Is your practice promoting tooth whitening effectively? Discover how marketing, pricing, and patient education can boost whitening uptake, increase revenue, and attract new treatments.
It may seem strange, but do your patients know if you offer tooth whitening in your practice? Whitening is a marketing tool that can help to grow your practice, increase revenue and work as a ‘gateway’ to other dental treatments. But to make this work, you need to actively talk to and inform your patients about whitening and make them aware of the great aesthetic results they can achieve. You can achieve success by:
Making it affordable – It’s important to set your prices to be profitable for you but still affordable for your patients. They need to understand the value of whitening and why quality products are a more cost-effective solution in the long-term when compared with over-the-counter products.
Explaining the process – It’s always wise to give patients a realistic idea of the shade level they can expect to achieve, considering their age, starting colour and lifestyle, especially if they are smokers. Gum and tooth sensitivity can be an issue with whitening procedures, so they must be advised immediately.
Embracing seasonal trends – Awareness of personal appearance heightens in the lead-up to key events, such as a graduation. It is usually a time when many start to seek out treatment actively.
Being engaging – Having a video promoting your whitening treatments in the waiting room or reception will grab the attention of your patients whilst they wait for their appointment, or if you post on social media, you can start engaging with them outside of practice hours too. And make sure your team, especially those in reception, is well informed to promote whitening at any opportunity!
Investing in marketing – Ask your whitening system manufacturer if they can provide your practice with free-of-charge customisable marketing and education materials templates. Implementing posters, flyers, videos and DVDs that can be personalised with your practice logo and message within your practice can help promote whitening to your patients.
Your tooth whitening business is a great patient retention tool. Those who undertake treatment are far more likely to take better care of their oral health, return to you for hygiene appointments and whitening top-ups, and go on to have other procedures they may not have considered before. Remember, patients need to be aware of what is on offer and turn to somewhere that does, taking their valuable business with them.