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TIPS ON FINDING PATIENTS
Finding patients can be stressful ..especially when all your
time should be spent studying ...right teachers? Here are
some tips on finding some patient. Please post below your
tips and I will add them to this page.
Make some flyers to post at:
1. Walmart, Kmart, grocery stores ...etc.. These places let
you place flyers for free and its best if you make 1 flyer
with little tabs at the bottom with contact info for people
to rip off.
2. Place some flyers around your college. Most students are
cheap anyway, and a lot do not have dental insurance. Maybe
making some that target smokers or something about bad breath
will catch their attention and is an everyday problem that
alot of people face..
3. Health departments are a big place to get patients. Most
of the people there have little or no insurance benefits,
especially for dental and they would really be appreciative!
4. Another idea if finding patients is getting scarce, is
to get a group of classmates together to chip in and get an
add in the local newspaper targeting "people who have
not had their teeth cleaned in 10+ years". When they
call to make an appointment you can just go down the line
of students in the group so that everyone gets a patient.
5. Word of mouth is always a big help. Always ask your patients
if they anyone in mind that might want an appointment. Feel
free to screen the patients as you like and be picky if you
need to meet requirements. Get used to asking key questions
on the phone such as "how long since your last cleaning?,"
"do you ever have a bad taste in your mouth?," "can
you feel buildup behind your front teeth?" and also.."do
you smoke?" Answers to these questions can often clue
you in on if the patient will be a good candidate for any
testing criteria, etc.
Remember that while the appointment lengths can be a turn-off,
the money they can save makes up for it. Dental hygiene school
clinics are for people that have "more time than money"
and that should be able to market itself......
Don't be shy! Always make it VERY clear up front that it
is a learning environment so appointment lengths will be longer,
but that you do a through job. Make sure they understand the
importance of being early for their appointment and showing
up. Don't be afraid to mention on the phone that your grade
is based on someone being in your dental chair so if there
is any reason they might not be able to make if you need to
know at least 24 hours in advance because you can't learn
and stay productive without anyone to work on. Most patients
are very understanding of this and are just appreciative to
have someone do the work for a great price.
Content added by website visitors:
Check with your local cable channel. You can put an add indefinitely
and it's free. I put one in through the High School
Submitted by: Tammy Knight - A free ad on Craigslist.com
netted me 167 patients in a 4 day period!
Submitted by: Anita Miracle - Make a pamplet, and include
a business card to place in your patients
"goodie bag". I have had pretty good success with
this method. Go through the files in your school clinic and
look for those pt.'s that haven't been in several years, or
who had heavy calculus. Keep track of your classmates in need
of patients and SHARE! Finally, I agree, seeking out those
patients is extremely stressful, having one not show up is
even worse, be honest and up front about appointment times
etc. Remember they are getting a service for FREE, don't be
shy about letting them know how they will benifit too.
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