Any dental practice must ensure it’s offering comprehensive dental services for its clients. Patient attrition rates can be high, up to about 17 patients per month, according to the experts. Ensuring that you’re maintaining the dental clients you have and attracting new clients that you need to fill in attrition rates is essential to the success of the practice. Here are some comprehensive services your practice should offer.
1. The Basic Services
Family dentistry is the cornerstone of oral healthcare. Dental clients know that a family dentist specializes in providing comprehensive dental care for patients of all ages. The hallmark services that a family dentist provides are what bring new patients in who are looking for general oral health care.
At a minimum, your practice should offer routine dental exams and cleanings. Diagnostic X-rays using state-of-the-art equipment. Teaching patients about proper oral care habits. The basic services should include preventive services like dental sealants and fluoride treatments.
Of course, on the menu of services, there should be options for tooth repair, like fillings. Basic restorative treatments should be available as well. Adding a fully comprehensive list of basic dental services is a great place to start building your dental practice. Dental clients are most often looking for a dental practice that can service their entire family under one roof and manage their basic oral health care needs.
2. Smile Enhancing Services
Building on basic dental services to attract new clients and keeping old clients loyal should include cosmetic dentistry services. Smile enhancement services are very popular with clients. These procedures are designed to enhance esthetics, boost confidence, and correct dental imperfections.
Professional teeth whitening treatments can effectively remove stains and discoloration and are a very popular service with clients. Teeth whitening can be used as a selling point for other services. For example, it can be a free add-on service for dental clients who complete their treatment protocol.
Veneers are another popular cosmetic option. Custom-made veneers can correct tooth imperfections, such as chips, gaps, and misalignment. Dental crowns are a cosmetic service that clients often seek out to repair chipped, cracked, or imperfect teeth. Using tooth-colored resin, dental bonding can repair chipped or discolored teeth as well. Comprehensive treatment plans that combine various cosmetic procedures to transform a smile are winning treatment options.
3. Gum Health Care
Gum health is critical to overall dental health. The American Dental Association estimates that 60% of the adult population has some form of gum disease that goes untreated. You don’t have to be a periodontist (although it helps) to provide gum health services.
Diagnosing, treating, and preventing gum diseases, such as gingivitis and periodontitis, are essential oral health care services that every dental practice should provide for its clients. Dental hygienists typically provide scaling and root planing services. Scaling is a deep cleaning to remove plaque and tartar from below the gum line. This helps to keep the gums healthy.
While your practice may not have a periodontist on staff, that doesn’t mean you can’t offer one of the most popular periodontic services. Dental implants are quickly becoming the standard procedure for the replacement of missing teeth. Offering dental implant services is sure to attract new dental clients who want to perfect their smile (we talk more about this below).
4. Repairing Dental Damage
Restorative dentistry services are sought-after services. These types of services aim to restore damaged or missing teeth, ensuring both function and aesthetics. Dental clients who have missing teeth and want to restore their smiles will seek out providers that offer these specialty services. As the population ages, more clients than ever will be searching for these services.
As current clients age, they will also look for ways to restore their smiles. Some of the restorative services that your practice should offer include dental crown services. Caps or crowns placed over damaged teeth allow the dental client to maintain their natural teeth while enjoying a restored smile. Dental bridges are another restorative option that every practice should offer.
Dental bridges and dentures are time-honored treatment options for replacing missing or damaged teeth. These services can be performed right in the dental office with support from a trusted dental lab. Some dental practices create their own lab within the office to manufacture dental prosthetics for restorative treatments. Comprehensive restorative services will attract new clients and keep current clients satisfied with the services.
5. Treating Infected Teeth
Unfortunately, in some cases, teeth become seriously infected and need to be removed. Tooth extraction services are essential services that every dental practice should offer their dental clients. Clients who are in pain don’t want to be referred out for extractions. They want to have the tooth pulled in an environment that they feel comfortable in.
There are three types of extractions every dentist should be able to perform right in the office. Simple extractions when there are visible teeth above the gum line, surgical extractions when the tooth is broken or impacted, and extracting third molars (wisdom teeth). It requires special tools and training to provide the more complex extractions, but it is worth making.
Ensuring your dental clients can meet their emergency dental needs is essential to building a solid, successful practice. Emergency dental care, including extractions when necessary, are service that every dental client values. These services will ensure that you are providing the best care for your clients.
