Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from Niche Dental and our design partner The Peripheral Vision (Matt).
Make Dental Communication Resolution NOW
by Dental Consultant Dick Chwalek
Periodontal Disease requires constant vigilance. Patients need to return on a regular basis for treatment so their smile and overall health is not ravaged by its effects. Encouraging patients to make gum disease elimination one of their New Year's resolutions is a great idea.
Of course, without effective communication, few people will appreciate or understand what perio treatment can do for them without "deep brain" treatment. Without constant communication diligence, consumers will trend toward doing what comes naturally, waiting until a "better time" or worse yet doing nothing, forever. Proactive dental marketing can be an integral part of this encouragement process.
There is no way my dentist can overcome any of my bad dental habits without a diligent communication and encouragement campaign. He has started this internally. Every time I am there, I see that chart about drinking soda pop. According to the chart my choice of soft drink has similar properties to battery acid.
If I did not go to my dentist at least once every six months, this concept would not be as deeply burned into my brain. (Like that TV commercial we all remember: This is your smile on acid.)
Sadly, one comparison chart and a couple dental visits a year will not change my habits. To actually staunch my battery acid intake will require various strategies like...
- His disapproving scowl (which I was instrumental in helping him develop)
- Another kick in the shins (not suggested for every patient) but effective when trying to convince someone like me
- And of course, the interaction of various internal and external communication strategies overtime
Obviously, it is not easy to change habits, but accomplishing the goal of more compliance and acceptance is not impossible. Just helping dental consumers like me move up even one notch can create noticeable gains in our oral, and your financial, health.
For example, my intake of sugar pop was a daily event until I heard a story on public radio about weight loss. The newsperson basically said that my one can of sweetened pop a day would add about one pound per month to my girth. For some reason that really got to me -- it was at the right time in my life - I had just turned 20 (okay it was 40) and I knew there was no "better time" than now to turn things around.
Within 6-9 months of hearing that health tidbit, I had lost over 25 pounds and was in better shape than I had been for 20 years. While I did more than stop drinking sugar laden pop, that tidbit of health knowledge propelled me into a frame of mind that has also been good for my physical frame.
Now is the time for you to get in the right frame of mind to begin the new year with a plan to encourage more positive dental health habits.
Remember the only successful dental marketing is the kind that actually happens. Resolve to do it regularly until the disease of low dental IQ has been eliminated (or at least more thoroughly controlled). Be as resolute in your communication consistency and pro-activeness as you expect your patients to be in their dental health regimen.
Sincerely, Dick Chwalek
Niche Agency Director
& Dental Consultant
866-453-1026
