By Roger P. Levin, DDS

COVID-19 has been a game changer. Practices have had to shut down, use new technologies such as teledentistry, and reopen with new regulations, anxious team members, and concerned patients. As many people have observed, we have officially moved into a new normal.

The good news is that the business model for a successful orthodontic practice remains both unchanged and uncomplicated. Orthodontic practices that have enough people calling for potential consults, making appointments after the consult, and accepting treatment to be successful. It’s really just simple math. Leads + Consults = Starts.

Topics: Marketing, orthodontics, Roger Levin, COVID-19, consults, starts, recovery, leads

By Joseph Ross, President Ross Orthodontic

Every day headlines report we are nearing the peak of this pandemic; normalcy will return soon. Until that happens, your equipment is sitting doing nothing. Since all offices have been shut down and seeing only emergency cases, the backup of current and existing patient appointments is only building. You don’t want to start seeing patients and immediately have to stop to make repairs due to equipment inactivity. The old adage ‘use it, or lose it’ applies here. Not using your equipment on a daily basis can cause minor problems when you start up again. Be proactive, be prepared, and be ready.

Topics: sterilization, orthodontics, orthodontic equipment, orthodontic tools, maintenance, repairs, COVID-19

One of the greatest qualities we can possess in life is a thirst for knowledge. Learning and education have always been important to me, and I realized after graduating college my excitement for learning didn’t stop. I love learning new things, finding more efficient ways to do my job, and finding ways to refresh my creative flow. Luckily, I work for a great employer who values education just as much as I do. Ortho2 offers each employee an education budget each year to attend classes to learn new skills, purchase books to learn new developments in our field, and attend conferences.

Topics: orthodontic education, Ortho2, orthodontics, Social Media, UGM, users group meeting, networking, team building

Communication is the key to any relationship. And today, there are so many different ways people can communicate with each other. While one patient may call to make a
payment, another prefers to make that same payment online. Edge Cloud offers a wide range of opportunities for your patients and parents to interact with your office. Below are just a few of the current and new features you can find in your cloud practice management system.

Topics: orthodontic practice management, Communication, Ortho2, orthodontics, Patient Communication, online forms, practice management software, edge cloud, Financial Slider, Edge Proposal, Online Scheduling, website access

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

When something isn't right in your practice you can usually tell. Even if you haven’t gotten a chance to crunch the numbers, more free time in your schedule or less people in the waiting room usually means there’s a dip in production. So what do you do when you begin to sense that your orthodontic practice isn’t performing well? Don’t wait; take action immediately by looking at these three things:

Topics: Marketing, orthodontics, Roger Levin, treatment coordinator, practice production

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

Orthodontics is under competitive pressures unlike anything we’ve seen in the past. Emerging trends are making it more challenging for orthodontic practice production and practices that don’t understand these trends will fall victim to them.

Emerging Trends
The rise of the following emerging trends is rapidly affecting orthodontic practice production:

• DSOs or corporate dentistry
• Aligner dentistry
• Direct-to-consumer orthodontic care
• Patients shopping for orthodontic services
• More orthodontists

Topics: orthodontic trends, Marketing, Referrals, orthodontics, Roger Levin, referral marketing, practice production

By Rachel Gildersleeve

No one would argue that having a professional and proficient staff is key to the success of an orthodontic office. What is also important, is having
reliable computers.
Unless an office is proactive about their computers and already have an upgrade schedule in place, it’s easy for them to get overlooked. The older the machine is, the less reliable it is, and the more likely something can go wrong. Especially without regular maintenance. This almost always leads to frustrating situations. Soon it seems like nothing in the office is working, computers are constantly going down, and the whole office is running unbearably slow. One of the most frustrating situations for staff members is having an impatient parent standing in front of them waiting to schedule or make a payment and their computer freezes.

Topics: technology, Ortho2, orthodontics, viewpoint, practice management software, edge cloud, equipment needs, computer

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

When I lecture to orthodontic teams throughout the country, I often hear them express frustration about the fact that more referring doctors are doing their own orthodontic treatment. Understandably, this frustration can cause them to abandon focusing on general dentists as referrals sources. Why court the very people that you’re in competition with? However orthodontists must think of their referral marketing efforts in this way: The more things change, the more they stay the same. While it’s true that general dentists are increasing the amount of orthodontics that they provide, most orthodontic treatment is still supplied by orthodontic practices and referrals from general dentists are still very strong. So turning away from general dentists can be detrimental to maintaining a high-level of practice revenue.

Topics: orthodontic trends, Marketing, Referrals, orthodontics, Roger Levin, referral marketing

By Mary Kay Miller

No matter what industry you are in, if you own a business, marketing online is essential to your success. With an average of 475,000 new businesses opening in the United States each month, it is more important now than ever to make sure your orthodontic practice stands out both online and offline. Many orthodontic teams still fail to see the relevance of investing in their online marketing, especially if they consider themselves a patient referral practice. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

In today’s digital marketplace, the first form of contact with any business is no longer the new patient phone call but the Internet. Consumers google your name and begin researching what pops up. Even if they hear your name from friends or family, the Internet is where they find your contact information and more.

Are you proactively delivering your marketing message exactly the way you want it delivered, or leaving it to chance?

Topics: technology, orthodontic trends, Marketing, orthodontics, Mary Kay Miller, google, online reviews, local search, local business, brand identity, analytics

By Roger P. Levin, DDS

“It’s not whether you win, but how you play the game.”

This is a nice sentiment that we’ve all heard about sports but it doesn’t apply to orthodontics, especially when it comes to your practice’s future. In an excellent business book entitled Playing To Win: How Strategy Really Works, a simple method for evaluating the future is boiled down to one brilliant concept: Where will you play and how will you win?

Topics: technology, orthodontic trends, Marketing, orthodontics, Roger Levin, Social Media, referral rewards, focus areas