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In This Issue by Trisha O’Hehir, RDH, MS Editorial Director, Hygienetown

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Sales and Marketing

by Trisha O’Hehir, RDH, MS Editorial Director, Hygienetown

You might not think of yourself as a sales person, but we are all selling something. Sales go beyond commodities for money. Sometimes the sale depends on compliance or cooperation, not money. Kids sell their parents on the ideas of staying up later, having more dessert or playing more video games. Two people in a relationship are “selling” the continuation of the relationship with each other.

Sales is an intricate part of many aspects of dentistry. Selling restorative dentistry procedures is obvious because money changes hands, but selling goes on in the practice on many levels. Reaching out to new patients is part of sales. You want them to “buy” the idea of being a patient of record in your practice. Keeping current patients also requires “selling” them on that idea.

Successful selling results in buying with money, commitment or compliance. Marketing is what you do to get patients to buy anything from restorative treatment to daily oral hygiene at home. We often market with science and logic, selling the scientific reasons for dentistry and good oral health. We can learn from those in the marketing and advertising industry and use sound bites to convey scientific messages or give something away that the buyer wants.

Effective marketing taps into emotion, and then follows it up with science and logic. A logical emotional tie for dentistry is kissability or fresh breath. Simply add an emotional hook before each sound bite – “To be more kissable, (insert sound bite)” or “To have fresh breath, (insert sound bite).” Giving away a desirable commodity, like whitening, is another way to successfully “sell” your practice to potential patients. There’s no denying it, we are all sales people, so have fun with it, learn from your colleagues and the advertising experts and increase your sales.
Inside This Section
109      Perio Reports
114      Profile in Oral Health: Communicating in Sound Bites
118      Message Board: Interesting Marketing Ideas
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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