The story of Bo

Let me make the concept of practice growth simple to understand. There are only two ways to grow your practice and productivity: obtaining new patients and providing more services to your existing patients. Many dentists overthink practice productivity, but it essentially comes down to the “get more, do more” rule. You need to get more patients and do more on existing patients.

One of the main opportunities for practice growth is adding services people need or want. New, exciting services bring new patients to your practice by making your office stand out. More importantly, for all of those existing patients who know and trust you, new services increase organic growth without new patient acquisition costs.

Dentists often ask me, “How does adding these services affect a practice’s bottom line in terms of production?” Let’s look at a real-life study of a proud Southern dentist who took an American Academy of Facial Esthetics (AAFE) live-patient course about Level I and Level II Botox, dermal filler, and frontline TMJ and orofacial pain trigger-point therapies, and we’ll see how these new services helped grow his practice.

Doc Bo

J. D. “Bo” Westmoreland, DDS, is a successful dentist in Johnson City, Tennessee, which borders on Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina and has a population of approximately 66,000. His office provides porcelain veneers, sedation dentistry, dental implants, clear orthodontic retainers, and of course, basic dental services. Everybody in town knows him as “Doc Bo.”

Doc Bo is committed to expanding his services. Doc Bo was first trained in the use of Botox, dermal fillers, and frontline TMJ and orofacial pain treatment in February 2015. Afterward, Doc Bo did something that is the key to success for dentists who are integrating new services: he immediately began applying his new skills and services on Monday morning by telling all of his patients about what he had just learned. Doc Bo committed himself and his team to asking every patient about TMJ, joint popping and clicking, and headaches because he had become confident that he could treat them successfully. He was shocked at the response and at how many patients he had who were experiencing TMJ and orofacial pain.

Before adding these new skills, his monthly production was approximately $90,000. In the three years since he added Botox, dermal filler, and trigger-point therapy to his practice, he has averaged about $125,000 a month in production. In January 2018, typically a slow month for dentists, Doc Bo had his best month ever with more than $150,000 in production. He is now expanding his office to include a TMJ and migraine therapy center. He told me, “This is the best thing I have ever done in my career!”

Changing lives

Doc Bo told me some stories about patients he has helped with Botox and trigger-point therapy, including this one: A big, burly biker came into his office and insisted on talking to Doc Bo immediately. A somewhat nervous Doc Bo went to the front desk to talk to him, and the man told him that he had to come shake his hand. For 20-plus years, the man’s wife had suffered from TMJ and headaches. Motorcycle noise made her headaches worse, and she couldn’t ride with him. After receiving Botox trigger-point treatment from Doc Bo, she loved to go for rides. The man had tears of joy on his face because that is how much it meant to him.

Doc Bo’s experience is common among AAFE members who learn new skills that can be integrated immediately into any dental practice. Botox, dermal fillers, and polydioxanone threadlifts for esthetics and therapeutics are among the easiest services to integrate into your practice to help your patients look and feel great. What are you waiting for? Get trained today!

Louis Malcmacher, DDS, MAGD, is a practicing general dentist and an internationally known lecturer and author. He is president of the American Academy of Facial Esthetics (AAFE) and serves as a consultant to STATDDS. Contact him at (800) 952-0521 or [email protected].