Why Periodontists Should be Marketing and How to Make it Successful

With advances in technology, many general dentists are doing procedures that have been traditionally the province of the periodontist, or the oral surgeon. Implant surgery and even advanced periodontitis are being treated in general practices using 3D imaging and software and lasers. For the most part, however, a general dentist can’t match the years of specialized training and experience of a periodontist, and will often refer their difficult cases to a periodontist.

But where does this leave a periodontist in private practice? With less and less share of the pie. While general dentists are taking advantage of new technologies to increase their profit centers, periodontists should be directly letting the general public know about their expertise. This is a leap away from traditional models of specialist and general dentist relationships, but properly done, a periodontist can keep his referral business, and replace the growing loss of referrals with direct consumer leads.

What does it take to be successful in this new endeavor? We have worked now with many periodontists and have isolated the following points:

• Enough marketing to get enough viable inquiries. Either our Internet Marketing Program or our Custom Magazine Program by themselves get sufficient traffic for many of our periodontists. If we were going to choose one over the other, we would say go with the Custom Magazine Program. It can reach more of the right audience and the magazines have a long shelf life. For other periodontists, we recommend both programs in conjunction. It depends on how much direct consumer traffic they need to replace their failing referrals, and their geographic location. We do a full analysis to evaluate the periodontist’s situation.
• Ensuring the front desk can correctly deal with direct consumer calls and that the periodontist is prepared to deal with the non-referral new patient. We have programs that can help a periodontist with this.
• Partnership with general dentists or prosthodontists so that treatment between the specialist and the restorative doctor is seamless for the patient. Often for larger procedures the restorative dentist comes into the periodontist’s office.

We understand this can be a challenging transition for a specialist. It is becoming a more and more necessary one for many periodontists. We are here to help the periodontist transition smoothly and successfully.

Please call us if you would like some help getting more new patients. We offer a complimentary consultation.

To find out more about our periodontal marketing, click here.