Your patients may love coming to your office, or dread the dental experience altogether. But no matter where they’re coming from, there are things you can do to enhance their experience in your office and make it one they’ll feel more comfortable about in the future.

The happier they are, the happier you’ll be…and for dental practices to increase income (you’re a business, after all,) patient satisfaction is key.

Create a Relaxing Atmosphere

Dental practice technology makes it so that we’re able to perform gentler and more efficient treatment than ever. From digital scans replacing gooey impressions to virtual smile makeovers before starting veneer treatments, patients notice the difference. Why? Because even though these options are available to most dentists, not everyone uses them.

Take steps to eliminate the sights and sounds that tend to make some people feel nervous. Here are a few easy tips and tricks:

• Offer patients a set of sunglasses to wear during the exam or consider dimming the room lights (just not the focused overhead one) to limit irritation to their eyes during an exam.
• Place diffusers in the room with essential oils known for their relaxing qualities, such as lavender.
• Invest in a set of noise-cancelling headphones so that your patient can listen to their favorite streaming music during treatment. Even better, have a television mounted on the ceiling so they can hop back into binge-watching the latest series on their list.
• Send each patient home with a customized “goodie bag” with samples of products you recommend (more on that in a moment…)
• Think about adding amenities like warm blankets or massage pads for the patient chair
• Incorporate more “spa” type services, such as Botox or other injectables, microdermabrasion, etc. (as allowed by your state dental board, of course.)
• Get to know your patients personally. Find out what their likes/dislikes are, ask about their summer vacation spot, or send them a card when you know they have an important event coming up.

Increase Patient Engagement

Whether you’re more active on social media, getting patients to take selfies in the dental chair, or simply asking for reviews, patient engagement is contagious. When you’re pampering them with a warm towel, complimentary whitening toothpaste, or taking before-and-after photographs, you’re giving them an experience they’ll want to share with others.

Encourage patients to “Check In” or “Like” your page or leave a review before leaving your office. You can get creative by offering giveaways or running contents and promotions.

When your patients share experiences online through “check-ins” or giving you a review on Google, their digital touch spreads to friends, acquaintances, and prospective patients that are still looking for a new dentist. Every time you engage one of the patients in or out of your practice, you’re multiplying that by the number of people that they know.

Most importantly, this creates on online presence and sense of community for patients and reaffirms to potential patients that your practice is the best one in town.

Give Them a Customized Oral Hygiene Routine

Consider tailoring a special routine with oral home health aids, such as a specific type of electric toothbrush, toothpaste, or a specialty rinse. When your patients know exactly which products to use for their unique smile needs, they’ll be more aware of just how closely you’re caring for their dental health. On the flip side, you’ll be doing everything possible to improve their compliancy with your recommended routine!

Providing home care can be done a few ways:

• Send patients to your local pharmacy (and hope they have everything and the right strength)
• Source everything in office (aka “Buy and Hold” – purchase a ton of inventory up front to bring down the cost and hope you sell everything before it expires)
• Work with a provider to supply all of these directly to your patients

Hands down, the most efficient way to create oral care regimens is by working with a provider, such as DentalStores. We carry over 500 professional grade products, creating a digital storefront, with your branding for your patients to order and subscribe to their favorite items without having to come back to your office every time they run out. This way you can free up space and not have to keep extra inventory on hand. We take care of processing all of the orders, handling any customer service issues that arise, and even process returns. You can sit back, enjoy the added passive revenue, and ensure that your patients are getting all of the attention that they need!

Learn more by visiting DentalStores.com or by calling 800-SMILEOK-7