Strategies To Impress Your Dental Patients

Written By Dr. Gurminder Singh Gill / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

Many people are hesitant to go to the dentist, so you want to make your patients’ experience as smooth as possible. Forty-two percent of Brits cited their fear of dentists as a reason for avoiding regular dental care.

The following strategies can help you establish a trusting relationship with your patients, thereby increasing their comfort.  

Appointment scheduling To Impress Your Dental Patients

Use an easy-to-understand scheduling system. You don’t want it to be so complicated that it scares off potential patients. 

Appointment confirmation in a different way To Impress Your Dental Patients

In addition to the automatic confirmation your scheduling system might send, it’s best to follow up with a text confirmation. Make your message personal and consider starting with a quick thank you.

Make your practice website To Impress Your Dental Patients

Having a clear, informative website converts to repeat patients. You should optimize your website for both browser and mobile use. Forty-eight percent of consumers do their research on a mobile device, and they might leave your site if it’s not easy to view on their phones.

Hire a web designer to ensure you stand out from competitors, and try to sync your scheduling system with your website so it’s easy for a patient to book an appointment online.

Advertise your website effectively To Impress Your Dental Patients

Regularly add new content and updates, and try to include hyperlinks to recent industry news to give your website more authority. You can also use social media to promote your website and new content.

Don't forget to list your business on search engines To Impress Your Dental Patients

Use Google and Bing to your advantage. Both offer business search listings which can help you target by location. For example, if you define your business as a dental practice in Barnet, patients in Barnet will encounter your listing first.  

Results from both Google and Bing also often come with a map and a place to put your contact information, including a phone number and your website. 

Make your waiting room happening To Impress Your Dental Patients

At busy times, wait times will increase. Make your patients as comfortable as possible by providing magazines and toys for children. 

A screen displaying information about individual wait times can help patients plan the rest of their day, and free Wi-Fi can also improve the patient experience. 

Provide parking facility To Impress Your Dental Patients

Parking in a city is always a struggle. Make it easier for your patients by reserving spots or identifying parking in your confirmation email.

Provide different payment options To Impress Your Dental Patients

Patients come from different economic backgrounds. Consider seeing NHS patients as well as private patients, and offering various payment options, including pay-as-you-go, capitation schemes, cash plans and treatment loans. 

If a patient can’t afford payment upfront, they will appreciate other options. 

Share information to improve health To Impress Your Dental Patients

Regularly update your website with new information about dental practices and dental hygiene. Consider posting blogs frequently, and share the updates on your social media.

You can also share new information with patients through an email newsletter. This strategy will not only educate your patients on new brushing techniques or new NHS dental guidelines but also  as a reminder that you care about them.

Do call back if you missed it To Impress Your Dental Patients

You should avoid missing calls if at all possible. However, sometimes a patient will ring while your staff is busy or the office is closed.

Waiting a few days to return a call will make the patient feel unimportant and overlooked, and they might decide to take their business to another dental practice. By making missed phone calls a priority, you show your patients that their time is important to you.

Improve Customer Service To Impress Your Dental Patients

Customer service begins before the patient enters the practice. Focus on making the whole process intuitive and straightforward, from finding your website to booking an appointment to payment. 

When interacting with patients, a smile goes a long way. Train staff and dentists to treat patients with respect and kindness.

Be proactive To Impress Your Dental Patients

If a staff member is running late due to an accident or has called off due to illness, you might have long wait times.

Instead of waiting until a patient asks about problems, be proactive. Call or message your first patients of the day to let them know about the delay, and inform arriving patients of the increased wait time upon arrival.

Communicate about treatments and its importance To Impress Your Dental Patients

Clearly explain treatments, including reasons, steps and cost. If it’s a treatment a patient will need to continue at home, let them know the importance of the treatment and health consequences if they don’t follow through.

Offer some free services To Impress Your Dental Patients

Use the Law of Reciprocity by offering your patients some free services. They might feel more obligated to return to you or refer your practice to others after using a free offer.

Remember Birthdays and anniversaries wish To Impress Your Dental Patients

Make your patients feel special by sending them a personalized birthday greeting. Try to automate this system as much as possible while keeping it personal.

Looking for a 100% all-natural liquid tooth oil and mouth rinse? Check out OraMD Original Strength and OraMD Extra Strength. Subscribe to our Trusted Health Club newsletter for more information about natural living tips, natural health, oral care, skincare, body care and foot care. If you are looking for more health resources check out the Trusted Health Resources list. 

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Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.