Dental Asia May/June 2020

Dental Updates
Converting posts into patients
From patient care to bookkeeping, clinical
tools to advertising, the digital age has
brought paradigm shifts to all aspects of
dentistry. In terms of locating potential
patients, there are two clear front-runner
favourites for dental practices: Facebook
and Instagram.
“If you’re willing to put money toward it,
Facebook is a really good model,” said Adrian
Lefler, co-founder of My Social Practice.
Fellow co-founder Blake Hadley interjected,
“Practices could spend US$50–100 per
month and that’s a great place to start.”
Instagram, on the other hand, has better
organic reach for a business.
Working with Instagram influencers on
campaigns specifically designed around
whitening treatments is another option.
“More and more brands are moving toward
working with nano and micro influencers
instead of big influencers,” said Hadley.
“With smaller followings of between 1,000 to
15,000, these influencers usually have more
personal relationships with their followers,
and are trusted more.”
Social media can be an effective avenue
for educating patients about products
and procedures through videos, linking
to blogs, and other
marketing materials.
Posts should also
address common patient
objections such as price,
complexity of procedure,
and scheduling. “Dental
offices should be posting
something every day,”
said Hadley. “The more you can post, the
more Facebook and Instagram will pump your
content out to the people on their platforms.”
Turning social posts into real-world patients
requires genuine content that entertains
while it educates, targeting the right
geographic audience, posting consistently,
and understanding the nuances between
platforms. ■
Are patient communications leading to the best treatment decisions?
you have to say,” said
Dr. McGraw.
Dr. Harriet K. McGraw, who attended the
Academy of Osseointegration’s inaugural
Leadership Institute in 2019, discussed how
labelling patients’ emotions can help dentists
communicate more effectively.
Drawing on insights from former FBI hostage
negotiator, Chris Voss, and UCLA psychology
professor, Matthew Lieberman, who found
that labelling an emotion – applying words
to a fear – disrupts its raw intensity, Dr.
McGraw believes that labelling patients’
emotions, most often fears, can be a first
step towards disarming their apprehensions
toward treatment.
Academy of Osseointegration
Antonio Damasio
Chris Voss
“Simply telling the patient you understand
they may be fearful can be very disarming,
making them more receptive to what
According to neuroscientist
Antonio Damasio, people who
had damage in the part of
the brain where emotions are
generated all had something in
common: They couldn’t make
decisions. In other words, while patients
may use logic to reason themselves towards
a decision, the actual decision making is
governed by emotion.
Though dental implants have been part of
dentistry for decades, they are still new
to many patients. Add to the fact that
surgery is involved in their placement and
patients can understandably be fearful
or apprehensive about proceeding with
treatment. “Addressing the technical aspects
of a case will not be successful unless the
emotional component is also addressed,” said
Dr. McGraw. “Dentists need to communicate
like an FBI hostage negotiator!” ■
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DENTAL ASIA MAY / JUNE 2020