survey Archives - The Wealthy Dentist

Dentist Continuing Education May Cure Dental Burnout Symptoms (video)

August 4, 2021 By Jim Du Molin Leave a Comment

Everyone feels burnout now and then, but dentists are especially at risk for professional burnout.

Said one dentist, “Burnout to me is manly the result of the negative light in which most dental patients view the dental office experience.”

Another dentist advised, “Taking continuing education to learn and improve techniques rejuvenates my practice. It keeps me fresh!”

The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey asking dentists if they have ever suffered from professional burnout in their dental careers.

Click on Play to watch the video to hear more of what dentists have to say about burnout —

What do you do to avoid professional burnout?

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: dental practice management, dental surveys, dentist, Dentist Burnout, dentistry, dentists, survey, video marketing

Dentists Looking to 2012 for an Economic Upswing

August 4, 2021 By Jim Du Molin Leave a Comment

Recent economic reports give U.S. economists hope that 2012 will be an improvement over 2011, and it seems there are many dentists who agree.

“If the economy improves, as it should, we all should do better in 2012!” said one dentist.

In fact, when asked what they expect for 2012, 77% of the dentists who responded to our survey anticipate a better financial picture, while only 23% expect 2012 to be a bad year.

When asked about the past two years, 42% of the dentists said 2011 was economically better than 2010. However, for 40% of dentists, 2011 was economically worse than 2010. 18% saw no difference economically between 2010 and 2011.

Here are some dentist comments:

Dental marketing worked…

“We plan that each year will improve over previous year due to addition of an associate and definitive marketing strategies utilizing the Internet Dental Alliance web sites!” (Oklahoma dentist)

“We didn’t have a better year by mistake. It was due to being proactive and using targeted dental marketing.” (California dentist)

“We streamlined our dental marketing efforts, increased our marketing return on investment, focused more on internal marketing, and tightened our belts on our overall office expenditures. We will end this year with more new patients and economically much better than the previous 3 years. We are riding out the economic storm fairly well.” (Ohio prosthodontist)

“I feel our picture is 50% real and 50% what’s in our head. If we stay positive and use services like yours we can make our results better than average. How much better depends on our head and the help we get.” (Urgent care dentist)

Implementing new strategies helped …

“We are staying afloat because we offer a very wide-range of services for a General Dentist – Invisalign, Sedation, Implant placement and restoration, CEREC, most Endo, Perio, and Oral Surgery. Without this broad offering, we would be doing much worse.” (General dentist)

“We are down 5% but we completely remodeled our office doubling our space, had 5 of 8 staff members pregnant, losing 4 of them, worked through the construction dust and noise, and were still only down 5%, so I am happy with 5% downturn. I look forward to 2012.” (California dentist)

“In order to turn things around, I have completely had to change my practice. I have a management group I am now using and am revamping office systems. We are working hard to maintain the high level of care we have always offered, but am now participating as “in network” with dental insurance, and am now thinking about profit centers and time management. We are trying for a balance that doesn’t diminish our ability to do awesome dentistry, but it will be more difficult with the restrictions that insurance companies place on treatment. Illinois has been hit hard by the economy, with the “reported” unemployment level finally getting down under 11% for the 1st time in 3 years in December with the seasonal Christmas hirings. The actual unemployment is around 21%.” (Illinois dentist)

“I spent time creating additional avenues of wealth.” (General dentist)

“I will continue as I have through thick and thin, modifying as I see necessary, continuing to update skills, and taking very good care of my patients. While this year was a downturn, compared to many of my local peers, it was truly a minor one.” (South Carolina dentist)

“I am dropping Delta Premier. I tried it this year and I can’t give that 25-35 percent discount.” (Illinois dentist)

Looking to 2012 for relief …

“Our goal is to increase by 30% in 2012.” (New Jersey dentist)

“The first half of 2011 was the best ever. The second half saw a decrease relative to 2010. The trend is for 2012 to be flat, so I am playing it very conservative right now.” (Virginia dentist)

“They must improve in 2012!” (General dentist)

“In 2012 I definitely need to change how I do business in regards to PPOs. I use to be an all fee-for-service practice. That dwindled, and now I am busy, but not profitable. (California dentist)

“If President Obama loses we’ll see a much better economy.” (General dentist)

The Wealthy Dentist would like to thank all the doctors and specialists who have participated in our dental surveys over the past year. We find your insights and comments invaluable and we appreciate the time you take to offer feedback.

We wish all of you a very prosperous 2012!

