Pediatric Dentists Can Set Themselves Apart From Others With A Few Tips
Most cities have a variety of pediatric dentists, which makes this a competitive industry. If you are a dentist who is having trouble keeping young patients, you should consider a few ways to improve your business model.
It is the job of pediatric dentists to be both informative to the parents and entertaining to the kids. Of course,
a good dentist also has to fit in a checkup, tooth extractions, and fillings somewhere along the way, while also differentiating himself from other practitioners. If you are a pediatric dentist who is struggling with keeping your young patients happy, you should follow a few tips for keeping them entertained. These changes can make both the parents and the kids thrilled when it comes to dental visits.
Most successful pediatric dentists outfit their office in bright colors since children are usually attracted to these. You can choose a few outstanding shades to spread around the office, or you can select a theme. For example, you might choose dinosaurs as your subject, and place pictures and foam cutouts of them on every wall. You can also add a large mural to one wall, featuring a few dinosaurs and some landscaping in the painting. Each room may then have its own different type of dinosaur, allowing kids to learn a little about each type with every visit. Of course, you can also choose other themes, such as jungle animals, popular TV show characters, and ocean creatures. Consider having a different theme for each exam room, and then allowing patients to choose the room they use with each visit.
Some dentists also hand out goody bags to children at each appointment. These are usually fun and functional, as they feature tiny toothbrushes, little tubes of toothpaste, and small tins of floss. Kids love getting gifts, and may get excited over this package, even though the contents are quite practical and healthy for them, too. This will help make your job easier since they might be more likely to brush and floss regularly, and will also please parents. Consider adding some sugarless candy or gum to the bag, or even mints, though you should make sure you only give these items to patients over a certain age.
If your office tends to have a long wait, you should add plenty of interesting items to the waiting room. Most practitioners have a few books and magazines, and maybe some older toys, but these do not stand out for most children. Consider putting a nice television in the waiting area, with cartoons and popular television shows constantly playing. Try to have some of the latest toys available for children to play with. Of course, it is important that your front office staff keep an eye on kids playing with these items if you do not want them to get broken or misused, so keep this in mind.
These are just a few ways to differentiate yourself from other pediatric dentists in the area. This industry has lots of competition, which means that you need to make yourself stand out from others. While these changes will cost some money upfront, they are likely to help you keep current patients while also acquiring new ones constantly since children will be excited for their dental visit.