By Fernando Diaz-Lundstedt

How can you handle the marketing power of the Internet in a creative and reasonably priced manner? The options appear to be overwhelming and the challenge is to develop a sensible plan to organize your research.

If you are interested in obtaining more new patients, the following guidelines will assist you in the design of your strategy.

• Search engines position is critical for your success

  You will need a top position with the search engines for the key terms, in this case: dentist or dental and your location. Secure a name for your website that offers the best position. For example, if you are Dr. Name located in NiceCity, one option could be NiceCityDental.com or NiceCityDentist.com

  Remember, the key concept is to be listed at the top of the search engine listing for your location. You can always add your name to the description of the home page:

  NiceCityDental.com Dr Name’s Dental Practice in NiceCity

  That’s the whole point of this exercise: Terms such as dental, dentist, or dentistry associated with your location. Your name and the name of your practice are secondary to the objective of securing top listing with AltaVista, Metacrawler, AOL, Yahoo and the other search engines.

  One word of advice in regard to Yahoo: This is a directory and not an automated search engine. That means that they have a selective process and only websites with original and relevant content are listed. Description of standard services and general information about business hours and such will not get you a listing with Yahoo.

• Only a professional looking website will do

  The free design website and the amateur look are not an option for a dentist. Think about it. How can you expect to have new patients willing to spend a significant amount of money in dental services, when your website looks like you may have plastic chairs in your reception area!

  The website for professionals need to be creative, very efficient and affordable. There are real differences between the companies and individuals that are offering web development.

  One way of separating rookies from real pros is by reviewing their portfolios. If the candidate does not have previous work neatly organized for your analysis, rule it out! It is that simple. Don’t pay somebody to learn web design at your expense.

  The other step that you need to take is surfing the web relentlessly. Find websites design that are appealing to you and add them to your favorites sites. After a while go back and review them, most likely you will find themes, colors, ideas that show a pattern. That is the starting point for yourself and the web design professionals.

• Work with creative people

  There are a lot of people that are trying to sell cookie-cutter type of websites, regardless of your desires and objectives. Stay away from them! They don’t care about anything other than recycling their own stuff.

  Working with a more creative professional may cost a few dollars more but it will set the right tone for your Internet presence. The overall look of your website needs to be pleasant, graphically balanced and creative.

  The home page of your site is the equivalent of the new prospect’s initial phone call. It needs to persuade the potential new patient to review what you have to offer. In this area, a professional writer can help you, too.

• The right budget

  No serious company will quote you a price without finding out what is the scope of the assignment. Simple web pages without a lot of creative energy can be found everywhere. The challenge is to sort all this options out and to determine the right balance between quality and the obvious budget requirements.

  Many web designers don’t want to work with anybody that have less than a millionaire’s budget. But I believe that you can create an attractive, rich in content Internet site within a reasonably cost range.

New Dental Web has friendly consultants that offer quality dental websites and marketing to fit any dentist’s budget.

Heavy marijuana use has been found to contribute to gum disease, apart from the known effects that tobacco smoke was already known to have.

In a group of more than 900 New Zealanders, smoking cannabis more than 40 times a year since age 18 was found to be responsible for more than one-third of the new cases of periodontal disease between ages 26 and 32, according to a study published Feb. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (http://www.jama.com/).

“Heavy cannabis use has been linked to greater risks of developing respiratory disease and some psychiatric conditions,” said Terrie Moffit, a Duke University professor of psychology and neuroscience who participated in the study. “Gum disease should be added to that list of known hazards.”

The study was led by W. Murray Thomson of the school of dentistry at The University of Otago, New Zealand, who measured gum recession at three sites on each tooth at ages 26 and again at 32. The study subjects are part of a longitudinal health and development study that has been tracking nearly 1,000 people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973.

The link between gum disease and marijuana use emerged from a statistical analysis that controlled for gender, dental care, socio-economic status and how clean or dirty the teeth were. Most of the self-identified heavy marijuana users also were tobacco-users, but that factor was controlled statistically. The researchers also were able to focus on study participants who were not tobacco-users, and they still found a link between marijuana use and gum disease.

