Professional Courtesy: Painful Advertising by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine


 
Painful Advertising

by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine
I would like to share an amazing story of a successful dentist. He was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, and he didn't find dentistry at an early age. He attended a few different boarding schools and worked in the shipping industry before finally attending dental school at New York University. After graduation he struggled to find success as a dentist. Eventually he found his groove and using his own brand of marketing he opened a number of dental offices in New York City. He had a passion for educating the public about dental disease. After his success in New York, he decided to move his family out to California. Over the course of his career, he replicated his success in a total of seven states and one Canadian province. To this day, he is considered to be one of the most successful dentists in the country. His name was Edgar Randolph Parker and he graduated dental school in 1892. During his career he changed his name to something you might remember from dental history: Painless Parker.

I think his story is fascinating because it illustrates the deep-seeded distaste for advertising dating back to the origins of the dental profession in the United States. Most accounts of Painless Parker paint him to be a villain in our profession. Why? Because he believed in advertising and providing lower fees for the common services of the day - extractions and dentures. During his time, advertising was considered unethical and was forbidden by the American Dental Association (ADA) and many state dental societies. In fact, it wasn't until April 27, 1979, that the ADA code of ethics was revised on the subject of advertising as a result of an out-of-court settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A prior Supreme Court ruling in the 1977 case John R. Bates and Van O'Steen v. State Bar of Arizona set in motion the treatment of professionals as trades subject to FTC regulations.

Thanks to the efforts of those who have gone before us, advertising our dental practices is an acceptable and necessary part of being in business. I know some will take issue with the necessary part, but I think it would be naïve to suggest that we could survive with no advertising. In my practice, most of our advertising is simply awareness - sponsoring a patient's little league team, yearbook ads, local newspapers and so on. I don't do coupons or new patient specials. I think internal referrals from existing patients will always be the most important marketing for my practice. Internal referrals were the cornerstone of dental practice growth in the era of no advertising. I am not suggesting a return to the old days. However, no amount of advertising can substitute for great service and superior clinical skills. If you really want your practice to grow, take great care of the patients you already have and spend time taking more CE than your state requires, and you will find your clinical success is the most powerful marketing around.

If you would like more detail on the fascinating story of Painless Parker, I encourage you to read Painless Parker: A Dental Renegade's Fight to Make Advertising "Ethical" by Arden G. Christen and Peter M. Pronych.

What is your opinion of dental practice advertising? Let's keep the conversation going online. Share your comments on the digital version of this article at Dentaltown.com or in our magazine app available on iOS and Android platforms. I'm on Twitter: @ddstom and e-mail: tom@dentaltown.com.

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