Hints and Advice for Dental Practice Owners

The 2020s are going to be a great time for oral healthcare.

Now, dental practices exist in almost every major city. Because of this, patients are spoilt for choice when it comes to treatment options. A deep clean and teeth whitening? No problem. X-rays to find the root cause of your tooth ache? Easy.

Essentially, no matter what treatment or services a patient needs, they can find a dental practice to do it. Some dental practices are now even offering Botox treatments as the industry is slowly shifting towards a more cosmetic outlook.

So, if you’re a dental practice owner, you should be excited. Through following the hints and advice in this article, you can take your practice to a new level, manage your team better, and boost client numbers.

When you’re ready, let’s begin.

Stock up on your dentist equipment

To deal with high patient demand, you need to stock up and look after your dentist equipment.

Currently, patients are a lot more hygiene conscious than they were a couple of years ago, which is why you need to be stocked up on latex gloves, antibacterial surface wipes, face masks, and much more. Doing this will ensure you don’t experience any emergency shortages and can provide your clients with the proper hygienic measures that they will now expect.

Naturally, you should also consider upgrading your other equipment, from dental chairs to scalers and molds. In the dental industry, new technologies and equipment trends are constantly emerging, so it’s important that you stay on top of everything and don’t fall behind the times.

Prepare for future global events

Here’s another important piece of advice: prepare for future global events that might negatively impact your practice.

For example, if there is to be a virus outbreak or lockdown in the future, you will not be able to see your patients like you usually would. Therefore, having a plan in place will really help you. From virtual catch-up appointments with your most in-need patients to continuing staff training, make sure to cover all areas.

Create a digital booking system

Modern technology is changing all industries – with healthcare being at the top of the list.

Some dental practices, doctors, and even hospitals are now allowing patients to book appointments, purchase prescriptions, and speak to their healthcare professionals via digital platforms.

Your first step should be to create a digital booking system which your patients will be able to use to book and cancel appointments. Ideally, your booking system should be available through your website or a downloadable app. However, after implementing a digital bookings system, you should still allow patients to book appointments the classic way (by phone call) to ensure you don’t disadvantage the less tech-savvy patients that you have on record. 

Hire specialists

Many dental practices are now hiring specialists to work for them, such as denture specialists. Hiring a specialist can be a good idea if you feel that a specific portion of your client base would benefit from a specialist being on board. Think carefully and consider the financial implications of doing this.

Implement automated billing

In the past, dental practices would traditionally ask their patients to pay for their treatments immediately after their procedure was finished. However, automated billing has now started to take over the industry, instead. This is where patients get billed (or invoiced) digitally without any manual work required by staff. It’s a great way to modernize your dental practice and ultimately save a lot of time and effort.

Conduct marketing campaigns

As a dental practice owner or manager, you will understandably want to grow your patient numbers and ultimately make greater profits. One of the most effective ways you can do this is by conducting marketing campaigns, such as on social media. For example, you could do product giveaways through social media, like toothbrushes and toothpastes, that require entry to win.

Have free dental handouts in your practice

Although it seems like the world is going entirely digital, it’s not the end of paper just yet. In fact, most patients enjoy being able to take home free handouts when they visit dental practices, whether it’s advice on how to brush their teeth or new treatment options they might be interested in. Make sure to have plenty of leaflets available in your waiting room for those who might want them.

Provide customer service through social media

As mentioned above, social media is now a part of the dental industry. Conveniently, you can even provide customer service through platforms like Facebook and Instagram. For example, if a patient cannot physically call you, they can message you on Facebook instead and let you know that they want to cancel an appointment.

Keep track of rival practices

Within a 5–10-mile radius of your practice, you likely have at least one rival dentist practice. If this is the case, make sure to keep a track of their activities, such as their pricing schemes for similar treatments.  

This will enable you to make tactically astute changes when needed, especially when you feel you are in need of upping your patient numbers.

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