losing patients to cheap private practice "new patient specials"

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mike05tusdm

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Hello all,

I'm wondering if other dental students are having this problem. For most patients, one big motivator in coming to a dental school is cost in that they can get their work done for less than on the outside. Obviously, the drawback is that things take longer at a school.

I'm finding myself, however, losing many patients to private practices that are advertising cheap $50 "new patient specials" that include an exam, x-rays, and a cleaning. That's less than the price of just a cleaning at Tufts which is $55. Add to that the fact that it will take less time at the private practice, and I just can't keep these patients-I can't sell Tufts to them-I can't compete with these cheap new patient specials on the outside. I also have some friends who were interested in coming in, but don't want to pay Tufts $165-$55 each for FMX, exam, and prophy, when they see a cheap new patient special on the outside for $50 that takes much less time-especially when they think all they need is a cleaning.

Yes, I know that these private practices will charge more for the work afterwards, but a lot of patients just find the offer too good to pass up. I do know that a lot of these private practices are doing things very quickly and incompletely-like they don't bother taking an FMX-only 2 bitewings! I mean-that's not good dentistry only taking 2 BWs and I can't even imagine treating a patient without an FMX-have these people forgotten what they were taught in dental school? I also wonder how thorough an exam gets done as well.

It's just hard having to compete against this and it's frustrating losing patients to this-I try to explain that they won't get the same comprehensive care, but the cheap and quick exam and cleaning is too much of a draw.

Mike

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What is the big issue with losing intital exam and prophie patients. I know that you know that you have much more to master in dental school than exams, x-rays, and prophies. Private practices can't compete against your school clinic for all those other procedures...so relax. X-rays and prophies will still be waiting for you and your hygienist when you get out into private practice on your own.
 
if it's frustrating, then you should take your complaints to your school admins...
if the price is the same...i dont see how a slow inexperienced dental student would be a better bargain than a cheap and FAST GP.

just remember, if you want compete on price...then by definition your patients will leave you when there is a "better bargain" somewhere else.
personally, i believe in offering affordable care....but i'm sure if i'd want a practice full of bargain hunters.


i'd wanna be a "nice" dentist for your patient...be polite and treat them with respect.
that way your patients will stick with you because u are a nice guy....

walmart and nordstrom are both in the same business....but are they really competitors?
i'm not sure..


maybe someone could correct me if i'm wrong..
...but a FMX is not indicated to "screen" potential disease processes...
why would a 19 year old girl that has never had a cavity and flosses 3x a day need a full mouth series?
i dont remember the correct term...but for some reason i do remember that being a board question.



mike05tusdm said:
Hello all,

I'm wondering if other dental students are having this problem. For most patients, one big motivator in coming to a dental school is cost in that they can get their work done for less than on the outside. Obviously, the drawback is that things take longer at a school.

I'm finding myself, however, losing many patients to private practices that are advertising cheap $50 "new patient specials" that include an exam, x-rays, and a cleaning. That's less than the price of just a cleaning at Tufts which is $55. Add to that the fact that it will take less time at the private practice, and I just can't keep these patients-I can't sell Tufts to them-I can't compete with these cheap new patient specials on the outside. I also have some friends who were interested in coming in, but don't want to pay Tufts $165-$55 each for FMX, exam, and prophy, when they see a cheap new patient special on the outside for $50 that takes much less time-especially when they think all they need is a cleaning.

Yes, I know that these private practices will charge more for the work afterwards, but a lot of patients just find the offer too good to pass up. I do know that a lot of these private practices are doing things very quickly and incompletely-like they don't bother taking an FMX-only 2 bitewings! I mean-that's not good dentistry only taking 2 BWs and I can't even imagine treating a patient without an FMX-have these people forgotten what they were taught in dental school? I also wonder how thorough an exam gets done as well.

It's just hard having to compete against this and it's frustrating losing patients to this-I try to explain that they won't get the same comprehensive care, but the cheap and quick exam and cleaning is too much of a draw.

Mike
 
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groundhog said:
What is the big issue with losing intital exam and prophie patients. I know that you know that you have much more to master in dental school than X-rays and prophies. Private practices can't compete against your school clinic for all those other procedures...so relax. The X-rays and prophies will still be waiting for you and your hygienist when you get out into private practice on your own.


how would u now if they needed the RCTs or FPDs if you can't get them in for an exam?
 