The precise physiology of smoke’s effect on the gums is still not understood, but the team believes it interferes with immune function, inflammatory response and peripheral blood flow in the gums.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

Consumers have long known that including dairy in their diets can help maintain healthy bones and even help promote weight loss. However, a recent study published in the January issue of the Journal of Periodontology, the official publication of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), demonstrated that routine intake of dairy products may also help promote periodontal health. The study analyzed the periodontal health of 942 subjects and determined that those who regularly consumed dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt had a lower instance of gum disease.

“Research has suggested that periodontal disease may affect overall systemic health,” said study author Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. “This study reinforces what much of the public already knows - the importance of dairy in helping achieve a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy mouth.”

Study participants aged 40 through 79 were examined on two periodontal parameters that can indicate gum disease, periodontal pocket depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) of gum tissue. Researchers observed that subjects that consumed 55 or more grams of products containing lactic acid each day had a significantly lower prevalence of deep PD and severe CAL, therefore demonstrating a lower instance of periodontal disease.

Periodontal, or gum, disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects the gums and bone supporting the teeth. Periodontal disease is a major cause of tooth loss in adults and has been connected to the development of heart disease and increased risk of stroke, and can contribute to complications from diabetes, respiratory disease or osteoporosis.

“Millions of adults already suffer from periodontal disease,” says Dr. Susan Karabin, D.D.S., President of the AAP. “By regularly consuming dairy products such as cheese and milk, something many people do each day, the risk of developing gum disease may decrease. These findings are important since maintaining healthy gums is a critical component to maintaining a healthy body.”

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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To find a periodontist or to find out if you are at risk for periodontal diseases, take the Academy’s risk assessment test. A referral to a periodontist, additional information, and brochure samples are available online at http://www.perio.org/.

About the American Academy of Periodontology

The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) is an 8,000-member association of dental professionals specializing in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the gums and supporting structures of the teeth and in the placement and maintenance of dental implants. Periodontics is one of nine dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association.

Article: “Intake of Dairy Products and Periodontal Disease: The Hisayama Study”
http://www.joponline.org/.

Source: Meg Dempsey
American Academy of Periodontology

It’s the fourth quarter. How’s business? Have you accomplished your practice goals this year? Hopefully, your answer is yes. If not, you’re probably a little disappointed with your rate of practice growth (or lack thereof). Want to change this trend? Here are three strategies that will make an incredible difference in your practice.

Strategy #1 – Drive more new patients into your practice. Attracting more new patients should be a very intentional and ongoing part of your business plan. How much time, effort and money are you investing to be sure that your practice is the practice of choice, where you welcome and cater to new patients?

First, you need to determine what is going on within your practice and what hidden marketing messages you may be sending right now. What makes your practice unique? Do you know? We ask this question to every dentist we meet, and not surprisingly, almost all of the answers are similar. Here are some of the most common examples: “Our practice is friendly,” “We focus on cosmetic procedures,” and “We have a state-of-the art office.” Your prospective patients are looking for something more concrete. You should know what makes you different or special… and have some facts to back it up. Use qualified phrases such as “We have served over 6,000 members of our community in our office,” or “Dr. Smith performs over 200 dental implants each year.” Other good examples of marketing messages are “Same-day emergencies seen” or “Evening and Saturday appointments available.

”Next, everything you do needs to convey that new patients are welcome. While this may seem like a pretty obvious statement, this approach is one of the most overlooked areas in dental marketing. For example, over the past year we have been conducting new patient mystery shopping calls for dental clients across the country, and we’ve seen that many offices are confused about the true purpose of answering the phone. The purpose of answering the phone isn’t to try to pre-judge what a patient wants, needs or can afford; it’s to make them feel that they have called the right place and to find them the right appointment on your schedule.

It’s as simple as asking the caller’s name, finding out how you and your dental team can help them and locating the appropriate appointment time for the procedure. GTA – Get The Appointment – that is the goal. That phone call from someone inquiring about minimum payments or insurance could be your next $20,000 case. You never know. So, ensure that your administrative team is trained and poised to get the appointment for every single call.

Starting an advertising venture without properly training your team to handle new patients when they call is basically a waste of money. Once the new patient telephone training issue has been addressed and is being regularly monitored with mystery shoppers, you are ready to begin sending your marketing messages to prospective new patients.

