Dental Implants | Dental Practice Solutions

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

By: Debbie Seidel

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.

5 Important Things to Know in Post-Operative Care for Dental Implants

By: Guest Author

February 16, 2023

Dental Implant Post-Op Care — Dental teeth orthodontic dentistry teachng model with gums, tooth enamel, plaque, roots and metal implants.

Dental implants have a high success rate when a proper treatment plan and surgical operation are carried out. Proper knowledge of post-operative care and events can further minimize complications, making the experience smoother and more comfortable.

Following are five aspects to look at and preferred actions that help:

Pain after Dental Implants
Infection following Implant Placement
Post-op Bleeding
Occurrence of Swelling
Neurosensory Disturbance

To address the elephant in the room, the most important and sought-after question about dental implant surgeries is the pain after implant placement.

Pain After Dental Implants

Research shows patients experience mild-to-moderate pain after implant surgeries that may exacerbate in females, regular smokers, and individuals with increased anxiety levels.¹

Implant clinicians prescribe paracetamol, opioids, and corticosteroids routinely after implant surgery. Patients should not exceed the recommended dosage as they may interfere with the osseointegration of implants. Also, with time, there is a decrease in the pain experienced.²

Infection Following Implant Placement

A successful dental implant requires proper osseointegration and effective healing of the surrounding soft tissues. However, compromised healing capacity can lead to several problems. These include early implant failure, insufficient stability at the time of placement, and an increased risk of infection at the surgical site.

Although rare, infections may occur in individuals with diabetes, Vitamin D deficiency, or poor nutrition.

Recent research has shown excellent results in healing and inflammation using photobiomodulation (PBM) commonly achieved with LASERs.³ Albeit, even an array of LED light generates therapeutic PBM responses.⁴ Individuals can use the LED light from the Whitening kit with dual light technology. The ‘red’ light for PBM and ‘blue’ ⁵ could help manage pain and infections.

Post-Op Bleeding

The reasons for post-op bleeding can vary, ranging from undisclosed underlying medical conditions to local trauma from inappropriate brushing at the area of the dental implants.

It is important to disclose your medical history and any current medications to your implant clinician. They may change the treatment plan before placing the implant to avoid chances of post-op bleeding.

Besides that, one should avoid strenuous exercise, maintain a bland diet, and employ an oral hygiene routine that restricts any injury to the affected area.

In case of bleeding, apply physical pressure using pressure packs, like a gauze moistened with chlorhexidine solution. Make sure it is done to reduce the risk of trauma to the healing soft tissues.

Occurrence of Swelling

Applying cold compresses to manage post-operative swelling is a well-known technique after oral surgical procedures. They are an adjunct to the prescribed medications. You may cool the skin from 33 ⁰C to 10-15 ⁰C using frozen peas, cold packs, and KoolPak®. Doctors mostly recommend applications of 10-minute exposures (with 20 minutes off) for the first 4 hours as it efficiently works and does not lead to nerve damage or frostbite injuries. Continuing cold compression for 48 hours can further reduce swelling.

Neurosensory Disturbance

Neural trauma can develop directly due to section during the surgery. Indirectly, it can occur due to compression of the nerves by the implant or consequent inflammation.

The size of the nerve injury will dictate the intensity of the experienced symptoms. It may show altered sensation (paraesthesia), unpleasant altered sensation (dysaesthesia), or loss of sensation (anesthesia).

In case of any altered sensation, it is important to promptly seek an evaluation by an oral surgeon or emergency dentist for proper post-operative assessment and treatment planning.

Apart from addressing these hiccups for uneventful healing, individuals should focus on long-term maintenance of the implants, brushing twice daily and using flossers to clean the gaps between gums and teeth.

Starting from day 2, it is recommended to rinse the mouth thoroughly with warm saline solution (1/2 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water) or Chlorhexidine mouthwash after each meal until the wound fully heals to prevent contamination from food particles.⁶

Conclusion

Most complications encountered after a dental implant can be prevented by following all the post-op instructions, medications, and medicaments. A great dental office focuses on preventing dental implant complications and prepares the patients to manage expected problems efficiently.

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Bryce G, Bomfim DI, Bassi GS. Pre- and post-operative management of dental implant placement. Part 1: management of post-operative pain. Br Dent J. 2014 Aug;217(3):123-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.650. PMID: 25104691.
Hashem AA, Claffey NM, O’Connell B. Pain and anxiety following the placement of dental implants. Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants. 2006 Nov-Dec;21(6):943-50. PMID: 17190305.
Camolesi GC, Somoza‐Martín JM, Reboiras‐López MD, Camacho‐Alonso F, Blanco‐Carrión A, Pérez Sayáns M. Photobiomodulation in dental implant stability and post‐surgical healing and inflammation. A randomised double‐blind study. Clinical Oral Implants Research. 2022 Dec 21.
Mosca RC, Ong AA, Albasha O, Bass K, Arany P. Photobiomodulation Therapy for Wound Care: A Potent, Noninvasive, Photoceutical Approach. Adv Skin Wound Care. 2019 Apr;32(4):157-167. doi: 10.1097/01.ASW.0000553600.97572.d2. PMID: 30889017.
Taradaj J, Halski T, Kucharzewski M, Urbanek T, Halska U, Kucio C. Effect of laser irradiation at different wavelengths (940, 808, and 658 nm) on pressure ulcer healing: results from a clinical study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013;2013:960240.
Ho, C.C.K. (2021). Surgical Protocols for Implant Placement. In Practical Procedures in Implant Dentistry, C.C.K. Ho (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119399186.ch18

About the Author

Dr. Fanar Swaida is the owner of Rockwest Dental in Mississauga Ontario Canada. You can reach him through his dental website.