Long time owners of dental practices are no strangers to dental fads and marketing gimmicks, and they have seen many come and go. Cosmetic dentistry is all the rage nowadays, but one practice focus has withstood the test of time year after year: dental emergencies. It used to be this was a well kept secret by dentists who were running a very lucrative operation from practicing emergency dentistry, but the landscape has changed significantly, particularly in the post-COVID world.
Many Dental Practices Driven to Figure out a Way to Attend Emergency Patients in 2020
One of the factors driving a surge of new entrants into this previously niche practice focus is the fact that in 2020 when states first began enacting lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19, many dental practices were completely shut down. Almost every state had exceptions; however, for emergency services, including dental emergencies. As a result, many practices that had never thought of emergency patients suddenly found themselves reorienting their operations in order to handle these patients. Once seeing the benefits of patients that can lead to high production cases in the same month they are seen, most practices kept seeing these emergencies even as lockdowns eased.
Emergency Dental Patients are Recession Proof
Despite the increased competition, dental emergencies still represent a recession proof way to grow a practice. Cosmetic dentistry, as most elective medicine, is heavily correlated with disposable income and very much at risk of significant drops in the eventuality of a recession.
Dental Emergency Search Volume Up
It may come as a surprise to many office managers that emergency patient volume and search interest have actually steadily increased since the 2020 lockdowns. At the time of writing, in September 2021 overall search interest for emergency dentists is very close to the all-time high experienced in April 2020. At the current growth rate, we should be seeing new all-time highs in the next month or two. There are several theories as to what is causing this growth, but it appears that many patients have skipped regular preventive check-ups during the period of intense lockdowns, and now we are seeing the downstream effects in dental emergencies.
More Competition for Patients
The surge of new entrants has now created much competition between practices for the patients that are available within a given area. Differentiation in marketing has become key, as, unlike traditional dentistry, emergency patients do not carry out a long consideration process before choosing a dentist. Emergency patients will generally perform a search for emergency services, call the first options available, and make a decision on the call.
Marketing Options for Emergency Patients
Given that emergency patients are different from traditional patients, with a different buying cycle, the marketing that focuses on them should be different. Dental Practices should choose a marketing partner that has experience in the space and can provide immediate results. Patients 4 you have been focusing on emergency dental marketing services since 2008 and generates thousands of dental emergency calls every month through its Emergency Dental System.
