Do social media sites play a significant role in doctors’ dental marketing efforts? Social networking has become part of the dental marketing landscape. But not all dentists are tech-savvy or interested in social media. “We have absolutely used social media to bring in new patients to our practice,” declared a Missouri dental office worker. “I’ve decided to start asking patients for feedback and testimonials, and we’ve started to publish these testimonials,” said a California orthodontist. Jim and Julie discuss what sort of social networking dentists do online. Nine out of 10 dentists respo ..read more

Dental marketing helps dentists get the new patients they want. Targeted marketing gives a doctor even more power. “In the current economic environment, dental marketing is absolutely necessary,” said an Iowa dentist. “However, it needs to be professional and information based rather than just a bunch of hype.” “We target baby boomers. These guys are going to have the dough and desire to get the treatment,” shared a California dentist. Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey discuss a survey asking dentists about their dental marketing efforts: What’s a typical yearly dental marketing budget for a denta ..read more

Social media is now an established part of our culture. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and blogging have proven to be effective dental marketing channels. But it takes time to manage the accounts and interact on a regular basis. Dentists need to spend their time treating patients. They didn’t invest years into earning dental credentials just to post updates on Facebook every day! We wondered how dentists who are using social media marketing are getting it done, so we asked a few questions about how dentists delegate social media marketing for their practice. As it turns out, half of ou ..read more

Impacted wisdom teeth are a common dental problem. While general dentists can do wisdom tooth extraction, oral surgeons may be better suited to handle complicated impactions. “In our litigious society it is better to refer anything that can be done better by a specialist, including molar endo,” advised a New York dentist. “It is not worth the trouble, and the patients will love you for referring. You lose patients on whom you do extractions – spoken with 50 years’ experience.” “I generally only extract impactions as an act of mercy to those who cannot afford an oral surgeon,” said a general de ..read more

When our dentist survey asked “Do you think husband and wife teams are a good idea?“, 23% of our respondents answered yes; 27% said no; and half thought there was not a clear-cut answer. In this survey 39% of our respondents currently work with their spouse; another 39% have never worked with their spouse; 17% used to work together, but don’t anymore. And 5% don’t have a spouse at the moment. Only 11% of our dentists were coworkers before they became a married dental team; 26% were romantically involved before they teamed up in their practice, and 63% were already married when they became a de ..read more

Investment in new technology such as dental lasers can be a tough dental management decision. There are plenty of questions that need answers before making a purchase. For example, how big is the price tag, and how soon will you see a return on your investment? And from a dental marketing standpoint, will it help you acquire more new patients, or keep more of your current ones? We decided to get some answers. In this survey, we asked dentists about their experiences and opinions surrounding dental lasers for their practices. We found that the most popular dental laser uses are for periodontal ..read more

Dentist appointments aren’t known for being much fun, so it’s no surprise that dentists frequently have to deal with missed appointments. But their dental management strategies vary considerably. Some ignore the transgression, some charge a fee, and others just let the patient go. “We typically don’t fire patients. They fire themselves since many times they will not pay the missed appointment fees and their account is sent to collections. Patients on Medicaid get one chance due to the excessive write-offs we incur,” said a South Dakota pediatric dentist. “Time is money!” declared an Alabama de ..read more

In this survey from The Wealthy Dentist, we asked: “What do you think is the biggest challenge facing new dentists today? The number one problem our surveyed dentists cited is paying off their student loans from dental school— it got 19% of the vote. “[It’s a] whole new landscape out there. I had my problems at startup, (recession, 21%interest rates on my loans) but dentists starting today have even more pressures on them,” said a general dentist. Tied for second and third place, and each receiving 12.5% of the responses, were the cost of setting up a private practice and finding new patients ..read more

Dental insurance is sometimes the bane of a dentist’s existence. Except that dental plans can also be a significant source of new patients. “Insurance brings in new patients, but at a cost,” said a Kentucky dentist. “The fee schedules are terrible. I currently consider the write-off as a marketing expense.” “When we became a provider, we were able to keep some patients who might have gone elsewhere,” said a Texas dentist. Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey chat about results from a survey asking dentists if dental insurance brings new patients into their practice: If it doesn’t get them new patient ..read more

As aging Baby Boomers lose more teeth, offering in-house dentures can be a good way to bring in new patients. The Wealthy Dentist decided to find out how many dentists are taking advantage of this trend — and how much revenue a new dentures patient can add to a practice’s bottom line. We conducted a survey asking dentists about offering dentures in-house,  and average fees in their local market. Of course,  not all dentists enjoy working with dentures patients. On the downside, the work often involves multiple extractions, and dentures can be difficult to fit properly. Patients who s ..read more