We are often asked what marketing methods are most effective. Without a doubt, direct mail marketing brings in more new patients than any other external marketing avenue. The key to direct mail advertising is repetition (mailing to the same homes multiple times) and making a specific offer to the prospective patient. Each prospective new patient needs to have a reason to pick up the phone and call you. Also, the offer must have a deadline or the mailing piece will be set aside for another day . . . and then promptly forgotten.

Strategy #2 – Get your existing patients to schedule.  When we go into a prospect’s office, we are amazed at how much dentistry walks out the door every day without scheduling. Usually, there are no “hand-offs” to be seen.

A hand-off is when a team member verbally conveys important information about the patient’s wants to the doctor or other team member. For example, the hygienist should verbally explain to the doctor what problem the patient is experiencing. Then, after making a diagnosis and recommending a treatment plan, the doctor should make a note in the chart and also verbally hand-off the next step in treatment to the clinical team member. The clinical team member should then walk with the patient to the administrative team and tell that person what the patient needs and when it should be scheduled, verifying that information with the patient. Unfortunately, we often see patients just wandering to the front desk, without an idea of what they need next or how important it is – and no recare appointment is put on the schedule.

What are other proactive steps you can take to drive more business from your existing patient base? One is to work your charts. Every patient in your files who has had a comprehensive exam should have their next appointment scheduled; raise your standards and make this an active goal. Also, be sure to pre-appoint your hygiene patients for maximum patient retention.

Strategy #3 – Offer more elective or attractive treatment options to your patients. We live in a very “visual” world. At any time you can turn on the television and see someone who has had a make-over, cosmetic surgery or some sort of weight loss success. The sad part is that most offices don’t take advantage of the visual tools they have in the office. Almost every general practice we work with has an intra-oral camera, but very few of them were using the camera consistently before they became our coaching clients. The excuse in most cases is that “they don’t remember to use it.” Why struggle trying to explain or convince a patient about something that is wrong in their mouth when you can show them instead? Most patients don’t know or understand much about dentistry until they see and “own” their condition. A patient will not get their dentistry done to make you happy. They ultimately have to have a reason to do it for themselves.

Let’s go beyond bread-and-butter dentistry and look at the cosmetic component. We have helped many dental offices fully utilize case presentation tools such as Smile-Vision’s digital imaging, so patients can see what they might look like with a perfect smile. It’s powerful stuff! You don’t have to be a master photographer to use this system and it isn’t a hard-sell. We’ve found that once a patient can actually see what they would look like with an “ideal” smile, there is little convincing that has to take place. The biggest hurdle we help dental teams overcome is implementing the imaging process into their day-to-day practice operations.

by Penny Reed Limoli and Angie Skinner.

Patient referrals have always been the best source of new patients and they probably always will be. Therefore it’s important to do everything possible to encourage patients to refer their friends and family. Amazingly you can find that there may be many patients who “didn’t think you were taking new patients” or it just never occurred to them to mention the positive experiences they have had with your office to others.

Here are some fundamental steps to help get started with a successful referral program for your practice:

1. Have 1000 referral cards printed for your business, done in “two color”, with some sort of a discount or free service offered on them for the new patient. (Complimentary exam with x-rays is a good offer for new patients.)
2. Once the cards are printed, call a staff meeting to go over the details of how the referral program will be run in the office.
3. Make a list of all the patients you know that have commented about how pleased they were with the results of their dental treatment.
4. On each of those patients’ charts attach one of the referral cards so as to remember to give it to them when they arrive for their next appointment.
5. In the progress of each work day when a patient comments on how pleased they are with their treatment, thank them for their compliment and say something like: “We enjoy having special patients like yourself and in fact we would like to reach many more people like you who may not have a dentist and are in need of the type of care we provide here. Do you know of anyone who may be in need of a dentist?”
6. Find out from the patient (if anyone) who he or she may know on this then inform the patient that there are many people that do not see a dentist on a regular basis, and in fact the ADA estimates abouot 50% of the population do not see a dentist on a regular basis, which results in many people having serious problems that can cost a lot of money in the long run not to mention cause tooth loss and gum disease.
7. Hand the patient the referral card (make sure that they are initialed by the person giving it out) and mention the discount or free service on the card and mention also that there is no obligation for any further treatment after the first visit, so the new patient really would not have anything to lose. However, the patient needs to make an appointment within two weeks after receiving the card and the card should be brought in to the office to receive the discount or free service.
8. If the referring patient requests more cards, make sure that he or she receives them to give out.
9. On the patient’s chart write down how many referral cards were given with a note on who that person plans to give the cards to so that the information can be tracked.
10. At any time that a new patient arrives with the referral card in hand the staff member who initialed the card should be given a $20.00 bonus.
11. Do something special for the patient who gave the card to the new patient, such as sending flowers for women, a personalized coffee mug for men, complimentary movie tickets, etc.

