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- Aug 29, 2001
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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
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