The Dental Practice Check-Up

Before you spend more trying to fill the schedule, look at what happens to the patients already considering you.

Have you ever gotten a great marketing report, looked at your schedule, and thought, “I’m glad somebody’s happy, because I’m not seeing it”?

I’ve been marketing dental practices for over 20 years. My team has personally listened to over one million phone calls, and those conversations tell you things you’ll never see in a report.

Think about the person who finally works up the nerve to call your office. They ask a few questions, thank your team, and hang up. Everybody gets on with the day. But did that person book? Does anybody know what happened next?

Getting found is only half the battle. Somebody still has to choose you. There are nine areas I want to walk through with you — one of them may explain an opening you’ve been blaming on your marketing.

How to use this check-up

Give each of the nine areas a score from 1 to 10. One means look into it right away. Ten means you’ve checked it recently and have good reason to feel confident.

Score what actually happens in your office — not what you hope happens. If you don’t know, that’s something to check too. Walk through it as someone who’s never met you, doesn’t know dental terminology, and may already be nervous about calling.

Then go back to the area you scored lowest. That’s where you start.

01 · Your message

Pull up your website and the websites of five dentists near you. Cover up the names. Could anyone tell which one is yours? If everybody promises a friendly team, personalized care, and the latest technology, you’re leaving the patient to figure out the difference — and they’ll choose on price or convenience, because that’s all they can compare.

What would you tell me over coffee about your practice that would make me want to send my family there? That’s the conversation your website needs to have.

02 · Getting found

What treatment would you like to do more of? Start there, then look at what a person nearby sees when they search for it. You can rank well for your own practice name and still be invisible to someone who doesn’t know you exist.

Check your Google Business Profile. Are the phone number, hours, address, and website link right? Ask whoever handles your marketing to show you how people actually find you for the treatments that matter.

03 · Your website

Open your website on your phone. Imagine you’ve got a tooth that’s been bothering you and you’re deciding who to call between errands. Can you find the right information fast? Is the phone number easy to tap? Try the appointment request yourself — a broken form doesn’t announce itself.

Then read the page like a patient. Does it answer what they’re worried about, or does it sound like it was written for another dentist?

04 · Your phones

Before you pay to make the phone ring more, listen to what happens when it rings now. Somebody asks, “How much is a crown?” Your team gives a price. The caller says thanks and hangs up. Was that a bad lead — or did the conversation never get a chance?

Price may be the only question they know how to ask. Answer honestly, explain what affects the fee, and help them understand the next step. There’s a person on the other end who may be nervous, confused, or in pain.

05 · Scheduling

Say the marketing worked. The patient likes what they see, calls your office, and wants to come in. What happens now? Can your team offer an appointment that makes sense for that person — or are they trying to squeeze a new patient into a schedule with no room to work with?

A person who can’t find a workable time may call the next office. You can lose them after they’ve already decided they’d like to see you.

06 · Follow-up

What happens to the person who asks about treatment but doesn’t book? Is somebody responsible for following up, or does the inquiry get buried once the phone rings again? An unanswered question can quietly become an appointment at another office.

Pull up a few recent inquiries. Can you tell who responded, what the patient needed, and what was supposed to happen next? If that takes a lot of digging, your team is probably struggling with it too.

07 · Treatment conversations

When a patient says, “Let me think about it,” what are they thinking about? The fee? The time off work? Whether it’s going to hurt? Whether they really need it? If nobody asks, you’re guessing.

Try: “Of course. What would you like a little more clarity on before you decide?” Then let them answer. You might hear something you’d never pick up from the treatment plan alone.

08 · Reviews and referrals

You’ve got patients who love your office. Would somebody looking you up for the first time get a sense of why? Picture a person comparing you with two other practices. They’re looking for reassurance — if your reviews are old or say very little about the experience, they may never make that call.

Read your recent reviews with the team. What do people keep mentioning? Make it easy for patients to leave an honest review: ask consistently, without rewards or filtering for only happy patients.

09 · Your numbers

When you ask how the marketing is doing, what answer do you get? More traffic? More clicks? Those help, but keep going: How many inquiries came in? How many booked? How many showed up? How many started treatment?

If you stop at leads, you can keep paying for activity that never turns into patients — and blame a campaign when the real problem happens after the inquiry arrives.

What are you going to check first?

Go back to your scores. Which section made you think, “I’m not sure what happens in our office”? That’s a good place to start.

Before you increase the budget or decide the leads are bad, go look. Listen to the calls. Try the form. Ask the team. Choose one change you can make this week, put a name next to it, and set a time to check back together.

If you want me to take a look with you, bring your check-up. We’ll talk through the area you scored lowest.