Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

From the Phone Book to the Internet Age: How Marketing Has Changed Over the Years Dr. Danial Grob, DDS, MS

Start Discussion More by this author (5)


The day-to-day biomechanics of orthodontics have slowly moved during the past three decades. The marketing of orthodontics, however, has moved much more rapidly. Some say it's changed for the worse, but on the other hand, I think we have a tremendous opportunity in marketing—more than we've ever had before.

In this challenging modern environment for orthodontics, marketing involves new messages and new media. Gone are the days of becoming busy and profitable by convincing others that you are the best. There's a lot more to it now.

Dr. Russ Kittleson, a worldly and inspirational educator from my training program at Marquette University, accurately summed up the practice and perception of orthodontics when he said (I'm paraphrasing here): "The good news about orthodontics is that for the most part people can determine if they need it or not." He said this in regard to when DMO-type insurance plans began to take a foothold in the reimbursement equation of dental insurance in the 1980s. Many orthodontists, like me, were concerned that we would be forever losing our patient base to closed-panel, capitated dental groups. Of course now, we are losing our independence to corporate entities and non-orthodontic practitioners eager to incorporate orthodontics.

Marketing used to be simple and clear-cut. While we were training, those of us from various demographics and backgrounds looked over the neighborhoods where we wanted to live and decided which area was in need of an orthodontist. We stayed away from our faculty members' turf and the selection process was done. Once open for business, orthodontists with waiting lists (yes, waiting lists), gladly shuttled some of their patients over to the new grad and we were off and running.

To become known, the orthodontist created a conservative dental-society-approved newspaper ad announcing how proud he or she was to be open for business. Then the orthodontist mailed announcement cards to members of the local dental society. Sure, it usually worked but not every announcement recipient took it seriously. I remember walking into a general dentist's office during the winter to follow up on my announcement only to find my raised letter fancy-bordered card at the entrance to the building with writing on the reverse side that said "Please remove boots prior to entering." I visited the elder dentist anyway.

The Yellow Pages (remember those?) were a different story. Taking a bold approach was pretty much unheard of, especially if you had connections to the dental school in the area (which I did). You wanted to be listed under the newly created sections for specialists. Once in a while a general dentist found his or her way into that listing by mistake or even intentionally. For the entire year, specialists groused and tried to take some kind of action, which of course, never happened.

The Yellow Pages got more creative every year, offering colors, bold headings and larger-than-life photos. Soon the cover and the back of the book were made available for purchase and when that was exhausted, new regional or neighborhood books were created to start the process over. It seemed like the budget would never end.

While external marketing at this point consisted of Yellow Pages ads, marketing to "your referrals" was beginning to take place. I remember visiting with a seasoned practitioner, eager to sell his successful practice positioned in a high-rise building, and discussing his sales price and referrals. When pressed on who his referrals were and how many he had, he said that I would find out once the practice sale was complete. What?

Understand that a couple of decades ago, it was said that a successful orthodontic practice only needed about five to 10 busy dental practices to keep it going, and the limits to income were based pretty much on how many days you wanted to work.

Fast-forward to the past 10 or 15 years, and boy you'll see things have changed! Practice consultants introduced the concept of marketing representatives, similar to those used by drug manufacturers for years. Their task is to keep connections with the referring doctor and basically keep your face and name in front of them, bringing with them treats and a freshly printed stock of referral cards and pads.

Thankfully, new-patient coordinators have taken the overwhelming job of patient relationships from the doctor, freeing him or her to focus on patient care and the business. To learn more about GP referrals, see Donna Galante's article, "The Secret to GP Referrals" on p. 28.

Consultant Charlene White identified the five tiers of marketing, suggesting that we focus on our patients, parents, staff, communities and referring dentists.

Roger Levin, who popularized the aforementioned relationship-coordinator position, has stated that you need at least 15 moving parts or items of marketing consistently in place at every level to keep customers engaged. Those customers include your referring dentists as well as patients and parents. He also declared many years ago that orthodontics was the first specialty to commoditize, and this happened when external marketing had hit a new frenzy. Direct mail offers "free this" and "free that" with starts, consults and exams. I have even heard of an orthodontist offering a car to the referral source scoring the most points!

The Internet is the place and Google and SEO have replaced the phone book. We seem to have reached a new level of anything goes. When will it end?

Next month I'll explore how we can market to advance our specialty as well as our own practices, while at the same time helping the practices of general dentists. Is it possible?

Yes.

Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
Orthotown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie® Poll
Do you have a dedicated insurance coordinator in your office?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Orthotown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450