Cosmetic Dentistry: Much More Than Just a Pretty Smile
Lana Rozenberg, DDS
Today's practice is not your mother's dentistry. Fifty years ago, dentists provided minimal and basic services-filling cavities, cleaning teeth, treating for gum disease, and providing dentures and orthodontia. When I opened my office 30 years ago, we introduced spa dentistry, which added nontraditional relaxation services and specialized techniques to calm patients who, as dentists well know, often were nervous being in a dental chair.
Over the years, our practice has progressed and expanded its patient services to include cosmetic dentistry and injectables, gum rejuvenation, snoring cessation treatments, and many more services to our general and preventative dentistry. Many of these products have long been available from various non-dental professionals, but now we are bringing them to our offices for added patient convenience and health.
Whole-Care Services
Nowadays, we look to treat each patient with whole-care services. Dentists have always focused on the benefits good teeth bring to a patient's happiness, but a smile is more than simply healthy teeth. A genuine, honest smile also includes many facial muscles in the cheeks and around the eyes. This is where the injectables come in.
Botox® and Juvederm® are the most recognizable names to patients, but there are currently many more choices available for patients who want to roll back the years in their smiles by eliminating facial wrinkles. Dentists can offer such services as tooth contouring and reshaping, laser skin treatments, dental implants, porcelain veneers, inlays, onlays, and gingival enhancements.
As medical professionals are increasingly coming to understand, good health is a matter of the whole person, not just disparate parts of the patient's body. However, getting clients on board with these ideas can be challenging, which is why Hollywood stars like Megan Fox can help. When Ms. Fox has given interviews on her troubled past and dysfunctional family, she stresses how various kinds of cosmetic surgery have helped her improve her sense of self-worth and move beyond her trauma.
In our practice, we have supported many women who have been in traumatic places, including helping battered women through Operation Smile. This was a program where we provided restoration work to fix the smiles of women who had been in physically abusive relationships. With their revamped smiles, we helped them get back into the workforce and move away from the trauma of their pasts.
Cosmetic dentistry isn't just for celebrities, people in the public eye, or trauma survivors. The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry attests that an improved smile impacts how people are perceived by others, which is something that affects the well-being of everyone.
Still, no matter how many worthwhile and helpful services dentists offer, no one will know unless you tell them. Social media posts, videos, podcasts, and other services publicizing celebrity experiences like Megan Fox's help our patients and prospective patients understand the whole-body-health system of services we bring to our practice.
Help Getting the Word Out
Whenever dentists introduce new services to their practice, they need to let patients know about them. Whether it's a new range of simple massages or other spa services, the goal is to make your patients' experience the very best it can be. Creating an intentional communications strategy about these services will boost your clients' willingness to explore these new options since they likely trust your expertise to guide their decisions.
Dentists cannot rely on the whims of the media to tell potential clients about their new offerings. They need to do their own outreach as well. When I first opened my practice, I hired a public relations firm to help me educate the public and the media, who could reach them about the changes in dentistry and our dental practices. For example, we masked the common medical smells in the average dental office that unnerved and intimidated dental patients.
Dentists' expertise lies in improving the health of their patients' mouths, smiles, and faces. Publicists and other media specialists know the best ways for dentists to reach out to prospective clients and let them know about the new products, services, and procedures they are now offering in their practices. Having someone help establish your credibility and build trust with potential patients can be a good thing. Let patients know that as a dental professional, you combine comfort with quality and can be trusted as their source for general, restorative, and cosmetic dentistry needs.
About the Author
Lana Rozenberg, DDS
Private Practice, Manhattan, New York
