Dental Hygiene Coaching | Dental Practice Solutions

Build A Thriving Cosmetic Dental Practice: Understanding Your Patient’s Desires

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

July 25, 2023

A successful cosmetic dental practice goes beyond providing excellent services; it requires understanding what patients truly desire. People are more likely to invest in what they want rather than what they are told they need. By implementing a smile evaluation and asking open-ended questions, dental practices can discover what patients truly want, leading to increased patient satisfaction and the opportunity to grow the practice further.

Read this blog, and explore the importance of understanding patient desires. Learn how enrolling patients into a patient membership/loyalty program such as the Celebrity Smiles Club will significantly contribute to the success of a cosmetic dental practice.

Understand What Your Patient Desires

As cosmetic dentists, our primary goal is to enhance smiles and boost self-confidence in our patients. However, it is crucial to remember that each individual has unique desires and expectations. Using a smile evaluation and asking open-ended questions can help us uncover those desires effectively.

A smile evaluation is a comprehensive process that involves a thorough examination of a patient’s oral health, cosmetic concerns, and overall smile goals. Ask questions to understand what your patient wants. Make it fun when you’re asking your patient what they want their smile to look like.

One fun example. Background: We just had a multi-million dollar lottery.

Scenario: As you are seating your patient, while establishing rapport, getting caught up, with a smile on your face ask:

“Mr. Smith, when you win the lottery this week, what do you want your smile to look like?” Wink.

You are certain to get a smile from your patient when you make the questions fun.

By asking open-ended questions and actively listening to patients, we can delve deeper into their preferences and aspirations.

The Power of Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions invite patients to express themselves freely, giving us valuable insights into their desires. Instead of asking yes or no questions, we can inquire about their dream smile, the aspects they wish to improve, or the emotions they associate with their current dental condition.

This approach not only strengthens the dentist-patient relationship but also enables us to tailor personalized treatment plans that align with their wishes.

“People buy what they want, not what they need.”

Introducing the Patient Membership/Loyalty Plan: The Smile Club

One way to offer patients exactly what they desire is by introducing them to The Smile Club. This exclusive club offers cutting-edge teeth whitening solutions, ensuring patients achieve the radiant smile they’ve always dreamed of. Teeth whitening is one of the most sought-after cosmetic dental procedures, and by incorporating this into your services, you tap into a significant market demand.

Teeth whitening is exploding since 2020! Never in our history have so many people sought-out whiter teeth. Unfortunately, patients are not buying their whitening products from their dentist. Let’s create a paradigm shift and tap into this simple, easy profit center.

A turn-key system is included when you use Celebrity Smiles Club whitening products. The system will grow your dental practice with more new patients and more patients will schedule cosmetic cases. The turn-key systems included with The Smile Club, when implemented, sustains high productivity in your dental practice for years to come.

No need to see more patients or increase your overhead when you implement The Smile Club web-portal of resources.

Benefits of Your Smile Club Patient Membership

Patient Loyalty!
- - Patients join The Smile Club and pay a nominal fee for a take home whitening kit.
  - No impressions, no trays to fabricate, no added patient chair time.
  - Patients agree to your “change of appointment procedure.” Last minute cancellations and no-shows become a distant memory.
  - Patients agree to pre-schedule and show up for their routine preventive care, dental hygiene appointments.
  - Patients buy more whitening products from your office at a reduced fee. buy and save.
  - You buy your teeth whitening products at wholesale and now you can afford to give away a whitening pen as a reward for pre-scheduling and keeping their appointments.
  - Patients buy and save. You passed along the savings and created more profitability with less overhead!
Quick and Effective Results: The Celebrity Smiles Club patient membership/loyalty plan, uses advanced teeth whitening techniques, delivering fast and impressive results.
Patient Reward
- Free whitening pens at routine hygiene appointments are the carrot used to grow your dental practice new patients, enroll more cosmetic cases and a lot more.
- The Smile Club keep patients returning to your dental office.
- You buy whitening products wholesale and pass the savings on to your patients. You give them a toothbrush and floss and what they really want are whiter teeth! Consider this a win-win.
Fast, effective, no-sensitivity
- Dental grade, no-sensitivity teeth whitening, is highly appealing to patients seeking immediate smile enhancements.
- Ten minutes to a whiter-brighter smile.
- Celebrity Smiles Club uses Carbamide Peroxide + Potassium Nitrate ingredients combined with Cool Light Technology Blue and Red LED Lights mouthpiece.
- * Red LED lights have evidence-based science stating they soothe, comfort and heal mouth sores, canker sores, etc. Great for post-op care! *
  - Think: Photobiomodulation.

** Teeth Whitening is projected to reach 11.6 Billion Dollars by 2030. **

Most people buy teeth whitening online or in a drugstore. What’s wrong with this picture?!

Let’s change this statistic and have our patients get their teeth whitening from their dental office. It’s easy money. No added time to your schedule or more patients in the chair.

