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Culture Clicks by Jaclyn Nona

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Culture Clicks 

How your social media presence can solve staffing struggles

by Jaclyn Nona

Have you ever seen a team member featured in your latest Instagram or Facebook post share it to their own page? Typically accompanied by an enthusiastic caption and varied call to action: Check this out! That natural enthusiasm is worth its weight in gold—and smart practices are leveraging it beyond just patient connections.

The benefits of a strong social media presence for an orthodontic practice are undeniable. The obvious use is to maintain a strong connection and relationship with current patients and attract potential new ones. If used correctly and consistently, existing patients not only stop considering ever going elsewhere, but also generate quiet referrals through sharing or commenting on your content.


Attracting new hires through social media
This article will explore the unspoken and less obvious benefit of attracting new hires and reducing turnover through the display of your practice on social media. Potential hires are consistently getting a look inside your office and culture through a lens of your design. They also have the chance to meet your current team members and judge if their personality and skill would be a fit before applying. This is a low-effort, high-yield way to attract talent. Involving your team in your social media presence also allows your current staff to proudly display what they do every day to their community and friends—many of whom share their field of work.


Building authentic connections with potential candidates
There is a parallel between patient and candidate research habits. Just as potential patients are scrolling through your Instagram and Google reviews before calling to make an appointment, prospective applicants are conducting their own audit of your accounts. Beyond what they’ve found on Indeed, they’re curious to know what it’s really like to work for you and in your practice. Does your team get along? Are there opportunities for growth? Is work-life balance valued? What are you offering aside from the black-and-white job description and salary range?


Showcasing team dynamics and practice values
Modern applicants are thorough, cautious, and craving authenticity. Your social media presence has the opportunity to showcase team dynamics and the vibe of your practice on a regular basis. Turning an employee milestone, accomplishment, or celebration into a post gives your patients a sense of credibility, your employee a boost in confidence, and your potential hire an insight into your practice values. Recently, our home office shared a video on TikTok talking about the valued individuals in each department and singing their praises. This led to the following banter in the comment section:
  • “I don’t know if I want to be a patient or an employee more. You all sound like my kinda people.”
  • “Great news. We are always taking new patients, and also we’re hiring!”
  • “Do you have room for a lab tech apprentice or a clinical assistant?”

The power of employee engagement and sharing
Your social media is a mirror, reflecting your workplace atmosphere. Engaged and happy team members naturally become magnetic brand ambassadors. When staff eagerly share and interact with your practice’s posts, it sends powerful signals to patients and applicants—this is a place people truly enjoy, and they can trust they’re in good hands.


Creating content employees want to share
A key piece to this is creating content that your staff wants to share, or that makes them feel valued, all the while driving current patient loyalty with these glimpses behind the scenes. Your patients develop a relationship with their providers—just think of the patients who light up when they see their favorite orthodontist or assistant at a busy practice—and they want to see them succeed as much as their own friends and family. Showcase when your assistant just completed a digital scanning training or when your treatment coordinator gave up their Saturday to attend a continuing education course. Staff will have a natural inclination to share their victories with their own networks.


Balance staff comfort with social media participation
These moments of recognition increase patient loyalty, make your current team feel supported, and show potential hires that you celebrate growth and success. Try to create an environment where participation and sharing are natural and enjoyable. Forced participation in social media can feel like the breaking point on an already too-long daily checklist. Be sure to respect your staff’s wishes if they’d prefer to remain anonymous and come up with alternatives where they can be celebrated without specifically mentioning their name or forcing them to be on camera. Just as it’s important to receive consent from patients, it’s paramount to listen to what individual team members are comfortable with.


Showcasing workplace culture beyond daily operations
Beyond daily operations, social media gives you the perfect platform to promote how your practice connects with each other and the community. Your social platforms should offer a window into your end-of-year celebrations, birthday lunches, volunteer days, and fundraisers. Patients love seeing that their providers are real people, staff get to share these meaningful moments with their friends list, and potential hires get to envision themselves as part of a practice that emphasizes culture and community.


Attracting quality applicants with authentic content
Posting job openings with competitive pay and benefits isn’t enough anymore, especially since the pandemic, when the dental industry seems to be hemorrhaging qualified applicants. What makes candidates take the first step is seeing a practice where people genuinely enjoy coming to work. Your social media feed gives them that insight—showing team celebrations, continuing education opportunities, and daily moments that make your practice special. No job description can match the impact of a potential hire scrolling through months of authentic team content and thinking, I want to be part of that.


Building a talent pipeline through social media
The beauty of highlighting your practice culture on social media is that it attracts talent even when you’re fully staffed. We’ve received resumes from dental professionals who follow our practice online and want to be considered for future openings. These prospective team members have already connected with our culture and values through our content, making them more likely to be an excellent fit when an opportunity does arise. This organic collection of interested candidates gives you a valuable head start when you need to fill a position, often eliminating the stress and urgency of traditional hiring.


An ever-present recruitment tool
When you catch your team naturally sharing practice posts or proudly commenting and tagging friends on your Instagram, you know you’re doing something right. This is exactly the kind of organic enthusiasm that builds your practice reputation and attracts great candidates—all through content that you already create for patient engagement. Your team’s excitement becomes contagious, creating a natural cycle of positive exposure for your practice culture.

You should already be investing time in social media to connect with patients and showcase your clinical expertise.

By thoughtfully including your team and workplace culture in this content, you’re simultaneously building a powerful recruitment tool that runs in the background. The best part? Those candidates reaching out about future opportunities aren’t just looking for a job—they’re specifically choosing your practice because they’ve already fallen in love with your culture through social media. It’s recruitment and retention working hand in hand, without costly job postings. 
Author Bio
Jaclyn Nona Jaclyn Nona is the CEO and co-founder of Clever Dental Co., a platform helping dental teams master internal marketing. She creates monthly training courses and resources for dental offices nationwide. She’s a member of the American Association of Dental Office Management and the American Marketing Association. When she’s not helping practices thrive, she enjoys spending time with her wild and active family and their golden retriever, Murphy.
Orthotown Magazine
November 2025
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