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Second Opinion Eddie Facey, CPA, MBA, and Howie Horrocks

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Does Advertising Play a Role in Educating the Public About Dentistry?

by Eddie Facey, CPA, MBA
and Howie Horrocks



Second opinions are common in health care; whether a doctor is sorting out a difficult case or a patient is not sure what to do next. In the context of our magazine, the first opinion will always belong to the reader. This feature will allow fellow dentists to share their opinions on various topics, providing you with a "Second Opinion." Perhaps some of these dentists' observations will change your mind; while others will solidify your position. In the end, our goal is to create discussion and debate to enrich our profession.

— Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD
Dentaltown Editorial Director 		It is a common lament among dentists that many of their hard-learned skills, expert aesthetic talents, and advanced technologies go unnoticed or unappreciated by the public.

It is true that the profession is moving forward and the dentistry of today is appreciably different than that of 25 or even five years ago. It is hard enough for dentists to keep up with new technologies and procedures (although sites like Dentaltown.com certainly help), but how does the public keep up with the new developments? The answer is – they don't.

Certainly there is a lot that can be done in the area of public education. We can look to traditional sources, such as schools, government, or the American Dental Association, and express disappointment that more isn't being done. But there is far more that the profession can and should do to bring up public awareness and public appreciation of the offerings and benefits of modern dentistry.

Why Don't They Go to the Dentist?
Education starts with promoting the benefits of regular checkups. Most of the defeatist conversations we hear surrounding regular checkups discuss how people don't get the dental checkups that they need. The public keeps demonstrating, by their behavior, dental checkups aren't a need, even though many will lose their teeth, have gum disease and/or wake up to an emergency toothache.

People who don't visit the dentist do so from lack of perceived benefit. There are so many questions in their minds, such as, "If I get checkups, then there will be additional procedures I might not ‘need.' I'm not even sure that I need checkups anyway! This will cost me a bunch of money and might hurt as well. My teeth don't even hurt right now. I guess I'll go if it hurts, but not now."

Since regular checkups are not seen as "sufficiently beneficial" by 30 percent of the American population, there's a lot more technology with which the public isn't familiar.
How Much Does the General Public Really Know?
Our company, New Patients, Inc., recently commissioned a team of students from the UCLA Anderson School of Business, to study why and how people make their dental choices. Part of this study included describing various technologies that are available at dental practices. It is not surprising that technology items, such as CEREC and laser periodontal treatment had unfamiliarity ratings of 77 percent and 67 percent, respectively. It is perhaps a little more surprising that more mainstream treatments such as implants as a solution for missing teeth have a 38 percent unfamiliarity rating. And once people are aware of items like CEREC and laser periodontal treatment, about 15 percent say that they would consider switching dentists if their dentist did not offer this.

There's an interesting window into what the public knows and doesn't know that can be seen through Internet query sites such as Yahoo! Answers. It always amazes us to see the number of questions asked such as, "A dentist told me I need a crown, I don't understand what this is and I'm scared," to "Why is it necessary to remove wisdom teeth?" It's sometimes even more fascinating to see the misinformation given by misguided people who choose to answer questions like this.

There is a noteworthy duality in that the public might be aware that new technology is available, but is uninformed about the benefits of this technology. There really isn't a good resource to where people can go and keep abreast of what they should know about dentistry, so it is something that they leave to their dentists. In our study, we found that keeping in the mainstream of modern technology is the second most important perceived factor (behind price) in how people rank preference of a dentist.

For many people, especially those of lower household incomes, price is the single most important differentiation in choosing a dentist, as it might determine whether dental services are accessible at all. However, for those with a little more disposable income, a high emphasis on price differentiation is an indication that there is little perceived difference in dentists and dental practices. At least for those with disposable income, the emphasis on price is likely to lessen as other important factors become more apparent.

You'd Better Keep Up With New Technology
People would like to be reassured that they are receiving the best care that modern dentistry has to offer. This doesn't mean they demand that their dentist go out and buy every available new gadget. Our survey shows that being "first to offer new technology" has virtually no difference from "implementing new technologies in the mainstream."

It is usually not that important for people to feel like they are getting the very newest technology – in fact, they might even think that the technology is unproven and that they feel a bit like "guinea pigs." But our study clearly showed that dentists who don't at least "keep up" are severely downgraded. When we overlay what people feel they want (the more effective, less expensive and comfortable procedures that come about with the implementation of technology) with what they know, we see there is a substantial gap. The ongoing implementation of emerging procedures and technologies is something that the public has to take on faith in their choice of a dentist.

There exists a great opportunity for individual practitioners and local dental societies to bring about relevant education and raising the dental knowledge of the general public. As dental knowledge increases, the value of the benefits of dentistry increase, whether it's bleaching procedures, crowns with a CEREC machine, or even the good old standby regular checkup and cleaning.

When people consider the cost of a product or service, and whether or not they wish to purchase it, they usually compare benefits with costs at some degree. When it is time to purchase clothing, food, televisions, vacations, or automobiles, they consider the benefits of a variety of products and price points before making a purchase decision, and for those with disposable incomes, price is definitely not the major consideration.

Advertising Raises Awareness
It is time for the dental profession to make a concerted effort to raise the perceived benefits of modern dentistry in the eyes of the public. This can be accomplished with advertising. "Advertising" shouldn't be considered a dirty word any more than "education" would be. In fact, in the absence of any large and ongoing educational effort by dental organizations, it's sometimes the only way the public receives news about dentistry.

Most advertising is done with the idea of bringing in new business, and "success" is measured by the number of new patients and revenues generated by those patients. If the goal of an advertisement is to generate new patients, then the "successful ad" needs to attract patients based on current perceptions, which highly center on price. However, advertising can also explain the benefits offered by the practice in a way that is designed to educate and increase the benefit of high-quality, modern dental services.

Whether it is through advertising or through other means of communication, it is certainly a worthy objective for a practice or local dental society to set out to increase awareness and demand for modern dental care.

In moving to this objective, dentists might find a public that values them for more of the right reasons, and becomes less fee-conscious and more accepting – even demanding – of top-quality dental care.
Authors' Bio
Eddie Facey, CPA, MBA
Facey is the president and CFO of New Patients, Inc., the advertising agency exclusively for dentists. He is a certified public accountant and holds an MBA degree from UCLA.

William Howard "Howie" Horrocks
Horrocks is the author of two dental best sellers, Unlimited New Patients, Volume ONE and Unlimited New Patients, Volume TWO; Trade Secrets of America's Dental Marketing Guru. He is the founder and CEO of New Patients, Inc. For more information, please visit www.newpatientsinc.com.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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