Broadening your services could help encourage reluctant patients back

Featured Products Promotional Features

Posted by: Dental Design 21st May 2022

It’s now over two years since all but emergency dental services were paused to prevent the spread of Covid-19. But you may have patients whom you still haven’t seen back in the practice, for a variety of reasons. Their concerns might be around personal safety, notwithstanding your robust infection control protocols, or they could be financial. Or they might be certain they need a particular treatment that you don’t offer.

The job now is to engage with these people and encourage them back in, addressing their concerns with empathy and understanding and in a highly practical way. Reach out and keep communicating. The overriding message should be that they will be returning to friendly faces they can trust, who will take good, safe care of them. Your team’s commitment is long term; your approach, preventive. Quality care at the right time, delivered by the right people, means they’ll reduce their risk of dental disease and ultimately need to see you less.

A broad service list will help them understand that you are able to look after them comprehensively. Especially if they have only visited for a filling or hygiene maintenance in the past, you want them to know you’re here to help them achieve better health and wellbeing for life, not just deliver ‘isolated’ treatment as and when required. Successful treatment happens when a patient has been shown how to keep it stable, and avoid further (often expensive, invasive) work further down the line.

Widening your scope of practice also means more patients can be treated in-house. For complex treatment, there will be no need to feel nervous, when it is carried out by their regular dentist and team. A broad list of high-quality treatments will put as many patients as possible on the path to better health and wellbeing. If you don’t have to refer out – and if you can take referrals, too – this is also good for business as well as loyalty.

Put dental implants on your service list

As a GDP, training will enable you to broaden your service list. One treatment that is already in demand, and is only set to get more desirable, is dental implant therapy. So why not train to become an implant dentist? Dental implants offer a result that’s as near to a natural tooth as it’s possible to get, in terms of function and aesthetics. This makes them the perfect, cost-effective solution for a patient of any age who is in oral and general good health and who does not want a removable denture. If any patient needs to replace a missing or damaged tooth, a dental implant is an excellent alternative that can last for many years, with correct maintenance.

When you have accessed the highest quality training in implant dentistry, you will guarantee patient safety and gold standard protocols, giving them nothing to fear – this is a selling point for any reluctant individuals. You can also promise efficiency and value as part of a tailored treatment plan. As a bonus, being able to confidently place and restore dental implants will bring in a new revenue stream. Growth means you can help more people, and give your team additional professional opportunities too. They will need to update their knowledge and skills to answer patient queries or concerns, as well assist with aftercare.

Find quality training in the heart of London at The One to One Implant Education, which offers Postgraduate Diploma in implant dentistry (EduQual Level 7). Half the teaching is delivered as live surgery, and there is a tiered peer mentor system for friendship and guidance long after the course is finished. With modules delivered by implant experts and renewed global speakers, you will learn how to offer safe and confident treatment. As your reputation in dental implants grows, you will be able to take more referrals too.

Encouraging patients to come back is a challenge. Keeping in touch with regular communication is one thing but getting them to actually book, or start on a treatment journey is another. Widening your services to provide comprehensive care can help, so they can build trust in your practice as the one and best place to maintain their oral health for life, from improving their daily cleaning routine to replacing a missing or damaged tooth. Training to be an implant dentist means you will be able to confidently offer this treatment, so different bits of dentistry can be provided other DCPs in the team. Your aim is to create a safe, friendly and comfortably environment, that puts everyone at ease and allows them to make high-value investments in their oral health. What better reason for any remaining reluctant patients to come back?