockey players.
Dentists know that tooth loss, concussions and even worse injuries can be prevented with proper custom fitted mouth guards.
We wondered how many of our surveyed dentists offer mouth guards.
Only 40% of our responding dentists offer custom mouth guards in their practice.
We also asked if our dentists are proactive in promoting custom mouth guards, and educating patients about their value in preventing serious oral and head injuries.
Only 20% actively recommend them, or make a point of educating patients about them.
“I find that it often comes down to price to patients/parents. I am amazed at how many parents balk at paying $100 or more for a custom, professionally-made protective mouthguard for their child, even after being completely educated and informed about the huge benefits over the cheap, boil-and-bite mouthguards.” Ohio prosthodontist
“I have tried to encourage them without much luck. Most kid athletes want to wear what everyone else wears and they don’t want to stand out. It takes some work and marketing to schools and coaches.” Texas dentist
From the results of our survey, custom athletic mouthguards certainly don’t have the market appeal of cosmetic dentistry services or clear braces.
However, the topic can still be used successfully in a dental marketing campaign.
Write a post for your blog about how custom mouthguards can save kids from serious head injuries.
Or write an article for your favorite real estate agent’s newsletter comparing the cost of a custom mouthguard to the cost of dental implants and oral surgery!
Educational articles — written in language that patients can understand — are an ethical approach to
effective dental patient marketing.
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Dental Marketing Survey: Does The Phone Book Still Bring In New Patients?
In our most recent dental marketing survey, only 25% of respondents are still getting patients from the phone book, and just 13% are using a display ad.
Three-quarters of our dentist survey participants are getting either very few or no phone book patients at all.
When we asked this same question a year ago, although the trend was clear, it’s interesting to see how much and how fast dental marketing has changed.
One year ago, 39% of our dentists were getting patients from the phone book, and 57% were using display ads; 61% said they were getting few to no patients.
An Ohio prosthodontist speaks for the 75% majority in our digital society:
“Phone book? What’s a phone book? Since most people don’t know what one is, we don’t bother advertising in it. It doesn’t make sense anymore…Don’t waste your money!”
Our survey also revealed that 88% of our dentists are getting new patients from dental websites.
And 50% are getting mobile marketing results from patients using their smart phones.
Clearly, the internet and mobile devices have virtually replaced phone books as far as consumer search resources are concerned.
But before tossing out the phone book entirely, an Illinois dentist reminded us that it’s important to know your market’s demographics.
“The phone book brings in a lot of older adults. Patients usually call for extraction or dentures but often end up with implants, perio and bridgework. These are patients who don’t cruise the web but call when they are ready for care.”
Older Baby Boomers and their seniors may not be digitally savvy, but they still need dental care. If they’re part of your market, the phone book may still be a viable channel for your dental practice marketing.
Are phone book patients part of your target market?
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Dentist Survey: Do You Offer Botox® Treatments At Your Practice?
Botox® has clinical uses in a dental practice — for treating TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder), or helping elderly patients relieve drooling that occurs due to loss of muscle tone.
In states where a dental license allows dentists to administer it for cosmetic purposes, Botox® patients can be a welcome addition to the practice’s cash flow.
One might easily argue that dermal fillers are not that far removed from smile design and other types of cosmetic dentistry.
“I think it is a purely personal decision as long as the training is there. It would be entirely appropriate in a highly cosmetic practice.” Texas dentist
We’ve conducted surveys on this topic in the past, and the results showed that 70% of respondents had no problem with dentists providing Botox® treatments.
We wanted an update, so we asked: Should dentists provide Botox® and dermal fillers?
Again, most of the doctors saw no problem with offering the treatments, but this time it was a smaller 55% majority.
Speaking for the minority,18% of our dentists survyed think Botox® is approprate only for therapeutic use, and 27% think providing dermal fillers is not an appropriate role for dentists.
We also asked: Do you offer Botox® or Restylane injections at your dental practice?
It’s not surprising that 27% responded that they do not and never will.
The rest of our dentists were split: 9% said they offer Botox® or Restylane injections and their patients love it; 27% said they would if state regulations allowed; and 37% said they don’t yet provide dermal fillers, but might someday.
The bottom line is — in states that allow it — offering Botox® comes down to a dental management decision.
“We know our way in and around the face better than most estheticians and are skilled with a syringe. I have offered it in my practice and not found it to be worth the investment of time and materials. Too many people look for the next Groupon.” Colorado dentist
Have you considered offering Botox® at your dental practice?
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Dental Practice Management: Do You Have a Financial Arrangements Coordinator? (Video)
A Financial Arrangements Coordinator can be a valuable asset to the dental practice management team.
This key position is responsible for all financial interactions with the patient, from treatment plan to dental financing and payment options.
“It is a complete necessity to have someone who is ultimately responsible and the ‘go-to’ person for all financial arrangements, especially patient interaction,” said a Michigan dentist.
“Having a financial arrangements coordinator is probably a great idea for larger multi-dentist offices, but I find it is not likely to be cost-effective in a smaller practice,” said a general dentist.
Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey chat about this survey asking dentists if they have a Financial Arrangements Coordinator on their dental practice team:
Jim, a former dental practice consultant, thinks it’s a good idea to have an employee dedicated to managing financial arrangements.
Dentists seem to be split. Of those who responded to this survey, 55% do not have a financial arrangement coordinator, and 45% do employ a team member to carry out this function.
Although it’s not feasible for every practice, there are many benefits to having a dedicated “money person.”
“I have one designated team member to make financial arrangements, but occasionally another member has to step in due to the primary being out of the office for various reasons,” said a Nevada dentist.
“We estimate insurance benefits, and receive the patient’s portion on the date services are provided. Other than that, the only other financial arrangement we offer is through Care Credit. Our receptionist comfortably handles this as part of her duties,” said an Illinois dentist.
“I wish everyone would just pay at the time of service!” said a California dentist.
“We have only one person, and no one else discusses money. That way it stays simple, and patients can’t say someone told them something different,” said an Oklahoma dentist.
The bottom line is that handling financial arrangements effectively can have a positive impact on the practice’s revenue.
It can increase case acceptance, and free up the dentist’s time treat more patients instead of talking about money.
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Are Dental Website Patients Better…or Worse? (Video)
Online dental marketing can attract new patients to a dentist’s office.
Internet patients sometimes have a different profile from other new patients.
“The majority of our big cases the past few years have come from the internet,” said a Minnesota dentist.
“Referral patients have more trust from the beginning. Online patients are typically younger and not as financially able to afford treatment,” said a general dentist.
We conducted a survey asking dentists about dental website patients: Are patients who find a dentist online different from patients who come in via more traditional methods?
Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey talk about this survey about patients acquired via online dental marketing:
One third of dentists responding to this survey said they don’t see a difference.
However…half of those doctors feel that online dental patients are more likely to follow through with treatments, while the other half think online patients are less likely to follow through with treatment.
One in five dentists said that word-of-mouth referrals from current patients are the best type of dental patients to follow through with treatment.
Overall, the results suggest that patients are pretty similar, regardless of the dental marketing methods that were used to acquire them.
“Online patients are generally young, looking for the best price and not dentally educated. Anyone who chooses a dentist based upon online reviews sees dentistry no differently than a gas station or a supermarket,” said a Massachusetts dentist.
“Online patients have done their research and know a lot about our office before becoming patients. They are certainly more likely to follow through with recommended treatment,” said an Ohio prosthodontist.
“For me, a cold online lead is not unlike a patient who drove by and saw my sign. They are a tougher sell then a true internal referral. A Facebook referral can be close to an internal referral when referred by an existing patient,” said a Georgia dentist.
“Dental website patients ask more questions, are younger and more tech savvy, tend to believe what they read online, are less critical in their thinking, and are so wed to their smart phones that they’re not big conversationalists,” said a California dentist.
Online dental marketing doesn’t have to replace traditional marketing avenues like direct mail and internal marketing.
Dental websites are an additional way to capture more new patient leads.
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Cosmetic Dentistry Tops The List As Most Popular Dental Practice Service (Video)
In addition to family and general dentistry, most dental practices provide additional types of dentistry.
Dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, and braces are some of the many services dentists offer.
“We offer a very wide range of services for a general dentist: Invisalign, sedation dentistry, dental implant placement & restoration, CEREC, most Endo, Perio, and Oral Surgery. Without this broad offering, we would be doing much worse financially,” said a Minnesota dentist.
“More than half of our practice is dental implants now,” said a California dentist.
We conducted a survey asking dentists which services their dental practice offers.
Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey discuss the vareity of services that dentists offer:
What are the most popular dental services offered?
Besides general and family dentistry, cosmetic dentistry is number one. In fact, 86% of dentists responding to this survey offer cosmetic treatment.
Over 70% of dentists also mentioned tooth whitening, dental implants and crowns, dentures, and children’s dentistry.
Over half of dentist respondents also offer root canal therapy and treat gum disease.
What types of dentistry are less commonly offered?
Just under half of respondents mentioned TMJ, Invisalign, and wisdom teeth. Only one in three offers sedation dentistry, and one in four provide orthodontics or treat sleep apnea.
It’s important that dentists consider the types of treatment they offer when creating a dental marketing plan.
“In our litigious society it is better to refer anything that can be done better by a specialist, including molar endo. It is not worth the trouble, and the patients will love you for referring. You lose patients on whom you do extractions – trust me, that is spoken with 50 years’ experience,” said a New York dentist.
“Oral conscious sedation is great combination with CEREC users – one appointment dentistry while sedated,” said an Oklahoma dentist.
“An oversupply of orthodontists and general dentists doing braces and other orthodontic procedures will mean more competition for the few patients considering treatment,” said a Wisconsin orthodontist.
“I have been teaching and doing Botox injections for over 7 years. Where else can one earn about $500 profit in under 5 minutes? Cosmetics pays,” said a New Jersey dentist.
Jim thinks dentists should offer services that, number one, patients are interested in, and number two, that the dentist likes providing.
“To me, those are the two essential elements of a successful dentist: making a profit – and enjoying yourself while you do so,” said Jim.
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Invisalign 