What’s your new year resolution in terms of your dental profession? This is the most frequently asked question personally and a little less professionally. Even though professional new year resolutions are not that popular as an Oral health care practitioner one must have certain resolutions keeping the dental practice in mind. Keeping the practice updated is mandatory and an essential aspect of professional growth. With continuous new advances and innovations and fierce competition ramping up the dental practice holds even more special importance. Let’s see how a dental professional can make a new year’s resolution and stick to it for better results!

1)Why online presence of a dental practice matters?

It is often said ironically that there is another world existent in the 21^st century and that is the world of the Internet! The pandemic simply highlighted this fact. Even though the world was isolated due to the lockdown, it was connected ‘online’. Having an online presence and a reputation for dental practices is nothing but obligatory. Dental practitioners who still are not serious about maintaining an online presence should seriously give a second thought since they would be missing a major chunk of their practice. Let’s look at a few ways to maintain an online presence of a dental practice stronger.

Having a website

Having an own website creates a strong reputation of the dental practice online. Almost 84% of the population feel having a website gives more credibility to a dental practice. Having a website is a great tool to display the work credentials, contact details, exact location, range of services offered, and an overview of the entire dental clinic. Thus, it helps to enhance the professional outlook of the dental practice.

One such platform aiming to bridge the gap between dentists and patients digitally is scanO(formerly DentalDost). This platform helps dentists to market themselves digitally and look after the overall digital presence of the dentists by running organic and inorganic digital campaigns as well as providing you with a clinic website.

Creating a listing on Google My Business (GMB)

Since the internet is dominated by google it would be a waste to not use their services. Google My Business is a free listing service provided by Google. The number of reviews on GMB can help a budding dental practice to find a foothold and an established practice to stand out. It reaches the right patient searching for a dental clinic near your area and having your own site from DentalDost will be a great authenticity factor and it will also lead to an increase in clinic visibility.

Making the best out of social media for dental practice

A Facebook page is one of the widely used social media networks by users. Having a Facebook page of your dental practice increases the credibility and reach of the clinic. It can help to showcase a variety of work, photos, videos, patient testimonials, post content related to work, run a campaign, etc. This new year make sure to create at least a Facebook page for your dental clinic and be ready to reap the benefits.

Another useful tool is an Instagram business profile. It’s an extended version of Facebook more or less. Since it’s a visual media Dentists can post their before-after images of cases. It is better to post real work content rather than typical marketing posts since it carries a more authentic impression of the practice.

If social media management is a hassle for you, DentalDost has you covered. DentalDost also helps with social media marketing of the dentist as well the clinic.

2)Get acquainted with the new skills

Push yourself out of your comfort zone and traditional dental practice. Things that worked for you a year back may not work for you in the coming years. Dentistry is changing with the blink of an eye. If dental professionals do not keep up with fast-changing trends, they will be lagging way behind their peers. Let’s have a look at some of the new dental treatment modalities which a dentist should consider getting hands-on this new year.

Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dental procedures have a bright future and already are in vogue. Because of the improved lifestyle changes of society the demand to have an aesthetically pleasing smile has escalarated. Thus, the surge in cosmetic dental procedures has gained a lot of momentum. Beginners, as well as established dental practitioners, should polish their esthetic dentistry skills through proper training or you could pick up hands-on courses to brush up on your skills too.

Laser Dentistry

In the last few years, the applications of laser dentistry have increased tremendously. Lasers in Dentistry are widely used in mucogingival surgeries, crown lengthening, endodontic treatment, biopsies, excision of overgrown tissues, and many more. It is an essential skill and dental professionals should consider seeking the training and consider implementing it in their practice.

Implantology

Learning implantology has become a necessity for all Dentists since there has been an explosion of implant placements in the last few years. Dentists who have still not incorporated implants in their practice are missing a large turnover. Thus, it has become more than mandatory for Dentists to learn and implement implantology in their practices though not taught to dentists in the under graduation.

3D printing technology

3D printing in maxillofacial, orthopedic, and prosthetic dentistry has given a new dimension to the dental practice. This new year Dentists should seriously give a thought to getting acquainted with 3D printing technology.

3)Pave the way for Biomimetic materials

The superb innovations in nanotechnology have accentuated the use of biomimetic dental materials. The biomimetic materials possess excellent biocompatible and physico-chemical properties. They have a wide range of applications in endodontic and restorative dentistry. The benefits of biomimetic materials are they are cost-effective, esthetic, long-lasting and easy to manipulate. The biomimetic materials closely resemble a natural tooth in terms of their mechanical, chemical, and optical properties and hence are highly successful in improving the dental health of patients.

Glass ionomer cement, calcium hydroxide, nanocomposites are already in use and are giving overwhelming results. But, the relatively new materials like mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) used as an endodontic repair and filling material, resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGC) used in restorative dentistry have also shown drastic results. Other promising materials are Bioactive glass, bio dentine, bio-aggregate (BA), certain growth factors, platelet concentrates, bone morphogenic protein (BMP) have also gained momentum. Thus, this new year’s resolution for Dentists should be to start using at least 3-4 new biomimetic materials.

4)It’s time for some collaborative work!

Owing to the fierce competition, independent dental practices find it a little difficult to make a foothold. In such cases, collaborative dentistry has a promising role to offer. Many Dentists, polyclinics, start-ups can collaborate to render comprehensive dental care to the patients. In this way, the service is delivered evenly and the professional network zone also expands. So, this year Dentists can consider becoming a Dental Dost dental start-up partner and grow their practice remarkably.

5)Renovate and rejuvenate your dental clinic!

The pandemic and its after-effects lasted for almost 2 years. The dental practices faced a huge setback during this time. Most of the practitioners postponed any new renovation idea since the phase was really uncertain and practices were slow. But, it’s time now to dump all the inhibitions and get going to a brand-new change. The changes may be very small for instance changing the reception desk or changing the sitting arrangement in the waiting area. Or a really big change like installing one more new chair, incorporating a new armamentarium like electrocautery or RVG. Just do it! Whether small or big, change is a change and gives a fresh new perspective towards work!

Highlights

• The pandemic is on the way of deceleration and its just the right time for Dentists to make a new year resolution for 2022!
• Having an online reputation of a dental clinic in 2022 is almost mandatory.
• Dentistry is changing fast and the Dental professionals also need to change accordingly.
• It is very essential for Dentists in 2022 to get updated with newer skills like cosmetic dentistry, implantology, lasers etc.
• This new year the Dentists should make a resolution to implement at least 3-4 new biomimetic materials in their practice.
• Collaborating with Dental Dost dental start-up as a partner can remarkably help grow the dental practice.