6. Saving Infected Teeth
Of course, in some cases, you can save infected teeth with root canal treatment can save infected teeth. This specialty procedure is a multistep process that many dental clients prefer over extractions. Of course, as a dental professional, no one has to tell you how important it is to be able to save a natural tooth if it can be saved.
Providing root canal services in the office can be a great way to meet dental needs. Referring patients to an endodontist can be inconvenient for the patient. Ensuring clients get all the care they need in the same office makes dental care more convenient for them and will build their loyalty.
If new patients are searching for a dental office that offers comprehensive dental care, they will be attracted to your dental practice. Dental clients prefer having all their dental care under one roof. If you are not confident in your root canal skills, hone your skills. It is a valued service that you should be offering.
7. Implant Services
Permanent tooth replacement with dental implants is the new standard of care. Implant dentistry offers a long-lasting solution for missing teeth. Dental implants are titanium posts surgically placed in the jawbone, serving as sturdy foundations for artificial teeth. If this is not a service you yet offer, it is something you should consider mastering.
Implants have quickly become the standard of care for missing teeth for individual teeth and whole mouth restoration. If you offer dentures, you should offer implant-retained dentures. Implants are not only good for restoring missing teeth, but they are also good for bone health.
Dental clients who are looking for restorative methods that can truly mimic natural teeth find that implant dentistry is the right solution. Offering implant services can boost your dental client base and keep your current clients on the books. Before long, every dental office will offer these services. Staying competitive will require you to provide implant services.
8. Immediate Dental Care
Dental emergencies can occur suddenly, causing pain and discomfort. Dental practices that offer prompt emergency dental care to address urgent issues are much appreciated by clients. Emergency dental care services help dental clients get out of pain and return to life. Clients appreciate these services because they are perceived as compassionate care services.
Some of the services that fall under the emergency care heading include toothache relief. Immediate attention given to a toothache, whether it is via anesthetics or immediate treatment, is an important service to offer. Repairing chipped, broken teeth that are causing pain are essential emergency treatment service. Addressing acute dental injuries and managing dental trauma services are also essential emergency treatments.
Not every emergency service addresses painful conditions. In some cases, emergency services are focused on replacing lost crowns and repairing other dental restorations that have been damaged. In every case, emergency services are highly appreciated by dental clients. Offering after-hour emergency care can elevate your practice in the dental client’s eyes. They will remember which dentist answered the call most when they needed services.
9. Teeth Straightening Services
Many general dentists offer teeth straightening services for simple teeth straightening cases. Most dentists leave more complex teeth straightening up to the orthodontists. However, thanks to advances in dental technologies it is easier than ever to offer teeth straightening services through general dentistry practices.
As a general dentist, you may have to take some additional training to become certified in products like Invisalign, a tooth bracing system, but in the end, you will be able to offer one of the most valued services to your clients. Teeth straightening is no longer just for kids. Orthodontists report that about 25% of their patients are adults (aged 18 or older).
Teeth straightening services can help to build your practice and open your practice up to new dental clients. The more services you can provide, the better. Over 2 million people in the United States wear braces, with new patients being added every year. You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to serve some of those clients.
10. Advanced Care Services
There are some services that will require additional training and education, but every good dentist should be open to continued education to better service their dental clients. Some of the more advanced dental services require significant additional training and education, but clients often seek out these niche services.
Oral surgical services, including maxillofacial surgery that focuses on jaw alignment, face, and neck repair, are specialty services that are not often found in the dental office. However, they can be offered in the dental office. They may attract a specific audience of clients who need these types of services and prefer to receive them in an office setting where they receive their general dental care.
Other oral surgical services that you can provide include removing impacted wisdom teeth (the more complex case management), and addressing the more complex types of root canals. There is a range of advanced services that can round out your menu of services that will draw new clients to your practice. In many cases, general dentists who can’t provide these services to their clients will refer the clients to you. This will provide you with another pipeline of new clients.
Building a Successful Practice
If you want to grow your dental practice, you must continue to grow your skill set and then grow the services you provide. Providing clients with comprehensive dental services will ensure that you meet the needs of a wide range of dental clients. Growing your skill set is the single best way to grow your practice. The more expert you become the bigger your practice will become.
Dental clients are always looking for a dental practice that offers all the services they need in one convenient location. Dental practices that offer a comprehensive range of services to meet various oral health needs succeed. Don’t sell your practice short; offer the services that will meet dental client’s needs and be willing to grow your practice by continuing to evolve your services. The more services you provide, the more stable the practice. Learn more today about successfully building a dental practice by offering the right services.