Enroll for free and receive access to the resources, the system, included with The Smile Club. Discover how to create a $70,000+ net production profit center in your dental practice annually, and without more patient time or increased overhead when you tap into the sizzle of teeth whitening in North America!

Click the link at the end of this blog and implement the free resources.

Think: No impressions, no pouring models, no need to make whitening trays. No need for patients to return and pick up their whitening trays.

Increase This Simple Service & Profit Center: By offering a very popular and super simple service like teeth whitening using Celebrity Smiles Club whitening products, you will motivate and inspire more patients to consider cosmetic dentistry. Using the Smile evaluation opens the door to additional cosmetic services that both you and your patient may have initially overlooked.

Think: Teeth whitening simplified. More cosmetic cases: more veneers, Invisalign, implants, and crowns, etc.

Grow New Patient Numbers: Members of your patient rewards program, The Smile Club, are more likely to share their positive experiences with family and friends. This is a great way to attract new patients to your dental practice which will increase your reach within the community.
Market the Smile Club benefits everywhere possible: on your website, social media, and your monthly newsletter, etc.
- Use The Smile Club marketing images around your dental office and on your website.
Enhanced Patient Retention: Enrolling patients into the Smile Club establishes a long-term relationship with your patients. Patients are motivated to return for routine preventive care dental hygiene appointments because of The Smile Club benefits.
- When patients enroll they agree, they understand your procedure to change appointments.
- Patients prioritize their dental appointments.
Brand Loyalty: The Smile Club becomes synonymous with quality cosmetic dental care, fostering strong brand loyalty among your patients who enjoy its benefits.

Conclusion

Understanding what your patients truly want is at the heart of building a successful cosmetic dental practice. By completing smile evaluations and utilizing open-ended questions, you uncover your patients desires and craft personalized treatment plans to fulfill them.

The Celebrity Smiles Club plays a crucial role in achieving long-term dental practice success. This loyalty plan offers patients the opportunity to achieve a bright, white smile quickly and effectively. Enrolling patients into The Smile Club, will not only enhance the success of your cosmetic dental practice but also fosters patient loyalty. This is a system that will boost new patient numbers, creating a thriving and satisfying dental environment for everyone involved.

The Smile Club, when all its systems are thoroughly implemented, will not only grow your new patient numbers, but it will increase case acceptance for cosmetic cases and last-minute cancellations become a distant memory.

Enroll today to learn more about the Celebrity Smiles Club system. Start today and all the benefits created for your dental practice here.

There is no cost when you enroll today!

References.

* Photobiomodulation. Accessed July 1, 2023 here.
** Teeth Whitening projected to reach 11.6 Billion Dollars by 2030. Accessed on July 1, 2023 here.
Adjunctive Therapy with Blue LED Lights. Accessed July 1, 2023 here.

The Big Challenge Dentists Face with their Dental Hygiene Department

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

July 19, 2023

Dental hygiene plays a crucial role in maintaining oral health and preventing various dental diseases. Dentists understand the importance of a well-functioning dental hygiene department, as it serves as the foundation for delivering quality dental care to patients.

However, amidst the daily demands of running a dental practice, dentists face a significant challenge in optimizing the efficiency and productivity of their dental hygiene department.

In this blog, we will explore this challenge and discuss potential solutions to overcome it.

The Challenge:

One of the major challenges that dentists encounter in managing their dental hygiene department is maintaining a balance between patient care and operational efficiency. Dental hygienists are responsible for performing a range of preventive and therapeutic procedures, including dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, and patient education.

However, the time-consuming nature of these procedures can lead to scheduling conflicts, prolonged patient wait times, and decreased overall productivity.

Furthermore, dentists often find it challenging to align the workload of their dental hygienists with the number of patients needing dental hygiene services.

*If you are up-to-date with treating oral inflammation, you will need to expand your number of appointments for hygiene patients. How can you fit in more appointments in a day? Hygienists are not plentiful these days and efficiency becomes imperative to meet the needs of treating the high number of gingivitis and perio patients.

Variations in patient flow, cancellations, and no-shows can disrupt the workflow and result in underutilization or overburdening of hygienists’ schedules. This can hinder optimal patient care and compromise the financial stability of your dental practice.

Solutions:

To address the challenges faced by dentists in their dental hygiene department, several strategies can be implemented:

Efficient Appointment Scheduling: Implementing an efficient appointment scheduling system can help optimize the utilization of dental hygienists’ time. By analyzing patient data and historical patterns, dentists can better anticipate demand and allocate appropriate time slots for dental hygiene procedures. Implementing electronic reminders and confirmations can also reduce no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
- Ask us how to simplify analyzing important data and how your team can have an important role in driving the productivity of your dental practice.
- What you measure, matters, and what matters creates your future success.
- Your team should look at the numbers just like they view the dashboard in their car before they arrive at the office each day!
The Celebrity Smiles Club, a patient rewards, loyalty program will reduce those costly last-minute cancellations. Ask us more about this in the link below or schedule a coffee chat below.
Delegating Tasks: Dentists can delegate certain tasks to dental assistants, allowing dental hygienists to focus on their core responsibilities.

