Secrets to happy dental patients: Actionable tips from a recent study
Setting out to discover what really makes a patient love their dental practice, Dandy, an end-to-end digital dental partner, enlisted Isurus Market Research to survey 600 adults in the US to find out what patients really care about when choosing—and staying loyal to—their dentist. “Dandy Dental Study: Patient Experience” explored key factors in patient satisfaction, reasons patients switch dentists, and more, setting up new industrywide benchmarks.
Three of the dozens of findings were:
- 67% of people looking for a new dentist use online reviews, with Google being the most popular platform by a landslide.
- 93% of patients who said their procedures were explained well rated their dentist 5 out of 5.
- 62% of patients switched dentists due to a poor experience and rated their dentist low on transparency.
Attracting new patients
Key finding: 67% of people looking for a new dentist use online reviews, with Google being the most popular platform.
We already know that online reviews matter, but patients revealed that they really matter. More than two-thirds of patients looking for a new dentist use online reviews, with 81% using Google reviews, and others looking at Yelp (45%), Facebook (30%), and Healthgrades (23%). The most searched words were nice, friendly, caring, helpful, kind, patient, and understanding. It’s clear that prospective patients are looking for a dentist with an excellent chairside manner. Plus, 76% of people seek information on location and insurance in reviews.
Eric Block, DMD, author of The Stress-free Dentist, shares how he learned to connect with patients during his 20-plus years in practice.
Dr. Block says gaining positive reviews from patients can be as simple as asking for them. At the end of a patient’s appointment, say, “We're accepting new patients. Do you have any friends or family who may want to come in and see us?”
Dr. Block continues, “Then we send them review reminders through software so they can directly leave a Google or Facebook review.” When soliciting online reviews from patients, concentrate on “feedback on the experience” rather than “leaving a review.”
Your practice website gets a lot of views. Seventy-seven percent of all respondents said they did or would look at a dentist’s website before switching, and most patients look for specific services and procedures. Your website is a huge opportunity to make your practice’s technology, your strengths as a dentist, and your caring work culture shine.
Remember, when it comes to reviews, you’ll get some bad ones, and that’s normal. “The only perfect dentist is the one who hasn't finished dental school yet or the one who's retired,” Dr. Block says. “Everyone's going to make mistakes, so don’t beat yourself up.”
Recommendations
- Make sure you have a system so that satisfied patients can easily leave reviews online and share their positive experiences. Remember that word of mouth is still important in swaying people to choose a new dentist.
- Your website should highlight key information about your services as well as the individual attention you show every patient.
- Patients under 35 years old are the ones who are most likely to seek a new dentist, so put some extra focus on them when considering marketing opportunities.
Retaining existing patients
Key finding: 93% of patients who said their procedures were explained well rated their dentist 5 out of 5.
When it comes to maintaining your patients year after year, nothing beats good old-fashioned customer service. The survey found that patients’ feelings of being personally valued are highly correlated with overall satisfaction. Most patients said that if they’re seen for their appointment on time and given thorough explanations of procedures and treatments, they’re happy.
Dentists with the highest possible scores for overall thoroughness of explanation and transparency enjoyed nearly double the satisfaction score as dentists with low scores on these topics. The highest rated dentists thoroughly explained treatments and the reasoning behind them and were up-front about the level of discomfort a patient could expect. Sending detailed follow-up instructions post-visit also correlated with patient satisfaction: 58% of respondents gave top marks to dentists who sent them thorough follow-up instructions when they got home.
Transparency is also important when it comes to payment. Sixty percent of respondents were satisfied with a dentist who was crystal clear about how much of a procedure was covered by dental insurance, and 68% were satisfied with dentists who were honest about the total cost of their procedure.
Dr. Block notes the importance of offering financing for patients. “It’s important to give patients the option to break up their payment through a third-party financing company. We also offer a membership plan for patients who do not have dental insurance. Patients pay a membership fee that includes their cleanings, x-rays, and exams, and they get 15% off any other procedures.” This is a transparent way of explaining costs to patients without insurance, and it also keeps patients from seeking out another dentist if they’ve recently lost their insurance.
A study finding that might be less intuitive for some dentists is that patients do care about their dentist having up-to-date technology. Forty-six percent of patients who reported the highest satisfaction noted that modern technology factored into their rating. Add some show-and-tell of your cutting-edge advancements and how you incorporate them into your care. Train your staff to make a point of highlighting and explaining the cool, visual parts of your office technology.
However, Dr. Block says dentists should always come back to the basics of taking time to connect with patients. “You could have the greatest technology, greatest skills in the world, and most expensive piece of equipment, but if you don't make a connection with your patients, then they may not stay and accept treatment.”
Even though you may see many patients a day, Dr. Block has an easy tip to help patients feel special: write down personal details about them in your charts and quickly refer to the notes before you step into the room. “Document any notes or connection topics that you've talked about because you're not going to remember it, and you're going to look like a hero when you bring it up the next time.”
Recommendations
- Take the time to thoroughly explain care, procedures, and treatment. Go the extra mile by sending detailed care instructions home with patients post-procedure.
- Give patients an honest, up-front breakdown of total costs and how much their insurance is expected to cover. Consider offering a financing plan or a flat-rate membership option for patients without insurance.
- Get to know your patients personally and always provide an excellent chairside manner.
Patient dissatisfaction, and why people switch dentists
Key finding: 62% of patients switched dentists due to poor experience and rated their dentist low on transparency.
You can’t always control the factors that lead patients to switch dentists. The good news is that, on average, patients switch dentists only every seven years. Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents sought a new dentist because they moved, 22% experienced a change in their dental insurance, and 9% needed a procedure their current dentist didn’t offer.
Then there are the patients who seek a new dentist because they’re dissatisfied with their current dentist. That often comes down to two key factors: late appointment start times, and feeling a lack of transparency in treatment—standards of care that are mostly within your control.
“Talk to patients like they're your eight-year-old son,” Dr. Block says. “Make them understand what you're trying to explain and the benefits and consequences of treatment or not getting treatment. If you use too much jargon, they may get intimidated or not move forward with treatment.”
Next, do everything within your power to make sure your patients are seen on time. Timely appointments are especially important to younger respondents; just 37% of respondents under age 36 give wait times at their current dentist top marks. Young patients are also the demographic most likely to switch dentists, and more likely to leave online reviews.
“People want to be seen now,” Dr. Block says. “Know your limits, know how long it takes you to do procedures, and then schedule accordingly.”
Recommendations
- Avoid dental jargon and take the time to thoroughly explain treatments and procedures to patients in ways they can understand.
- Keep timely appointments, and make sure today is the most important day on your schedule.
- Focus on younger patients, especially when it comes to seeking out a new patient base and asking for online reviews.
Want to learn even more about what patients most look for in a dentist and how to actionably improve your practice? Read the full Dandy Dental Study: Patient Experience.
Jillian Anthony is a writer, editor, and content strategist with bylines from Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and New York Magazine's Vulture. She authors the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and hosts a podcast by the same name.