Well, if those folks are such bargain shoppers as was sugggested, they should come back to the dental student for a bid after the private dentist quotes them a price for a needed RCT and/or FPD. If you get the job, the private dentist is obligated to send you the x-rays and you get the needed training in the more advanced procudures. Not much lost from my perspective.
 
I think you just don't understand how most school clinic works, Groundhog. And that's OK. :D
 
Dr.SpongeBobDDS said:
I think you just don't understand how most school clinic works, Groundhog. And that's OK. :D

Spongebob is right.

At UNLV, a pt can't just come in and get isolated, spot work done. It is a very long process that begins with a comprehensive exam. Only after the exam has been completed and we have prepared a tx plan for the pt can we begin care...So, a pt can't come in off the street and get endo done without commiting to the whole process. They can't just come in and get a removeable partial denture, which we consider phase III care, until all the phase I and II care is complete. For pts with perio disease, this means six week reevaluation after finishing perio tx. We explain this all very well before beginning any care for the pt. No one in their right mind would do tx on a pt without performing thier own exam first anyway. You don't just take the word of the other dentist.
 
Mike,
Sounds like a bait and switch to me. Is this a corporate group that is offering the $50 special?
 
I'd venture to say it's possibly Gentle Dentle or something like them that's offering the $50 deal. Sounds shady to me, and I suspect (and hope, since I'll be in Mike's shoes soon) the patients will come back after they experience the other side of the deal.
 
As groundhog said, don't sweat it. You don't want patients who only need a prophy anyways. For the ones who need comprehensive care, it doesn't matter if they save 50 bucks up front at a private office when they can save hundreds once the actual work gets done. Why do you think private offices run these specials? Because once the people get it they pay full price for the meat of the work. The patients you will want to treat will not be attracted to that once they see what there treatment plan cost is.
 
Wow-a lot of responses. Yes, it's Gentle Dental and Aspen Dental that are offering these specials, but also some other smaller offices that I see advertised in the paper.

Yes, I don't want patients who only need a prophy-but there are many patients who think they only need a prophy but need much more. One of my patients who is also a friend-came in "just to get her teeth cleaned" and I ended up doing 11 amalgams on her. Another patient who thought she was only getting a prophy turned into 3 quads of scaling, endo, post and core, a PFM, and a partial. So, the point is-if I'm losing these patients who won't even come in since they're drawn to these cheap new patient specials on the outside, it hurts me. Even if they only need a prophy, it's still something for me to do which is better than empty clinic sessions.

Also-the way the school works-a patient cannot come in and just say "I need endo done." They have to have the full comprehensive exam, FMX, and a prophy and/or quad scalings before any restorative starts-they are required to have a perio release before any work starts. I've lost two patients because of this as well-they got mad because I could not start on doing any "real work" until I got the perio release works. So, if a patient went to a cheap new patient special offering private practice and got an expensive treatment plan, if they went to the dental school, they would have to start over from scratch. I've also had some patients bring in just 2 or 4 bitewings from a private practice and get angry that we have to do an entire FMX on them since 2-4 bitewings are not sufficient for the school-every patient must have an FMX unless they're edentulous in which case they get a pan-but even a healthy 19yo with perfect oral hygeine must have an FMX.

Mike
 
The school clinic that I go to works a bit different. One can choose to go the comprehensive route which works much like the system that mike describes at his school. One can also opt to go with an expedited specific problem route..... "this tooth hurts" or "I was told that I need a root canal and would like a second opinion." Getting the work done at the school in either case is likley to take longer but will be less expensive.

I have excellent dental insurance, have a lot of days off in the middle of the week due to my 24/7 rotating shift work schedule, live about 30 min away from the dental school, and have 2 close family members who are DS's at the school. So what the heck, somebody in the family had to step up to the plate and volunteer to show some confidence in the younger generation...might as well be the alpha male who is worth more dead than alive anyway :laugh:
 
Wait until you get out of dental school and have to face the reality of dental HMO's. :scared:
 
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