The trend of convenience is taking over dentistry.
Since the pandemic, the population has become more accustomed to the trend of convenience. It’s more common than ever to grocery shop from the kitchen or visit a therapist from your home office.
The desire for ease is permeating the medical industry and is especially noticeable amongst boomers and seniors, who constitute a huge chunk of dental clientele.
Meaning, if you operate a dental office, it is imperative to incorporate comfort into every procedure you offer, from scheduling to surgery.
It might seem like a huge undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be. Incorporating CAD/CAM systems, 3D printing, artificial intelligence will certainly lead to a smoother day to day, but there are faster, more economical ways to get started now.
Here are a few suggestions to integrating the convenience trend into your dental practice:
- Make the intake process easy and quick. Patients want to book from their phones. Finding your contact information, scheduling an appointment and arriving at the office should all be as seamless as possible. It will encourage follow ups and increase word-of-mouth advertising.
- Reduce waiting time and offer digital distractions, like interactive games for both adults and kids, to make the wait time pass more quickly. Going traditional is never a bad idea either, so remember to stock up on coloring books, up to date magazines and crossword puzzles for the waiting room.
- Provide entertainment in the exam room itself. This is trending big time and many dental offices are setting up Netflix and the like to keep patient anxiety at bay during difficult procedures.
- Teledentistry is huge. Be sure to offer virtual services. At minimum you can educate the patient on short term solutions to any issues. At maximum, you can reach clients you wouldn’t otherwise have met. Believe it or not, many patients are willing to travel the extra mile (or many) for a dentist with whom they feel safe.
- Include a Chat Bot on your website. Ideally the bot is available 24/7, but if it’s not a reality, at least have a chat option for patients to write in during office hours. Less people are willing to make a call these days, and you don’t want to lose a patient simply because they don’t feel like talking on the phone. Don’t lose sight of the trend of convenience in dentistry!
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