I work as a management consultant to the dental profession,  primarily coaching and mentoring doctors in general practice. One of the reasons I am hired is to help doctors who have plateaued  begin to increase revenue again. There are only four basic ways to do this: increase fees, increase hours, increase the frequency that patients come to the practice, and offer more services. Let’s talk today about offering more services.

I recently attended a two day seminar for Six Month Smiles. The course provides hands on learning for “short term orthodontics” which is defined as cosmetically focused orthodontic treatment performed in less than nine months with aesthetic brackets and wires. The average general practice is loaded with adult patients very unhappy with the way they look because of crowding, spaces, or protruding teeth. These patients will usually not agree to undergo conventional orthodontic treatment because of the length of treatment time and metal braces. Six Month Smiles offers a great alternative to conventional orthodontics–it is conservative,  affordable, and quick – and you won’t believe how easy it is to learn. It is also  a great opportunity for a dentist to change people’s lives while significantly increasing revenue.

The course material was very well presented. Attendance is limited so you get as much personalized attention as you need. I would say that the majority of the doctors at the course were frustrated Invisalign providers who literally embraced the differences: faster tooth movement, lower lab fees (about one third of aligner therapy), much more control of the case, no compliance issues, and no endless “refinements”. A wonderful benefit is the Provider Resource Center where eighteen clinical mentors assist in online dentist to dentist case support. If you post photos and models, you will get opinions and guidance often that same day.

Five of my clients attended the seminar in Boston. Less than two weeks later, between them they had started eight cases! That is pretty amazing. If you are a restorative dentist who loves to create beautiful smiles and has an ability to visualize cases, this ortho technology will be a fabulous addition to your armamentarium. You will quickly be able to move teeth into proper position so that bonding, veneers, and more traditional crown and bridge or implants can now be performed.

I have not done clinical dentistry for 16 years, happily spending my days now as a management consultant. But I can tell you–as I sat through that course–and saw the amazing results that could be created–it was the first time that I was a little bit nostalgic as I was thinking how much fun I could have as a clinician again! So please do yourself a favor and check this out. Orthodontics does not have to be a mystery any longer.

Google continues to call the shots on local search marketing.  After most of you were finally getting comfortable with the mechanics of marketing your dental practice using a Google Places listing, Google has changed the rules–again!!  Less than two weeks ago–with no advance warning–Google introduced Google+Local, and literally overnight about 80 million Google Places Pages were replaced by Google+Local Pages. Google Places, the brand, has migrated to Google+Local, lending itself to more social interactions through Google+Pages. Most of the features you’ve grown accustomed to will remain, including the Places dashboard where you can upload photos, add contact information, and post-patient reviews. All current reviews that you have worked so hard to acquire will also transfer. Good news there.

But Google completely changed up its review system with a two component rating scale developed by Zagat (Google acquired Zagat about eight months ago). First–the individual review rating which previously was based on five stars is now based on a scale of 0-3: 0=Poor;1=Good;2=Very Good; and 3=Excellent. The most noticeable difference is the way that your reviews appear. Each individual review will now also display the full username associated with the Google account of the reviewer. This change should help reduce the number of spam reviews and also the reviews by persons attempting to damage the reputation of a legitimate business. The second piece of the  new rating system is the overall score which is now a composite score of 30 possible points. This breaks down in the following way: 0-10=Poor; 11-15=Fair to Good; 16-20=Good to Very Good; 21-25=Very Good to Excellent; and 26-30=Extraordinary to perfection. Also under this new system, reviews that Google has identified as helpful–both positive and negative–will remain closer to the top of all the reviews posted – despite their age. Under the old system, reviews were listed in the order they were posted.

I would offer three suggestions. First–continue to solicit quality reviews from your patients. They are more important than ever to the success of your business with this new system of local ratings. Second–contact your Webmaster immediately to help you to set up a Google+Business Page. Every business will be forced to have a Google+Business Page (just like Google Places). You may choose to wait and Google will create one for you, but I would suggest creating one now using the same email address as the Places listing. Third -be sure to have your webmaster  install a Google button on your website that encourages patients to leave reviews (here is the link to mine), and make sure that it is linked correctly to the new Google+Local Page where reviews can be written.