In order to run a successful referral marketing program for a dental (or other health care) practice, there are other steps and details involved but these tips should help along the way for an expanding practice.

Dental Marketing Tips by Tonya Brisnehan

Top Ten Famous Dentists (found on HealthCareerNet.)

It’s funny to think of dentists as famous or adventurous.  I found this list on HealthCareerNet and thought I would share.

1. John Henry “Doc” Holliday. Primarily remembered for his connection to Wyatt Earp and the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Doc Holliday was a gambler, a gunfighter and a dentist. Holliday left his home in Georgia when he was 19 to study dentistry in Philadelphia. He obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, and then opened a dental office in Atlanta with another dentist. Soon after, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and moved to Dallas, Tex., where he opened a dental practice – but he discovered that gambling was a more lucrative vocation. The rest is, literally, history.

2. Norman W. Kingsley. Often called “The Father of Orthodontics,” Kingsley was a dentist, an artist, writer and sculptor who did pioneering work studying the cleft palate. His 1880 work “Treatise on Oral Deformities” was enormously influential on the field of dentistry.

3. J. N. Farrar. Also referred to as “The Father of Orthodontics,” his two-volume work, “A Treatise on the Irregularities of the Teeth and Their Corrections,” became a standard reference text for many years, in part because of the generous illustrations. Farrar was an expert at designing dental appliances, and he’s credited with first suggested the use of mild force at intervals to move teeth.

4. Sir James Crichton-Browne. Actually a renowned British psychiatrist, Crichton-Browne is famous for his contribution to oral health. A passionate believer in the need to ensure dental care for children, he advocated the use of fluorine in the diets of pregnant women and children almost a half-century before modern research confirmed fluorine’s value in preventing cavities.

5. Edward Angle. During his lifetime, Angle was able to truly change the profession of dentistry. At the Angle School of Orthodontics, he was able to write extensively about different kinds of mouth abnormalities and create devices to correct them. Many of his treatment systems are still used today.

6. Pierre Fauchard. An important French physician Fauchard is credited as “The Father of Modern Dentistry” (nor orthodontics, as that title was already taken – twice). His 1728 book “The Surgeon Dentist” describes basic oral anatomy and function, signs and symptoms of oral pathology, operative methods for removing decay and restoring teeth, periodontal disease (pyorrhea), orthodontics, replacement of missing teeth, and tooth transplantation. His book is regarded as the first complete scientific description of dentistry.

7. Green Vardiman Black. A colorful name led to a colorful life as a dentist. Black became a professor of Oral Pathology at the Missouri Dental College, and while there, he created more than one hundred scientific papers on the subject of dentistry. He managed to standardize many operative procedures during his lifetime.

8. Harvey J. Burkhart. Primarily known for his diplomacy, Burkhart served as the first president of the American Dental Association in 1899. He held several other honorable positions, and during his lifetime, he pioneered many preventative procedures for patients.

9. Thomas Curtis. The first African-American dentist in Alabama, Curtis was the model of an excellent dentist. He made great strides toward ensuring equality in dental care for all.

10. Chapin Harris. Harris is one of the major reasons dentists have journals to study new techniques today. In 1839, he created the American Journal of Dental Science. He served as chief editor and publisher until his death.

For information about dental websites and dental marketing visit www.newdentalweb.com.

The government has official statistics for measuring dental health in the United States.  The statistic: The percentage of seniors 65-74 who have lost all of their teeth.

