The Competitive Advantage for Dental Practices by Focusing on Patient Comfort
An excellent bedside manner is always beneficial for retaining customers and providing a positive experience. Dental practices can significantly impact their bottom line and gain a competitive advantage over neighboring offices by focusing on quality care and patient comfort. When patients recognize a conscious effort from dental staff to help mitigate their stress and anxiety during their appointment, you may just have a lasting positive impression on them.
Fear, Stress and Anxiety at the Dentist’s Office
Many patients experience negative emotions, including stress, fear and anxiety when thinking about their upcoming dental appointments. Patients experience a myriad of factors that contribute to high stress, including fear of undergoing painful procedures, being told that they require intensive operations, judgement for their poor oral hygiene, and many other reasons.
According to the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, around 22 percent of patients experience extreme dental anxiety. If any of these types of individuals were to visit your practice and undergo a comforting experience—complete with weighted blankets and a customer-centric approach—they may be pleasantly surprised and become a regular patient. Having patients who trust your services over other dental offices will, over time, create a significant competitive advantage compared to an appointment that feels cold and clinical.
Not only would recurring appointments positively impact your dental office’s bottom line, but happy customers are often one of the best forms of marketing. Word of mouth and referrals can help keep consistent new leads and appointments, thus reducing the overall cost of your marketing efforts in the long term.
Dental clinics need to ensure they have all the right tools and necessary accessories to keep patients comfortable during their appointments. Anxiety-reducing weighted blankets for dental patients are beneficial in this regard. This product effectively eases a patient’s nerves, so they can feel a lot better and may not dread their appointment.
Why It Is Important to Keep Your Patients Calm
Achieving a sense of calm during dental appointments can significantly impact the customers’ perception of your business, so dental practices should invest in prioritizing patient comfort. As increasing patients feel more comfortable at your dental office, your practice would steadily gain a competitive advantage. Patients and their family members will be sure to come back as a result of a surprisingly positive experience at the dentist. Particularly with children and adults that experience dental anxiety and reactions such as crying or shaking, it can be a difference-maker if the dental team is dedicated to their comfort, with the proper training and tools to put their patients’ minds at ease.
Fear and anxiety are common for dental patients, so many cancel or postpone their appointments. High-quality customer care, helping clients with their dental anxiety, and using comfort tools such as the weighted blanket can help change a person’s perception in just one visit. It is an effective solution to help patients overcome common dental fears and concerns and keep them returning for regular check-ups that become enjoyable and relaxing instead of anxiety-inducing.
DentaCalm™ can provide you with the right tools to improve your competitive advantage against other dental offices. 86% of patients reported reduced anxiety using a DentaCalm™ weighted blanket, so it’s a cost-effective solution to helping increase your patient comfort immediately. You can always rely on our products if you are looking to improve patient care and comfort in your dental practice and gain a competitive advantage in the dental industry. If you would like more information, contact us today!