How to grow dental business within the vet practice

Without a doubt dental care is just as important for pets as it is for humans. All too often, pet owners don’t realise the significance of lifelong dental care. Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent diseases amongst dogs and cats. By 2 years of age, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some form of periodontal disease. Focusing on dental health can benefit both your clients and the practice. Astoundingly, it is very common for pet owners to think that bad breath is normal and they don’t always realise that poorly managed dental health can lead to serious diseases such as heart and kidney disease. Education on pet dental health needs to start as early as a juvenile through to the senior years. Here we will explore ways to help drive education from the practice and stimulate growth of your dental business.

Teeth on display is a must to get that trust

For the majority of the time, the clients don’t see what’s going on fully when we examine their pet. They just take our word for it. This can sometimes lead to apprehension and reluctancy when it comes to treatment plans. People often need to see the problem before they can accept it. So, showing and explaining to them what you see, will help them to understand why further action is needed. When examining the patient’s teeth, show the client their pets’ mouth and explain what you see e.g. show the build-up of plaque or calculus, gingivitis etc. Explain to the client how this happens, what this means and the risks if not treated. This communication is essential in building a connection and offering high quality service. If the pet requires a referral or recommendation, be specific with the reason for making it as well as explaining what the recommendation will do to assist in their pet’s care.

For example:

“Teddy’s gums are inflamed and sore. This is possibly due to a build- up of tartar and causing a condition called gingivitis. We will need to book him in for a comprehensive oral health assessment and treatment.” 

This will give the client the opportunity to ask questions and for you to increase engagement. Communication and building trust with your client is significant in growing your business and establishing a good relationship. 

The dreaded expense and medical treatment talk 

The tough part of the consultation is giving the client an estimate of the bill for their pet’s treatment. Referring to the cost as a treatment plan rather than “dentals costs” is better as it focuses more on the medical aspect needed. It’s just a little more forgiving than talking about numbers.

The most important thing is to break down the treatment plan and explain why each aspect is needed and how it will benefit their pet. There are different stages of dental diseases and gingivitis, hence, the treatment plans may vary accordingly and need to reflect the different grades of treatment. Sharing educational templates for each stage and the grades of dental treatments can be useful so that there is consistency in treatment plans amongst vets. Furthermore, having the order of services in the treatment plan match the delivery of them is important to help demonstrate to the client the step-by-step process. 

Expenses of treatments will vary based on the stages of dental disease, therefore, it needs to be made clear to the client what they’re paying for and why, as well as why there are variations between the grades of treatment. If you use electronic medical records at the clinic, using diagnostic codes to print appropriate dental treatment plans can be extremely beneficial to ensure that treatment information given is consistent and accurate. For example, if the doctor enters “Grade 1 Dental Disease'' as the diagnostic code, a Grade 1 Dental Treatment Plan would automatically be shared². It can be very overwhelming for the pet owner, so this is a key step. Communication is always key! Also, allowing them time to ask any questions and providing them with any resources/reading materials to take home can help this process.

Booking confirmation sheets are also important resources to reiterate the treatment plan. Once the procedure or next treatment step has been booked and confirmed, detailed booking confirmation sheets can be useful in explaining the value of the procedure. By giving the client all the knowledge they desire, it will help them to feel more comfortable and confident in the care you're providing for their pet. 

Visual education

Having posters of dental health awareness around the clinic or in the waiting room can help to promote the importance of dental care as well as show to clients that your practice recognizes this importance. It can also be an easy way to share information and spread awareness. The use of visuals such as anatomical diagrams and jaw models around the clinic can also help to promote the significance of dental care. Sharing resources and tips with your clients is also beneficial e.g. videos of how to brush your pet’s teeth, to help focus on dental care and improve dental home care compliance. 

Being on the same page and spreading the load

Steering your practice to focus more on dentistry is a great thing. It can be beneficial to set certain goals for your practice and to track the progress when thinking about expanding your dental services. But before this can be done, the whole team needs to get on board. Having a meeting with your team and discussing potential goals, ideas and how you want to implement new ideas and achieve these new goals. Also, ensuring that your staff is confident, comfortable and knowledgeable with providing clients with dental information is essential. Running a few workshops with role plays can help to implement this. Running an all-round year dental program would be a potential goal for your clinic that would benefit pets and their owners. When the team is onboard with focussing on dentistry and well-equipped with knowledge, it’s time to spread the load of the dental jobs at the practice. Assistants and vet nurses can help to teach clients how to brush their pets’ teeth correctly, recommend dental products as well as explain treatment plans. When recommending dental products, it can be useful to stick to a particular brand of dental diets, rinses, toothpaste or chew toys. By having these as your go-to, it shows clients that you're recommending the best and that the products recommended align with the dental business. 

Demonstrate the effectiveness of dental prophylaxis and treatments 

There is this misconception with pet owners where they often assume that the dental cleanings vets perform on their pets are the same as the cleanings they receive at a human dentist. There are many similarities between the two procedures, however there are some key differences. Typically, during a pet's dental clean, pre-anesthesia blood tests are performed, IV fluid therapy, x-rays, intubation and general anesthesia are required. Many pet owners also don’t realise the purpose for this. So it's important to explain to them how these things will benefit the care of their pet. 

Following the procedure, post dental treatment reports are an extremely effective way to convey the value of dental health treatment. A good before-after breakdown is beneficial to explain how each part of the dental treatment has worked and benefited their pet. This can be done in the form of a personalised digital dental health report that includes before-after dental visuals to emphasise the value of the treatment. 

When dentistry drives practice growth

Dentistry can contribute an additional 25% of the overall practice income when implemented well. Studies have shown that most general veterinary practices average only 2.5-3.5% of gross sales related to dental care. Yet, based on an average practice comprising 3,000 active patients, there are approximately 1,500 cats and dogs suffering with periodontal disease. There is a lot of room for growth when it comes to pet dental health.