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You Should Know: ReputationMonitor by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

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You Should Know: ReputationMonitor
by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

I recently had a moment to visit with Fred Joyal regarding the current state of patient relationships. This is much more than just keeping patients happy in the office. The newest battle is watching what happens after they leave the office. Reputation management is something you can automate with ReputationMonitor from 1-800-DENTIST. Here, we talk with Fred Joyal, founder of 1-800-DENTIST.

Is the 1-800-DENTIST brand something that will be more of a subtext moving forward because the breadth of things you are offering now is so far beyond phone numbers?
Joyal: Yes. Certainly from the dentist side, it’s become more of an umbrella brand over all our marketing products.

I’m particularly interested in your new offering, ReputationMonitor, and I think some of my dental colleagues might say, “If I don’t get involved then I don’t have to worry about my reputation online.”
Joyal: Ostrich dentistry doesn’t fly anymore. Pretending that change is not happening will not prevent change from happening to you.

Tell me a little about the “review culture.”
Joyal: Reviews sites have more than doubled in traffic in the last year alone, and patients are now routinely turning to these sites to make decisions about health and service providers. It’s become the norm and dentists have to be equipped to deal with this new reality. The problem is, if the dentist is on the wrong side of the digital divide, he thinks there’s a whole bunch of other people over there with him, but the truth is, he’s on the sinking island.

When a dentist comes to you with a concern about a bad review he has received online, what advice do you give him on how to handle that situation?
Joyal: I tell him that the first step is to see if he has any way of contacting that person. You can contact reviews through Yelp or Google, as the business owner. Say, “I’m sorry that you’re upset. Is there anything we can do about it?” Try to fix it.

If you can’t find the person and you can’t get him to respond, then you respond to the negative review in a non-defensive way. You say, “We’re sorry the patient feels this way.” And then address the issue. By responding positively and professionally, you are basically writing an ad on the complaint. So people read the rant and then they read you and realize you sound completely sane and have a high standard of care.

And the next step, stay out of it. You’re done at that point. You don’t go back and forth. You could ask four or five of your patients, “I’ve got some guy who is shredding me on Google right now, would you go on and respond to his comments as a patient?” Your best patients will do it. Because you’re going to have patients who love you and who understand the review world.

In addition to monitoring reviews about a practice, what does ReputationMonitor help track?
Joyal: ReputationMonitor will help you monitor your listing on hundreds of directory sites simultaneously as well as track social media mentions via a feature we call Social Buzz. It will even compare your online performance with local competitors. Keeping your online footprint up-to-date will enhance your search engine optimization and ultimately ensure your practice has a consistent presence on the Internet.

For more information visit: www.1800dentist.com/reputationmonitor
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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