Clackamas Dental Consultant | Dental Practice Solutions

1 Simple Tweak in What You Say Can Create More Dental Practice Profits Today

By: admin

June 10, 2013

With every year that passes, as a dental practice management consultant, I see more and more dentists enrolling in clinical aesthetic courses. When I return to their office I see the new technology they have spent thousands of dollars on this past year.

It is exciting to know that dentists all over the world are seeking out the latest dental technology and products to improve their patients smile.

Once you have completed your CE course, your next step (and also an important goal) needs to be a system to introduce these new services to your patients. How do you know if the service you just spent a few thousand dollars educating yourself to provide your patients is something they are willing to pay for?

Of course one simple answer can possibly be to ask your patients if they want this treatment for themselves.

My question to you is “Have you ever or do you consistently ask your patients what types of services they desire?” have you asked them “What does that mean for you if we can change the appearance of your smile?”

It is the summer and many of your patients probably want to look good for their son or daughters graduation, a wedding or reunion. They may be thinking that they can’t afford to change the way their smile looks. Your patients probably assume it is not possible for their smile to improve due to money, time or even how old they “think” they are.

If you never ask, the answer will always be a “NO.”

At Dental Practice Solutions, we educate your client offices to annually inquire about their patients smile. We call this a smile evaluation. It’s a simple, one page survey, given to the patient upon check in at the front desk. The patient completes these questions in about 60 seconds and then when the hygienist is reviewing the patient medical history she or he will smoothly transition into the smile evaluation. While the patient is seated in the treatment room, the hygienist reviews the patients answers and together, they look at the patients teeth in a mirror. This is not meant to be time consuming but can efficiently be completed with some simple training.

What I see NOT What I have Found

After the hygienist has reviewed the smile evaluation with their patient, they should tour the patient’s mouth with the intra-oral camera. This allows you to show the patient the following:

Decay, missing teeth, large amalgams, aged resins that are stained/chipped
Old bridges which are no longer aesthetically pleasing,
Cracked /or misaligned teeth
Poor home care (excessive plaque and YES – even green teeth!)
Heavy calculus and/or stain

When talking to patients about what you see, be sure not to say for example:

“Mrs. Dalton, I have found…” This seems to leave a negative feeling with patients who think “My dentist always finds something!”

Instead, when looking at the patients teeth and gums say words phrases like “do you see ____?” or “Mrs. Dalton today we saw ________.”

Always keep the door to improving every patients smile. It works best for everyone if you don’t presume or prejudge a patient’s values or pocket book.

If you don’t ask “the answer will be NO” so keep the open door policy and begin to ask every patient “If there is one thing they could change about their smile what would that be?”

One Simple Tweak in What You Say

There are so many twists on this simple question and if you will take time to annually update each patients smile, it will go a long way to making patients leave feeling very happy about the services you have provided them and your will see an increase in your profits.

Continuing education courses can do a lot to support a successful dental practice. The important piece here is to have a goal to use this. Decide how you will begin to offer this new service to your patients and write the date on your calendar, when you will begin asking patients what they want to change about their smile.

Now you can reap the benefits of that expensive aesthetic course and new technology you just paid a lot of money for! One small shift in what you say to patients can increase dental practice profits by thousands each year.

ABOUT DEBBIE AND DENTAL PRACTICE SOLUTIONS

Are you looking to improve profits in your dental hygiene department? Debbie has an innovative and successful way to educate you and your team to create the small tweaks mentioned in this blog. Many dentists today request a 1 or 2 day workshop or find it valuable to participate in the online membership program offered by Dental Practice Solutions. This can mean your highest ROI for this year when you get everyone on the team to that next level of success. Check our her services section on the website to find one that meets your needs. Consider getting your team involved in her 12 week Case Acceptance Program. You won’t need to stop your day of work at the office or pay for a consultant to travel to your office. The program is at your fingertips 24/7 indefinitely.

Debbie writes for many of the major dental conferences in the world. She is recognized for the past 8 years as “One of Dentistry Today’s Top Consultants.”

Many of her clients span from not only the United States but Brazil, Australia, India and the UK, just to mention a few.

Debunking the Myths and Sharing Some Tips

By: admin

March 25, 2013

Keeping our patients’ teeth and gums healthy is essential for a beautiful smile. But wait! — did you know that profitability begins with preventive procedures not those reconstructive services?

Common myths

Patients who think getting their teeth cleaned every six months must understand that this is not enough for maintaining healthy teeth and gums And it is not a guarantee for optimal overall health. Many adult patients who schedule only six month hygiene appointments soon find out at some point in life that they will develop periodontal disease. Patients, who skip their dental hygiene appointments trying to save money, are actually costing themselves more money the longer they put off regular dental hygiene appointments. We need to repeatedly communicate to our patients that regular hygiene visits are extremely important for the prevention of diseases; oral diseases as well as systemic. And regular dental hygiene visits will save them money – long term.