For example: a dental hygiene assistant can seat patients, perform preliminary patient screenings, take radiographs, set up and breakdown treatment rooms, sterilize instruments and set-up the hygiene trays with instruments, etc.

By delegating these tasks, dental hygienists can maximize their time spent on direct patient care.

Technology Integration: The integration of advanced technologies within the dental hygiene department can significantly enhance efficiency.
- For example: Empower hygienists to use various digital imaging systems; digital scanners, to streamline the process of capturing and introducing abnormalities, potential treatment plans and diagnoses that will be made during the hygiene-patient- doctor exam.
  - Help patients see what is happening in the mouth. Bring them into a partnership early in the hygiene appointment.
  - Help the doctor with educating the patient and helping them own their disease before the doctor exam begins.

The hygienist has the ability to take annual digital scans and/or an intra-oral video of the patients mouth. Hygienists’ will give the patient a tour of their mouth and show them what is happening in their mouth.

All data collection and patient communication about potential oral abnormalities should be introduced to each patient by the dental hygienist, and always prior to the hygiene-patient-doctor exam. This saves time with the doctor exam and builds trust with the patient.

The hygienist has a great opportunity to help patients “own their disease.” Patients who see what is happening in their mouth vs. being “told” what they need are 75% more likely to schedule and pay for your care.

“People buy what they want, not what they need.”

Continuing Education and Training: Encourage ongoing professional development and training for dental hygienists. This is vital to stay updated on the latest advancements in dental hygiene techniques.

Note: There are a lot of new advancements and technologies which will enhance patient care and dental hygiene appointment efficiency. Dentists must support their hygienists to attend workshops, conferences, and online courses so they stay at the forefront of their field.

Performance Monitoring and Feedback: Regular 360 performance evaluations and feedback sessions can help identify areas for improvement within the dental hygiene department. Dentists should provide constructive feedback, recognize achievements, and set realistic goals to motivate their hygienists and enhance their performance.

Allow the employees to offer their feedback and suggestions for improvement. 360 degree employee evaluations allow employees to be heard. Empower each employee to become a leader in a specific area of the dental practice.

Conclusion:

The dental hygiene department is a critical component of a dental practice. Optimizing the hygiene department efficiency and productivity is an ongoing challenge for dentists.

By implementing efficient appointment scheduling, delegating tasks, integrating technology, investing in continuing education, and providing performance feedback, dentists can overcome many of their challenges and ensure the highest quality of patient care while maintaining a thriving practice.

Dentists do not need to manage but when they delegate they now inspect, what they expect of their employees. Many employees report that they don’t understand what the dentist expects from them.

Finding the right balance between patient care and operational efficiency in the dental hygiene department is an ongoing journey, but one that is essential for the long-term success and growth of a dental practice.

Dentists and dental hygienists should not feel as if they live on an island. Dental Practice Solutions has various solutions to optimize your hygiene department, streamline systems and grow your dental practice.

Consider a quick coffee chat and discover how you can quickly achieve your next level of success.

Click and schedule here.

Or feel free to contact us here and discover how to upgrade your hygiene department and empower your team.

* Reference. Percent of Adults with Oral Inflammation: https://bit.ly/47percentgumdisease Accessed July 19, 2023.

When is the Best Time to Call a Hygiene Department Coach / Consultant?

By: Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS

March 28, 2023

How do you know when it’s time to call in a hygiene department coach and how do you know who to call?

Here are 10 reasons when calling on a hygiene department coach makes sense for your team.

As you read below, make note of anything that may resonate with your dental practice:

Most of the hygiene appointments are Prophy appointments. Approximately 50% of American adults 30 years of age and older have some level of periodontal disease.¹
You have multiple hygienist’s and the patients have a different experience depending upon which hygienist they see.
Several times a week you have holes in your hygiene schedule.
You want your hygienists to play an active role in presenting patient treatment plans. Show patients what you see as you working their mouth. Take intraoral pictures or hand them a mirror to show them what you see.
You have new employees and even after previous coaching you want and need to re-calibrate and update your current systems.
You have looked a your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and see a lot of perio patients and restorative care patients who have unscheduled appointments.
You recently acquired this dental practice, possibly you had a lot of employee turnover and need a plan to support your philosophy of patient care.
You’re thinking about selling your dental practice and know that the hygiene department is the easiest & fastest way to increase your practice profitability.
Each month you paid your bills, but there was no money left for yourself. Maybe you want to earn more money or give team bonuses, etc. Optimizing the hygiene department will increase doctor’s income, the employees can now get a bonus, etc.
You have employees who are willing and excited to learn!

References.

https://bit.ly/CDCPerio2023 Accessed on March 21, 2023

To schedule a complimentary Discovery Session / Coffee Chat to learn more about the potential of your hygiene department, click here, call us at 888-816-1511, or email us at Debbie@dentalpracticesolutions.com