Jim Du Molin offers dental marketing news and dental practice management advice for dentists.
The clear majority of dentists (94%) report that their dental practices offer in-house denture services for prosthodontic patients, according to our poll.
Only 6% of dentist respondents say they refer patients out to a prosthodontist for dentures.
Read more: Why Refer to a Prosthodontist When You Can Do It Yourself?
For most dental practices, a certain percentage of dental patients drive the majority of profits.
But you might be surprised to learn that the more extensive dental treatment patients may not necessarily be the best profit-drivers.
It’s important for dentists to know what type of dental patients are the most profitable to their dental practice. In studying what makes this group profitable, dentists can apply what they discover to other dental patients.
The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey asking dentists which type of dental patients they find are the most profitable for their dental practice.
34% of dentists responded, “General dental patients are always the core (profits)!”
Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the dentist’s responses —
24% Dental implant patients
18% Cosmetic dentistry patients
11% Sedation dentistry patients
09% Braces patients
02% Dentures patients
02% Other
Here are some comments from our dentists:
“Our most profitable patients are those that pay in full before treatment begins.” (Texas dentist)
“Dental implant patients seem to always pay on time.” (Ohio prosthodontist)
“Patients who pay in full and refer other patients.” (General dentist)
“Sedation patients are the most profitable.” (California dentist)
“Cosmetic patients who want to replace amalgam with a more esthetic composite.” (Arizona dentist)
General dental patients have long been the most profitable type of dental patient for dentists, is this true of your dental practice?
When asked what services their dental practice offers, the dentists who responded with cosmetic dentistry were the clear majority in this survey.
More aging baby boomers are turning to cosmetic dentistry to improve the appearance of their teeth, which may explain the increase in demand for cosmetic dentistry services.
Dental implants are the most popular dental treatment among this demographic for the replacement of damaged or missing teeth.
A California dentist shared, “More than half of our practice is dental implants now!”
Here at The Wealthy Dentist, we were curious what services dentists are currently offering. The top services offered by dentists who responded to this survey are cosmetic, tooth whitening, dental implants, dentures, and children’s dentistry.
Here’s a breakdown of the services dentists are offering —
Dentists were disappointed that other services were not included in this survey, like Botox, oral cancer screenings, or offering custom mouthguards for patient athletes.
One prosthodontist noted, “Oral cancer screening and testing was not on the survey list. Also, it would be interesting to know how many offices provide Botox.”
A general dentist responded that he now offers same day service for CEREC restorations as part of his dental practice services.
Another dentist answered tongue-in-cheek, “I don’t offer gum disease, I treat it.”
What dental services does your dental practice offer? Has the demand for cosmetic dentistry increased?
Where is your dental marketing focused?
When we asked dentists about dental implants, two out of three dentists reported that they are qualified to offer dental implant therapy. The remaining one out of three dentists do not place implants themselves.
While most love standard implants, opinions about mini dental implants are highly varied. Doctors are split over how often to recommend them.
“Mini implants have worked very well for my patients,” said one dentist, while another opined, “Mini implants are worthless.”
We also asked dentists to select which statement best describes how they feel about the mini dental implant:
Here’s a sampling of what dentists had to say:
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons states that 69% of adults ages 35 to 44 have lost at least one permanent tooth to an accident, gum disease, a failed root canal or tooth decay, and by age 74, 26% of adults have lost all of their permanent teeth.
Dentures are an affordable solution for people with missing teeth.
Dentures are great, but they are not magic, a fact overlooked by a lot of denture wearers.
Dentures can be challenging for both doctor and patient, as revealed in a The Wealthy Dentist survey where we asked dentists if dental patients have realistic expectations about dentures.
Complained one dentist, who responded to the survey, “No matter how much you tell them how difficult it’s going to be, they still don’t get it!”
A dental implantologist responded, “For every other procedure, I have a sing-page consent form. For dentures my consent form is 4 pages long!”
To hear how dentists responded to the denture survey, Click on Play to watch the survey video —
To you still place dentures at your dental practice?
Are patients happy with the results?
Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet marketing expert for dentists in North America. He has helped hundreds of doctors make more money in their practices using his proven Internet marketing techniques.
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