Dental treatment and technology have come a long way, but it’s surprising how many dental offices have yet to embrace new technology to serve and delight their customers in every other aspect of their business. While dental patients want a dentist they can trust, many choose a dental clinic not based on the one providing the treatment, but the service they get from the moment they step through the door and beyond.  

If you are looking to better serve your patients and bring your dental office into the modern world, here are a few things you can do to modernize your dental office. 

Enhance Communication with Patients 

While direct mail and print advertising can still help dentists gain more patients, the best way to keep in touch with them after they become your patients is to embrace every bit of modern communication technology possible. Rather than relying solely on phone calls, you can also reach out to patients with: 

• Automated email reminders 
• Text message alerts 

These services can not only help you provide a more streamlined service for your patients, it can also help you reduce patient cancellations and increase revisits. 

Use an Online Portal 

Creating an online portal can help patients gather information about, and become more involved, in their care. By investing in an online portal, patients will be able to: 

• View their dental records and medical history 
• Share their history with other providers 
• Schedule, move and cancel appointments online 
• Post questions and communicate with dentists and hygienists 

Online portals provide everything patients need to know about their upcoming appointments, procedures, etc., and it can be a great differentiator for your business.  

Update Your Waiting Room 

The concept of a waiting room is as old as dental offices, and they haven’t changed much since then. Waiting rooms still feature the same stacks of magazine subscriptions and TV playing a middle-of-the-road news channel or bland television show. But modern patients want so much more out of their waiting room experience. Some of the best modifications you can make to modernize your waiting room include: 

• Adding charging ports for phones and other devices 
• Including tablets for waiting patients to use 
• Creating a separate, isolated playroom that allows patients to sit and entertain their children without disturbing others 
• Offer free Wi fi 
• Offer small amenities like massage chairs, complementary beverages, etc. 

When your waiting is a place where patients want to be, they will be more satisfied with their office visit and will be less inclined to be upset out delays and longer wait times.