Modern dentistry has driven that percentage down over time nationally, but there is a huge difference when comparing individual states.  So what is the main reason some states have seniors with more teeth?  Income.  Statistical analysis shows that a decline in per capita income creates a rise in tooth loss. Correlating statistics show that states with the highest rates of tooth loss are usually the states with the lowest number of dentists per capita. SIDENOTE: Dental salaries did not factor into the tooth loss rate in any way.

For a complete chart and article about states and tooth loss, visit:

The Demographics of Teeth
by Rob Gebeloff
December 12, 2007

Dental website creation time will vary depending on the scope of the project.  Small, rush order websites can be created in a day or two.  Custom websites with a number of online dental tools and search engine marketing campaigns can take much longer.  New Dental Web discusses your dental marketing goals and develops a timeframe for each custom project.

Our template websites (Bronze, Silver, and Gold dental website packages) were originally created as custom websites and then developed into template sites.  If you are able to find a template that fits your practice, then we recommend using a more cost-effective template that can be created quickly.

Other options include custom websites based on templates.  This allows for a mid-range, very affordable price with a quick development time.

For more answers to your dental website questions, please visit www.newdentalweb.com or contact us at contact@newdentalweb.com.

In this ultra-fast paced high-tech business environment in which businesses “strive to survive”, telephone on-hold marketing can be the perfect compliment to your new phone system and a key to preventing caller hang-ups while attaining your company’s dental advertising and marketing goals. Telephone On-Hold Marketing can help you to establish and cultivate your corporate image. You’ve invested thousands of dollars in a new phone system. Marketing has just put out a new direct-mail piece. The phones are starting to ring. Callers are sometimes being placed on “hold”. What are they hearing? Dead Silence, “beeps”, “elevator music”, the radio, or perhaps a classical music CD?

With “dead-silence” or “beeps” on hold, callers may hang-up thinking that they were forgotten about (30 seconds of silence often seems like 3 minutes!) Another option is to put a radio on as “hold music”. Bad idea! Why play a radio on hold, advertising for other companies (including your competitors)? Playing the radio or CD’s on-hold is also considered a “public performance” facing your company with music licensing fees and fines from various music licensing agencies.

On-Hold Marketing is the solution to this PR nightmare. It can also be the final piece of the advertising puzzle. You now have an opportunity to include your current dental advertising campaign, slogan, mission statement, sales promotions, dental website, educational information, jingle (if you have one) etc. In reality, telephone on-hold marketing is an “audio newsletter” allowing the Marketing Department to keep your telephone on-hold announcement consistent with all other advertising that you do.

After all, when you are waiting the lobby of a business, doctor’s office, etc., you’re typically not waiting in a dark, concrete “holding area”. Why would you want subject callers to that same type of experience when they’re holding for you on the telephone line? Face it, in a perfect world, no call would ever be placed on hold. Callers would get through to their desired party to have their questions answered with every call. But this just isn’t reality (even in the age of voice-mail). Why not consider an on-hold marketing program for your company’s new (or existing) phone system? Read more about on-hold phone marketing for dentists.

New Dental Web will launch its new dental marketing website, www.newdentalweb.com, later this month.  As a testament to their search engine optimization (SEO) skills, their website is #1 in Google for “new dental web” and #4 in Google for “new dental websites”.

 ”We’re very excited about the immediate success of our website,” says Steve Presser, owner of New Dental Web.  “We have been studying Google’s algorithm’s in great detail and plan to bring this same success to all of our clients looking for new dental websites.”

He attributes the immediate success to mastering the Google algorithms,  using New Dental Web’s newly created online marketing tools, and to a little bit of luck.  “There’s no question that we specifically created our site to show up at the very top of the search engines.  This is the same package we offer to all clients who choose to go with our top SEO package,” Steve notes.  ”However, for Google to immediately crawl the site before www.newdentalweb.com has officially launched without tweaking keywords and phrases is a blessing.”

Presser goes on to say that while most sites will not see the immediate success that New Dental Web encountered, he firmly believes that he can bring the same web marketing statistics to his clients over a given period of time.  To learn more about New Dental Web’s web marketing and search optimization tools, please click here.