Filed Under: Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Dental Marketing, dental marketing surveys, dental practice marketing, dental surveys, dentistry, economy, Internet dental marketing, survey

Cosmetic Dentistry Still Tops the List of Services Dentists Offer

August 4, 2021 By Jim Du Molin Leave a Comment

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?

Filed Under: Dental Marketing, Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Cosmetic Dentistry, dental implants, Dental Marketing, dental survey, dental surveys, dental treatment marketing, dental treatments, dentist, dentistry, dentists, dentures, gum disease, Invisalign, pediatric dentistry, root canal, sedation dentistry, survey, TMJ, tooth whitening, Wisdom Teeth

Dentists: Are Dental Hygienists Worth Their Weight in Gold?(video)

August 4, 2021 By Jim Du Molin Leave a Comment

In our story, Dental Hygienists Among the Fastest Growing Occupations in the U.S. we revealed that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook for 2008-2018 expects the demand to hire more hygienists to perform preventive dental care will continue to grow.

According to the ADA, independent dentists reported paying full-time dental hygienists $33.90 per hour in 2008.

Considering the current economic environment The Wealthy Dentist decided to conduct a survey asking dentists if they pay their hygienists an hourly wage or if compensation is based on commission.

It seems most dentists still pay their dental hygienists an hourly wage, but some feel paying on commission is more fair. Said one dentist, “Hygienists are worth their weight in gold!” Another dentist disagreed saying, “Practices couldn’t run without them, but the current economics barely breaks even at best … hygienists seem to think they are cash cows for the office and fail to recognize the support and facilities the utilize.”

It’s an interesting economic issue. Click on Play to hear more of what dentists say about paying hygienists —

How do you pay the hygienist in your practice?

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: dental hygienists, dental practice management, Dental Practices, dental surveys, dentist, dentistry, dentists, economy, survey, video marketing

The Most Important Dental Marketing Vector

August 4, 2021 By Jim Du Molin Leave a Comment

In a recent The Wealthy Dentist survey, the respondents pointed to internal marketing as their most important dental marketing vector.

As dental practices have been forced to focus on increasing dental practice revenue, one of the key components, it seems, has been internal marketing.

Internal marketing relies on dental patient referrals. If the dental practice lacks in quality customer service, or does not build strong dentist-patient relationships, then any attempts at internal marketing will likely fall flat.

In the most recent the Wealthy Dentist survey we asked dentists what is the most important marketing vector for their dental practice.

67% of the dentist respondents answered that internal marketing is their most important dental marketing vector. 19% responded that Internet dental marketing is their most important marketing vector. 7% felt direct mail marketing was the most beneficial, while another 7% felt traditional media like newspaper, TV and radio were the most important.

Here are some of the comments we received from dentists on this survey:

“Internet and internal marketing are neck-and-neck, followed by direct-mail marketing.” (Arizona dentist)

“Internal marketing and word-of-mouth clearly bring in the BEST new patients for us. We receive the most new patients from Internet and direct-mail marketing. Printed dental phone book marketing is fast becoming one of the least important marketing vectors for us because the return on investment is getting smaller and smaller.” (Ohio prosthodontist)

“How do you define important? The internal is the the most important, but the Internet brings most of our new dental patients.” (General dentist)

“Direct mail marketing but with more of a focus on growing online marketing.” (Minnesota dentist)

“Word-of-mouth marketing, with the Internet a close second.” (North Carolina dentist)

“Internal marketing followed by our dental website.” (Pediatric dentist)

“If you treat your dental patients like you would treat your family, then the best ‘marketing’ or good word-of-mouth takes care of itself! We really only market our dental practice by being active in our community and being very good to our patients and we get about 30 new patients every month.” (Alabama dentist)

“The newspaper works well in conjunction with our website and TV advertising.” (California dentist)

“Internet dental marketing, but it should be referral from other patients and that does not seem to be happening.” (Illinois dentist)

“Word-of-mouth is always number one and under that would be focused direct mail marketing, although Internet marketing is catching up but the quality of dental patient seems to be always less.” (General dentist)

“Our website.” (California orthodontist)

While there are many dental marketing vectors, they have to be utilized properly to get the desired results. Remember, quality dental marketing combined with a quality dental practice are critical to implementing a successful dental marketing program.

Together, they will grow your dental practice, which ultimately leads to more dental referrals and greater profitability in the long run.

Check out The Wealthy Dentist’s full internal dental marketing and communications campaign for a 4-phase program designed to add 10 additional patients per month to your practice.