Regarding patients teeth, gums and overall health; dental hygienists have an important role of educating patients about nutrition and whole body wellness. Hygienists need to be the ‘go to’ person about overall health when patients return for their hygiene visits.

Patient tips for keeping their teeth white

It takes less than 5 minutes to complete a smile evaluation. This simple evaluation will open many doors for referrals as patients learn ways to make their smile even more beautiful!

Hand your patient a mirror and ask a few questions about their smile. This is a great time to share some simple tips for keeping their teeth white. I mention this because almost all of your patients will tell you they want whiter teeth!

One simple tip to share with your patients is to drink coffee with a straw to avoid coffee stains on the teeth. After they drink coffee or something which is likely to stain their teeth, it is very helpful to have them rinse their mouth (or brush if possible) so that the coffee or staining food does not sit on the teeth and lead to staining. The same goes for teas or dark liquids. After drinking red wine, make sure to have patients brush. Their teeth will stay whiter longer if the stains are removed sooner than later.

Trends in dentistry

Men really are starting to whiten their teeth a lot more in recent years and they are getting smile makeovers almost as much as women. These “makeovers” include whitening, veneers, replacing discolored fillings, implants, etc. In general, women tend to opt for veneers more often than men. Men would rather just bleach their teeth instead of getting veneers, or at least would like to bleach before making the commitment for veneers.

As dental professionals we are changing lives and doing something important to improve the quality of life for our patients and our profession of dentistry. When you give someone a new smile, in many cases it truly changes the way they feel every day.

Forever White™ : How to Keep Patients Coming Back!

By: admin

January 4, 2013

I recently spoke at a dental conference and asked the audience “What is one thing that your patients want more than any other procedure?” 100% of the attendees answered in harmony “WHITER TEETH!”

You may be offering patients something they never knew they really wanted so here is how to open up the conversation.

Step One
While patients are seated in the treatment room and as you are reviewing the patient medical history, ask a few simple questions. One of the questions can be something such as: “Mrs. Jones, if there is one thing you could change about your smile, what would that be?” Wait for her to answer. This is not a yes or no answer but allow the patient to think of their own answer. It must be answer that doesn’t require a “yes” or “no” but their honest opinion about their teeth. Most of us have at least one thing we would like to change about our smile or how we can look better! We are our own best and worst critic!

Another question you may want to ask is “Mr. Holmes, If I could wave a magic wand and create any wish about your teeth or smile, what would you wish for?” Now that can be a powerful question, as well as get a smile from most people you ask this question!

Asking one of these two questions or developing your own simple questions about how a patient would like to change their smile, can open the door for more cosmetic procedures. Most will want teeth whitening, Invisalign®, Six-Month Smiles®, Veneers, Ortho or even implants. Give it a try for the next month and keep account of the additional services that can come out of your dental hygiene appointments and of course new patient appointments!

Ask a few simple questions to your patients about their smile and you will create a consistent profit stream to your dental practice.

Changing Lives One Smile at a Time
As a dental professional you and your team are changing lives. You are able to truly change the way people feel every day about themselves.

“White teeth is one of the first things people notice about a persons appearance. You have the valuable expertise to not only change how long and healthy your patients live but also how beautiful their smile is. A smile can affect their day to day life in a positive way!”

Men and women of all ages throughout the world are now opting for teeth whitening to improve their smile.

Many patients today are still clueless about the variety of various products and this is why it is very important to educate your patients on the variety of whitening products and procedures you have available to patients in your office.

Keep Them Coming Back for More
For several years, dental offices have seen a decline in New Patient numbers. I see advertisements through social living sites and Google Ads; dentists are spending thousands of dollars in advertising for new patients.

I would never say not to advertise to increase New Patient numbers, but I know there are two ways to get production numbers up as well as New Patient numbers.

If you advertise for New Patients, I suggest that you include teeth whitening in the New Patient fee. (YES! At no charge) You can easily and cost-effectively offer free whitening in your dental office and every six months when the patient returns offer them a free whitening syringe. There is a simple way to deliver this without losing money but gaining patient loyalty and also referrals from your patients. You will gain more attention with your ad if you include the whitening in the New Patient appointment.

The thought here is “give patients something they really want” and use whitening as an incentive for keeping their regularly scheduled hygiene appointments.

