Creating a strong bond with your community is an invaluable way to strengthen relationships with current patients and invite new patients to make your office their home for dental care.
So here are seven ways to make sure you contribute to your community and are seen as the obvious choice for dental treatment.
- Host a (free!) Oral Cancer Screening Day
Give patients—particularly those who’ve used or use tobacco products—peace of mine or the information they need to take control of their health early. - Donate mouth guard to local schools’ sports teams
Help students avoid dental injuries while they enjoy their favorite sports and market your practice. - Coordinate a donation drive with another local charity
Pair up with another charity to lead a donation drive (these are especially effective around the holidays) and donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to get your practice name out there. - Have a Saturday Open House
If your practice isn’t normally open Saturdays pick one and set up an educational event for families in the community. Have resources for parents to teach their children about proper home dental care and make sure to send everyone home with goody bags! (Think cute toothbrushes, kids’ toothpaste, stickers, etc.) - Volunteer as a team at a local service event
Your community work doesn’t even have to be dental. Gather your staff (Don’t forget to wear shirts or jackets with your practice logo!) and volunteer wherever you feel called to. Serving food at a shelter? Perfect. Cleaning up a local park? Sign the whole team up. The skies the limit. - Offer your services to those who can’t always afford them
Depending on your location there are a variety of mobile dental clinics that you can volunteer your talents at to service patients who otherwise struggle to pay for dental care. One of the largest clinics is Mission of Mercy, which offers medical and dental care. - Send staff to local schools to talk about careers in the dental field
Middle and High Schools often have classes geared toward exploring future careers. Reach out and see if you or another member of your team can talk about your profession and how it’s a great career path to follow.
