Why Dental Patient Education Is Worth the Effort

Dr. Tejas Patel is always ready to TikTok about dental patient education.

With an array of creative TikTok, Instagram and Facebook posts, the Austin-based dentist is bringing current and prospective patients up to speed on veneers (his favorite procedure as a specialist in cosmetic dentistry). Most importantly, he’s ever mindful of answering patients’ top two questions: How much will this treatment cost? And will the procedure hurt?

Dr. Patel recently spoke with Smile Bulletin about his distinctive approach to dental patient education.

Kiali Wong Orlowski: Your trendy social media accounts, Linktree and website are a wealth of dental patient education. And your social media stats — including more than 20,000 Instagram followers, over 345,000 likes on TikTok and nearly 6,000 Facebook followers — are a clear indication that your content is effective. Why do you make time for social media and online resources?

Dr. Tejas Patel: In dentistry, we have held information so closely to the chest for such a long time. For instance, we have been trained not to quote prices over the phone. It’s this mindset of schedule a consultation appointment, build value and then move ahead with treatment. But nowadays patients can look up “How much is a veneer? How much is a crown or implant?” All those things are on Google. I would rather get ahead of that by being transparent and demystifying the process on those important details, such as the cost of a veneer.

And I do think a dentist’s online presence is so important that it’s worth extra effort. For my team, I have hired a social media manager who’s also a photographer. So she takes more lifestyle-type photos of patients. And I do the dental photography, and capture photos and videos with my assistant. Our goal is to capture as much as we can.

KO: Talking about process: A lot of your social media posts and the info on your website are step-by-step looks at dental procedures. Why do you take this approach to patient education?

TP: People want to see the process, steps that we as dentists might not think of as extraordinary because we do these procedures all day. However, for a patient who is looking into a certain treatment, it’s helpful to see behind the scenes and understand the steps. For instance, my team and I did a video that showed us light-curing bonding agent. So we were showing the teeth and the blue light going on and off, and people on social media found it interesting. People are curious about the way that things work. And it’s so much more valuable to show them actual procedures with real patients.

People also want to know who you are. So when I post a video of a patient seeing her new smile for the first time or I post something silly about myself, it shows a more personal side either to our dental office or to myself. That’s a huge thing. If someone can actually see this doctor is relatable, if that barrier can be broken down, then that person will feel more comfortable actually reaching out through a DM or phone call, or setting up a virtual consultation.

KO: How does social media specifically fit into your dental office’s approach to patient education?

TP: Our main focus is on Instagram. I’d say 80–90% of inquiries that we receive on social media are from prospective patients sending us DMs on Instagram, and the remaining are from TikTok. So a lot of times my team and I will be in communication with people through social media, email or a virtual consultation before the first face-to-face contact.

KO: How has your approach to social media evolved?

TP: My team and I saw a big jump in Instagram when we started doing TikTok videos. Several months ago, when I first looked at TikTok, I couldn’t really understand it. People are lip-syncing. People are dancing. But when everything shut down due to COVID-19 in the spring, I started spending more time trying to understand what TikTok is and creating content. That change corresponded with a big jump in our Instagram followers in April and May. So that led us to spend more time on creating TikTok videos.

In the past, a dental office might have just had a website. Then there were Google reviews to think about. People might have had a Facebook profile and then Instagram, maybe some YouTube videos. Nowadays, I think it helps to have a presence on more platforms. Patients have said to me, “I have literally looked you up on every single platform to make sure this is the place I wanted to come.”

KO: And a lot of people are coming to you for smile makeovers. What makes you passionate about veneers specifically?

TP: It’s what my dental team and I absolutely enjoy doing. I wanted to focus on the niche of cosmetic dentistry, and veneers are a treatment that my team and I totally love and are passionate about.

KO: If a fellow dentist asked for your advice on dental patient education, what would be your top three tips?

TP: The top three things that I would recommend are:

1. Create content — If you can demonstrate your dental expertise and educate patients before they even come to your office, the treatment plan presentation becomes so much smoother. And there are so many different avenues to create content and educate patients. If you’re really good at writing, then maybe start a blog. If you’re comfortable on video, then maybe do short videos on YouTube or TikTok. If you love audio, then you can create some sort of dental podcast. You can do what you’re comfortable with and put content out there about whatever dental procedures you want to be known for.
2. Show your personal side — You don’t need to expose your whole life. Just think of ways to be more relatable in the content that you publish. People want to interact with other people who they like and trust.
3. Value reviews — Work on getting yourself established through reviews, such as Google reviews, which are my go-to. Help people see and learn about your work.