Survey reveals that majority of adult Americans fear the dentist

In a 2009 survey conducted by the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), over 80% of adult Americans revealed they fear the dentist, with over half of those questioned saying fear might actually prevent them from even stepping foot into a dental office, an alarming discovery for dentists already suffering from the down economy.

But with dental advertising products from Patient News Publishing, a leading dental marketing company, practices can conveniently approach potential new clients in their neighborhood or community to help their practice grow as well as educate and communicate with existing patients to increase recall percentages, improve case acceptance, and increase patient referrals.

A journal article by M.A. Hamilton reported that two studies proved that communication increased patient utilization of dental services by inhibiting patient treatment anxiety and by enhancing the perceived technical competence of the dentist.

"Our dental marketing and dental advertising products include customized postcards and newsletters to increase new patient flow and improve patient retention, personalized referral cards, practice and patient education brochures, all which can include useful information to ease the worries of consumers who fear going to the dentist," said Karen Galley, President of Patient News Publishing.

According to a Pitney Bowes/Pepper Rogers Group survey: direct mail (such as dental marketing newsletters) contributes most to establishing a relationship, and consumers value organizations that make an effort to communicate and build a relationship with them through the mail.

"We can develop your ideal target mailing area using geographic and demographic information such as age and income to reach out to the members of your community that you want to attract, let them know about your practice, and why they're in good hands with you," said Galley.

"Additionally, we incorporate variable data into our dental marketing and dental advertising products, (actual recipient name printed throughout your postcard or newsletter), which can increase response rates by up to 44%! Our clients have reported anywhere from 20 or more new unique patients generated per month as a result of our dental marketing campaigns."