According to two out of three dentists, dentist websites, and radio and TV ads are "somewhat effective."

Dentists were split over direct mail. In addition, yellow pages seem to be falling out of favor, as 71% of dentists report that phone book ads are "not effective" at attracting new patients.

Here are some comments from dentists:

• "Don't be afraid to ask for referrals." (Georgia dentist)
• "Keeping your name out there using multiple sources seems to be the most effective method of attracting a significant number of new patients." (Tennessee dentist)
• "Networking with other businesses, especially chiropractors, podiatrists and MDs." (New Jersey dentist)
• "We take pamphlets and seasonal items to local businesses, so each month it's fun and we meet out local merchants." (General dentist)
• "At this point, 12 new patients per month is all our practice can handle with one dentist." (North Dakota dentist)

Read more: New Patients: Referrals Are Still the Best Source for a Dentist

However, 24% of dentists acknowledged that they lose patients at the front desk. Another 11% admit that they need to prioritize additional front desk team training.

"My front desk person just left for medical reasons and I discovered huge amounts of denied claims and inadequate insurance processing," said one dentist. "My accounts receivables are horribly high and probably lost forever. I didn't pay enough attention."

"Do I have any front desk horror stories?" asked a Texas dentist rhetorically. "It's too painful to reply."

Read more: Dental Practice Success May Hinge on the Front Desk

Though most said about 5-10 miles, anecdotes abound of patients who have kept their dentists even after moving hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Read more: People Will Drive for Hours To See Their Favorite Dentist

Thirty-eight percent of dentists reported they had increased dental marketing, while 33% said they had cut spending and were tightening their belts.

Read more: When Things Are Slow, Marketing Keeps It Moving

But what about the remaining 11%? Well, it appears that one in nine adults think they can sidestep the issue by never going to the dentist.

Caught in a financial tug-of-war, dentists have a love/hate relationship with dental insurance companies. Insurance providers regularly raise patients’ monthly premiums, but rarely (if ever) raise the actual patient benefit and only increase claims to your through after a prolonged struggle. And of course, a benefit of a thousand dollars a year bought a lot more dental care back in 1960 than it does today.

Some practices have given up on the insurance game completely; a recent Wealthy Dentist survey showed that 11% of dentists no longer accept dental insurance of any kind. However, most practices still depend on insurance companies as a source of new patients.

Take It or Leave It

We could complain about it all day long, but it’s not going to do much good. Dentists have two basic choices when it comes to dental insurance: take it or leave it. Dropping insurances is satisfying for many doctors, but it’s a difficult transition that’s not feasible for all practices — particularly not in today’s economic climate!

If your practice accepts insurance, it’s important to make sure you’re getting as much out of the deal as you can. Remember, two-thirds of the people getting dental care have dental insurance! That’s a huge pool of potential new dental patients.

The Delta survey also shows that 82% of people with dental insurance are covered under an employer’s plan. In addition, fully 88% of those employers pay all or part of their employees’ monthly premiums. So three out of four people with insurance aren’t even paying for all of it.

Get Your Share

But how many of these consumers are actually using all their dental benefits? While the Delta survey doesn’t mention any numbers, you can be certain that lots of consumers are letting their dental benefits go to waste.

So who’s going to remind these patients that they’re eligible for all sorts of free or subsidized dental care? Well, it probably won’t be their dental insurance companies!

That’s where your dental practice comes in. How many insurance patients does your practice have? How many of them haven’t been in lately? Now that it’s January, how many of them now have access to a year’s worth of benefits? How much money could you make if these patients came in for care?

Bringing insurance patients in is as simple as reminding them that they’re covered. But if you don’t remind them, they can easily fall by the wayside. And in today’s economy, can you afford to lose such a reliable stream of patients?

Next week we’ll discuss exactly how you can remind these patients of their dental benefits and inspire them to make an appointment.

Read Delta’s survey results

In the classic movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s movie character has a vision of building a stadium and attracting long-dead baseball stars to come back and play ball. We the audience get caught up in the dream and, like the hero, start to believe the players will truly show up. But the truth is, it’s only a fantasy.

It’s not surprising that even in today’s competitive market for the new dental patient, some of the powers-that-be advocate the classic approach to dental practice building: word of mouth referral from satisfied patients. Effectively, dentists are encouraged to “Build it and hope they will come.”

So, should you be actively involved in soliciting new patients, or merely waiting for your current patients to “tell a friend?”

The answer is both. We’ve all heard dentists say, “Our best patients are referred by our best patients.” Certainly, that’s true. But should you just sit around and hope? I’ll bet dentists who do nothing to stimulate referrals do a lot of waiting – not to mention have plenty of empty chair time.

Alas, new patients just don’t magically appear. Perhaps you’re disinclined to mount an aggressive direct mail effort to solicit new patients. Or maybe you feel newspaper, magazine, or radio would be overly restricted by your state’s guidelines. At a bedrock minimum, then, you should be getting referrals from the best source of all – your current patients – by asking for them!

I know that, for some of you, asking for referrals is tough. You may even think it denigrates your professional image. But I assure you, that’s not true. Your current patients are coming to you because they believe in your abilities. Why shouldn’t they be honored and flattered when asked to refer their own friends or relatives?

You can punctuate the referral process with patient referral cards – Smile Cards.* These are business-size cards in which space is provided for the new patient to write in the name of the person who referred them. A win-win situation: the new patient receives a monetary incentive to make an appointment with you, and the referring patient receives a similar reward.

You may want to supplement your referrals effort by reaching out to potential new patients in other means of advertising. However, there are a few things to keep in mind here. Some states are very restrictive when it comes to professional dental services advertising. Before you begin to spend, make sure you’re knowledgeable about guidelines. An even better idea is to hire a professional dental marketing agency familiar with your needs and your state’s regulations.

*Smile Cards (design and text) are a Copyright product of Hycomb Marketing Inc. (Created by Jim Du Molin)

Melinda Spitek is CEO of Hycomb Marketing Inc. Hycomb is an authority in marketing for dentists. Melinda has had plenty of hands-on experience as well, having worked 23 years in dental offices. For help with marketing, just call Hycomb at (800) 523-6961 or visit www.hycomb.com.