Here's What No One Tells You about Boutique Spa Dental Practice

Dentists will need to step up their game in 2019. Perhaps, you know about boutique spa dental practice already, but most of us don't. Stay ahead and give people something a little bit nicer and something to talk about with their friends.

Think outside the box

Most people like the spa atmosphere and amenities. It's nice to feel cozy and warm and feel good and feel like someone understands you. Patients get the idea that you care about their comfort; you will hurt them. I keep hearing over and over that people avoid going to the dentist or dread going to the dentist. About 8% of people have dental phobia. Of course, there is a much higher percentage of people who are slightly fearful of dentists. People with anxiety probably ask for drugs in the dental scenario. They think it will be painful. People don't know the clinical skills of the dentist, but they do know how they feel. We have a duty in our field to make people's comfort a priority and to make sure that that they do feel as in control as possible. Almost everybody says we provide personalized care and a comfortable atmosphere. Everyone has intentions of that, but we've gotten stuck in the traditional ways. That's why I feel like this is so important to think outside the box.

The word-of-mouth marketing that you get from the patient experience will take your practice to a superior level. Whatever you're spending on marketing, whether it's on Google or Facebook or for the traffic to your website, word-of-mouth stays on top of that. It compounds the effort and your return on investment.

There are things that we can do differently

Think about the typical dental experience in more detail. Is it a traumatic event? We greet people warmly, we sit them in the chair, but then we lay them back, and we put them in this vulnerable situation. We all have different sensory tones and tolerances. There are things like touch, noise or smell that bother people. So if we can understand what aspects are problematic for that person, then we can control that a little more. Do you on the new patient intake forms ask these kinds of questions? It's different with different patients. Some patients are low-maintenance. They will be like; I don't need a pillow or massage. They may not have much time, but some of these things might add time. People want people to feel comfortable. Make people feel comfortable, and get that word-of-mouth marketing. It is the best marketing out there.

Some actionable tips that you can use

A heated neck wrap, a knee pillow, a blanket, a cool cucumber eye mask and a mini massage at the end take the anxiety that might be there. Knowing what specific things might trigger that person, you can tune into making it more enjoyable. I recommend diffusing essential oils to create a calming atmosphere.  It will decrease the unpleasant odor in dental offices. Nice little touch makes you feel like you're somewhere more spa-like, such as having diffusers running. I suggest one in the waiting room in the front office area because that tends to kind of flow into a waiting room, in each treatment room and make the place smell nice and get that calming feeling going. If you go to a nice hotel, that's what they have. They've figured out a return on investment on these things.

I've also heard of practices using arm massage.  Have the cucumber eye masks. Make sure patients don't have any questions. Heated neck wrap with a nice smell relaxes patients. If they say, the sound of the drill in the next operatory bothers, I don't know if you give them noise-canceling headphones. If you're in an office where you have the luxury of having a television or music to distract them, take the edge off the sound of that drill. That can make a huge difference. Simple things can make it feel the more spa-like atmosphere. Take that spa angle of using calming colors, nature pictures of soothing things rather than a big picture of some teeth in the waiting room.

It will not take much time

If you show every amenity that I recommend, there might be in possibly a max of five minutes. I would recommend doing upon check-in and getting the person to identify what spa manatees they want. Once we've gathered that data, now we need to use it. Prepare for the next time that patient comes in you so that your assistant might say, "hey I know you had the knee pillow last time and the headphones. You want that again?" Let that patient know that you remembered.