Consumer reviews have the potential of either attracting or repelling new patients from your dental practice. The bad news is that patients are naturally more motivated to write a review about your practice if they’ve had a bad experience. Like cavities, bad reviews can eat away at your business’ reputation and hurt your bottom line.

The good news is that a proactive approach to managing your practice’s online reputation gives you the power to change that. Like brushing and flossing, daily maintenance and care for your patients, keeps your reputation clean and healthy.

The power to successfully manage the reputation of your dental practice lies in simple communication. By asking a patient, “How was your visit?” you have the ability to address any difficulties the patient may have had BEFORE they post it on the internet. If the patient had a good experience, you can take the opportunity to ask them to fill out a review card or recommend your dental office on your website or on a popular local review site. Offers for free teeth cleanings in exchange for feeback can also be a great motivator.

With a little bit of effort, you can become a five star dentist and leverage social media trends like local review sites to attract more patients to your practice. As with oral hygiene, the health of your online dentist marketing efforts is largely up to you.