Teeth Whitening – A New Approach

Full disclosure–my wife and I are both in our early 70s. So we are definitely on the back nine as they say, we just don’t know which hole. I say this because I wouldn’t want my comments to be considered indicative of  age discrimination . We both are continually amazed at how so many of our contemporaries have dark and discolored and yellowed teeth. And these are people of means. They go out to dinner, they travel, and price is not the dominant issue when they shop.

An unsightly smile definitely makes you look older than you are. Is it just my perception because I’m a dentist, or does everyone agree that discolored teeth are pretty ugly, and indicate a general lack of attention to personal appearance and perhaps personal hygiene?

Who are the dentists who take care of these folks? Why are they not sending the message? If people are paying thousands of dollars for facelifts  and nose jobs and Botox to improve their appearance, why wouldn’t they want to whiten their teeth?

I believe there is a huge untapped market for cosmetic dentistry and it is sitting right there in your office in the paper charts or computer files of your existing patients. Here is how I recommend that you get started.

• Have every staff member and every doctor wear a button that says “Ask us about whiter teeth!” I have found this to be very effective in getting the conversation started. You can easily have these buttons made up at a novelty store.

• Every staff member and every doctor needs to have a nice bright smile. You certainly can’t expect patients to whiten their teeth and accept your treatment recommendations if your own teeth don’t look great.

• Put pre-and post up photos on your website for reference. Develop a specific landing page on the site with cosmetic options that include whitening. Even better, have an iPad chairside with these photos. The clarity and resolution of photos on an iPad are amazing coupled with the ability to manipulate the images.

• Get familiar with the newest whitening options that you can offer. New formulations have greatly reduced the problem of sensitivity, and results have become much more predictable. Whiter Image Dental is a great company with an excellent product.  I also hear good things about KoR Whitening. But I am particularly enthused about GLO whitening. GLO Science Professional offers a game changing, dual teeth whitening experience available exclusively at a dental office. Teeth can get white fast in one 32 minute in-office whitening session. Then you maintain your smile anytime at home with the GLO Brilliant Professional Whitening Device. Go to their website and check out how cool this device looks. It is beautifully packaged, and there is nothing like it out there.

Taking study models and making custom trays could be a thing of the past. Whitening teeth is the building block of bigger and more comprehensive cosmetic treatment plans. It is time to create a significant revenue stream in your office. But equally as nice is the satisfaction of helping patients feel so much better about the way they look.