Dental Websites
Let’s talk about dental websites. There are so many websites out there for everything under the sun and this sure is true when it comes to dental websites. I’ll just share with you what some of my favorites are. I don’t have a lot of time on my hands and I’m sure you don’t either, so let me share with you things that have made a difference in my practice and websites that I are pretty much indispensable for my daily practice of dentistry.
Well, the first question that comes to mind is should your own dental practice have a website? The answer is absolutely, positively yes! You can direct your patients to the website, use it in any kind of marketing materials that you have for your practice, and it gives patients the sense that this dental office is up to date. Your patients can get some fairly simple answers to questions they may have from your website and it can be a terrific resource about your dental practice.
You don’t have to start from scratch or spend a lot of your own time trying to put together a website. There are many companies out there that will get you up and running. After looking at a number of companies for my own practice, I decided on the Prosites company at www.prosites.com. They have some of the best prepackaged web pages that I could find and had us up and running within the hour after I made the decision to get a website for my practice. The material is very well written and totally is in agreement with the philosophy of our practice, which is much like yours. You can also customize this website any way that you would like, adding pages, pictures and just about anything else imaginable if you would like. Their website editor is very intuitive and so easy to use.
How about websites that you can use for your everyday practice? Well, some sites that you should have bookmarked are www.dentistrytoday.com and www.dentaleconomics.com. There are lots of good resources here and many of the articles are archived as are some of the national practice surveys that they do each year. Fee surveys, in particular, are a very good resource as I believe that dentists should be looking at their fees at least once per year and making the appropriate adjustments.
There are so many dental products out there that this whole area can become extremely confusing, whether it is a little product like composite resin or big pieces of equipment, like panoramic x-ray. One website that I find invaluable is www.dentalcompare.com. If you are looking to compare any dental products, www.dentalcompare.com has every imaginable dental product listed. It has really important information on just about any dental product you could name with associated links that would give you more information, should you need it. There also are some great articles on there as well as frequent updates as to what’s new in the dental marketplace. It is literally like having one of the big trade shows, like Chicago Midwinter or the Greater New York Dental Meeting, exhibiting on your computer screen. And best of all, www.dentalcompare.com is a free website.
One area that we all need to get more involved in is www.oralcancerselfexam.com. My children, David Malcmacher and Shana Meystel, have come up with this website which teaches people how to do their own self-examination for oral cancer. This will stimulate patients to get to the dentist faster for treatment of this devastating disease. Dentists can join to be listed for a nominal fee. The public relations campaign for this website is starting to kick in and it has since had thousands of internet hits. Hundreds of dentists have already joined to be part of this initiative.
One of the best new websites on dental marketing is www.goaskfred.com where Fred Joyal, the founder of 1-800-DENTIST, answers every dental marketing question imaginable. You can even submit your own questions if you can’t find what you are looking for and they will respond to you directly as well as possibly list the question on their website.
No discussion of dental websites would be complete without mention Dentaltown at www.dentaltown.com. This interesting internet community will have “threads” about clinical procedures, dental products, politics, and will talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in dentistry and in life.
One warning when it comes to reading these postings on the internet about anything, especially dental products and techniques. You need to take everything you read there with a grain of salt, as you may not know the true identity of the author, nor what their motivation for writing really is. In this regard, the internet can be very helpful when people are truthful and dangerous when people are writing out of self-interest or greed.
The internet and dental websites are tools just like anything else you have in your practice. Stick with the dental websites that you trust and that make good resources for your daily dental practice. And of course, you can find lots of resources at www.commonsensedentistry.com
Dr. Louis Malcmacher is a practicing general dentist in Bay Village, Ohio and an internationally known lecturer, author, and dental consultant known for his comprehensive and entertaining style. An evaluator for Clincal Research Associates, Dr. Malcmacher has served as a spokesman for the AGD and is a consultant to the Council on Dental Practice of the American Dental Association. He works closely with dental manufacturers as a clinical researcher in developing new products and techniques. For close to three decades, Dr. Malcmacher has inspired his audiences and consulting clients to truly enjoy doing dentistry by providing the knowledge necessary for excellent clinical and practice management. His group dental practice has maintained a 45% overhead since 1988. You can contact him at 440 892-1810 or email dryowza@mail.com . You can also see his lecture schedule at www.commonsensedentistry.com where you can find information about bulding the best dental team ever and sign up for his affordable monthly consulting programs, teleconferences, audio cd’s and free monthly e-newsletter.