From the Editor
Gerard Kugel
Dear Readers,
As we enter our third year of providing you with quality, peer-reviewed clinical presentations and relevant editorial coverage of topics that affect your day-to-day practice, what could be more practical or useful than information that helps you set the stage for a prosperous and successful 2008? After all, if corporate marketers are already engineering their plans for next year, there’s no reason why practicing clinicians can’t do the same.
With that in mind, it’s not too late to consider what several dental practice marketing experts had to say in our cover feature, “Why, When, & How to Market the Dental Practice.” They confirmed that there has never been a better time to be in dentistry, or to capitalize on the public’s greater awareness of what modern dentistry can do to prevent disease, help people retain more of their natural teeth longer, and/or revitalize or remake smiles. On behalf of the publishers and staff of Inside Dentistry, it is my hope that this feature will help you to understand your marketing options and evaluate the professional resources available to you.
If It’s Important to You, It’s Important to Us. Until recently, graduating dental students received little formal education in terms of practice marketing. We recognize this fact and realize it’s important to serve as a gatekeeper for suggestions and recommendations for strategic planning, undertaking marketing activities, and readying your practice for growth and new patient business. Although these topics are discussed briefly within each issue, marketing the dental practice remained an important topic that warranted the more in-depth coverage that our feature presentations provide. That’s why we talked with several industry experts to learn what’s involved with marketing the dental practice today and beyond.
Know Your Passion and Know It Well. When you love what you do, it shows. People want to be around you and work with you. Your patients will benefit from your enthusiasm and desire to do your best dental work. When you know what you want to do, your vision of doing it becomes clear. As a result, you’ll be better able to market yourself to those patients who want the type of care you’re offering. When your marketing is conducted appropriately, you’ll hopefully work in a productive environment that leaves you personally and financially fulfilled.
Use Your Head. Like the materials we use to develop beautiful restorations, there is an equally large variety of marketing consultants to choose from. Continuing with the analogy, each will work differently in different situations. When considering different marketing consultants, do your homework. Investigate how they’ve performed in the past before selecting a consultant to help you promote your practice and develop your marketing messages.
We hope you enjoy this issue and find that it delivers relevant and trustworthy information that you can apply to your practice, particularly as you embark on any marketing or promotional endeavors. We encourage you to send us your feedback to letters@insidedentistry.net. As always, your thoughts, opinions, and reactions are our motivations to continually enhance our clinical content and coverage of today’s topics of interest. Thank you for reading and, most of all, thank you for your continued support.
With warm regards,
Associate Dean for Research
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
gkugel@aegiscomm.com
P.S. To ensure that you continue to receive all that Inside Dentistry has to offer, please sign up for your free subscription by visiting www.insidedentistry.net.