There are many patient loyalty programs available to dental practices but they have a hefty monthly fee to participate. Forever White™ is a Premium Patient Incentive Program that has no monthly enrollment fee for the dental practice. Forever White™ is a system for dentists to use and create other income streams.

Forever White™ is a premium patient incentive program dentists can market and brand as their own. View it as a private label program that the dentist can offer their patients, that they can’t get just anywhere. The office will be using the same quality premium whitening gel but at half the price. This means the dentist keeps their patients and more money stays in the dental practice.
It also can used to reactivate those overdue patients and helps to gain patient loyalty. A series of calls and letters are sent to the patients explaining the premium whitening program. The best part of this type of program is that whitening only costs the dentist a few dollars (Pounds, EURO) to use because of the special pricing offered to dentists worldwide.

Why Does This Concept Work Well?
One of the reasons this concept works so well is because patients feel like a VIP when they are given the special treatment. Patients will respond kindly when you give them what they want. People feel much better about themselves when they see a beautiful smile. This is what will give you a competitive edge over other dental offices down the street or even a few miles away.

This is also a fantastic tool to get a “YES!” from patients to continue with further restorative needs. The whitening is only the tip of the iceberg.
Not only do your patients have a reason to smile, they have a great reason to continue returning to your office and you will also smile when your bank account grows over your 2012 balance!

Need more information about how to order? Send us an email: support@dentalpracticesolutions.com or call us: 503-970-1122

Toll-free: 888-816-1511

Please note:

* There is no monthly membership charge. You are only charged the wholesale price for the whitening gel. We provide the materials at no additional cost to you so you can reactivate, retrain your patients why their hygiene appointment is so important and your will retain your patients for life! We coach and guide you to utilize whitening most successfully.

Our product has a 100% guarantee! If you are not satisfied send it back. We’ll return your money paid for the product. That is how confident we are you will love Forever White™!

What is the Location/Destination Listed on Your GPS?

By: admin

December 13, 2012

You will not reach your destination if you don’t have the final location listed on your GPS. Can you imagine jumping into your car with your family and driving for hours without knowing where you are going? Frustration, confusion and questions are certain to pop up.

While taking that family road trip, definitely, the kids will ask:

“How long ‘til we get there?”

“Do we have enough gas to get there?”

“Do we have enough money for this trip?”

“Are we on the right road?”

And also without a doubt, everyone else after a long drive will ask “Where the heck are we going?!”

When I talk to dentists, I hear them say “I fly by the seat of my pants,” and others just tell me “I don’t know what I am doing next week let alone six or nine months from now.”

Years will pass and many dentists (Business owners) have never taken time to discover their financial destination. In today’s world if this is you, it’s most likely your profits are down.

The uncertainty about what is achievable tends to prevent many of us, particularly new dentists, from determining what we want to achieve throughout our life as business people – entrepreneurs. (Did I really say entrepreneur?!)

Once you decide on a final destination, you can and need to plan appropriately to actually arrive. What is the goal of your destination? People will be most likely to reach the goals that are set. Remember about the “self fulfilling prophecy”? It is very true in this situation.

When you have failed to plan, you drive blind-folded. Once you decide where you want to go, your efforts, consciousness, and even subconsciously, you are now geared up for success.

When you take time to plan you can create the perfect budget, understand how many days, (i.e. How many hygiene days do you really need? Not just what you have scheduled every year but what needs to be scheduled for 2013) you really need to work in 2013 to accomplish the goals and you can work with the correct number of employees to accomplish your goals. One of my favorite authors Stephen Covey, wrote in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” that it is essential to “begin with the end in mind.” I have learned a lot about planning from this book and others he writes.

Planning is how success is found and your profits will increase.

Now I will ask you the 60 million dollar question:

“Do you know where you want to go?”

“Do you know what to do to reactivate those 200+ overdue hygiene patients?”

“What is your plan to increase profits over 100k in 2013?”

“How much more would you like to take home in 2013?”

“Do you wish to work 200 days or 150 days in 2013?”

“Have you take time to map our how you can do work 175 days in 2013, working smarter and not so hard?”

“What is your plan to do it?”

As a business owner and dentist, you have an incredible amount of freedom and flexibility to create a wide variety of future destinations, for yourself and your family. You are in a great profession and provide an important service to the people in your community. Patients come to you and you have the tools to create a healthier and happier patient.

Once you have created your plan and written down your destination, you’ll be amazed at how energized you will become. Your mph or kilometers per hour will ramp up! It is amazing how much time is freed up in your brain and now you have time to think about new strategies for success. Strategies that you never before had time to think about.

You will create a whole new world. And guess what?

This is YOUR World! Stop focusing on “what may be” but now, today, focus on what YOU want.

What is it that you want in 2013?