Making your dental implant practice successful, one step at a time – Dr Anthony Bendkowski
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 6th June 2019
Dr Anthony Bendkowski is a leading specialist in oral surgery, having developed an incredibly successful practice through an array of top quality dental implantology services. Here, he shares his extensive wisdom on what it takes to make your dental implant practice a success too.
Introducing a new service like dental implants or growing your existing services to make your practice a real success can be challenging. However, it is not impossible. Indeed, when done right, making changes to your business and your way of thinking can open the door to exciting and lucrative opportunities that were not previously available.
Every journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. No matter how high you aim or how far you seem to be from the finish line, a structured and practical approach will be the best way of achieving your goals – just take it one step at a time.
Step one
It is fundamental to ensure you have the appropriate clinical skills to be able to competently deliver dental implant treatment. This will involve initial training from reputable providers, as well as on-going development of your knowledge over time. Especially in the field of dental implantology, technologies, techniques and materials are constantly evolving. Therefore, it is important to remain abreast of the latest advancements in order to provide the highest standard of evidence-based dentistry.
This training should extend beyond yourself to your team members, as they also have an important part to play in the delivery of your patients’ care. In my practice, I am not the person greeting new patients or providing initial information, so I rely on my reception team and supporting staff to take care of that. I am led by them if they are interested in or see a need for training in certain aspects of their jobs. This also facilitates effective delegation within the practice, enabling everyone to do what they do best.
Ultimately, success in dentistry is a team effort and the success of your business will be as well. Being able to work together with confidence in each other’s skills and working processes will help your practice to truly thrive.
Step two
As the availability of dental implants has grown in the UK, so too has the number of practices offering this treatment modality. To make your business stand out, it is important to identify what makes you unique. What can you offer that others cannot? For example, I have been able to develop a highly successful practice by providing additional learning and mentorship opportunities for my colleagues.
Creating a strong brand, with an ethos that can be implemented and measured, should be at the heart of everything you do. This is not something that can be done on an ad-hoc basis, either. It should be carefully thought out and communicated to all members of your team, your referring dentists and your patients. It should be incorporated within your everyday processes, the services you offer and all your marketing materials.
Step three
Whether as part of step two, or as part of the continued evolution of your business, it is important to evaluate and develop how you communicate and engage with others. This starts with review and improvement of your practice website. Is it easy to navigate? Does it offer the right information in a patient-friendly way? Is it optimised for viewing on mobile devices? Moving onto your social media platforms, are these regularly updated? It is also important to encourage patient engagement in order to maximise on the brand awareness possibilities afforded by these media.
Aside from your practice’s digital presence, other aspects to develop may include patient information brochures or leaflets, referral cards and any advertising you do in local newspapers or magazines, billboards or newsletters. You may also consider participating in or organising events that provide an opportunity to meet completely new patients.
Step four
Equally, it is necessary to consider your relationships with the profession. Whether you are already at the stage of providing a referral service or if this is something you are working towards, it is important to build an effective professional network that will facilitate referrals. Personally, I have found this to be most successful when you utilise your unique selling points, especially when you are looking to give your existing referrals a boost.
I have also witnessed first hand how much difference it makes when you are able to build strong, meaningful relationships with your referring dentists. Getting to know your colleagues on a more personal level and really making the effort to understand what they need can help you to shape the services you offer them for long-term success.
Learn from others
I will be discussing all this and much more during my ADI Study Club in Birmingham this October. I will share my own journey with delegates and discuss how I have been able to successfully build up my practice into the thriving business it is today. I believe the ADI is perhaps the single most important organisation helping to further education for both the dental profession and patients about dental implantology. I have been a member of this organisation for nearly 30 years and intend to continue for many years to come. I look forward to meeting with colleagues and sharing my experience with those who share the same passion for professional development.
Life does not get better by chance – it gets better with change. By making the right changes to your business, you can enjoy the boundless rewards of a successful dental implant practice.
For information on upcoming ADI Study Clubs, or to book, please visit www.adi.org.uk/studyclubs
ADI Study Clubs are free to members. Join online today.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the ADI.
Author bio:
Anthony Bendkowski
BDS FDS LDS MFGDP MSurgDent DipDSed DPDS Fellow & Diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists
Anthony Bendkowski is a specialist in oral surgery in practice limited to implant reconstructive surgery in London and the South East of England. He qualified from University College Hospital Dental School, London in 1982 and subsequently gained extensive experience in both hospital and practice-based oral surgery. He has over twenty five years of experience in both the surgical and restorative management of implant cases. He has a keen interest in all aspects of dental education and has lectured on and run bone augmentation and implant training courses, as well as lecturing on business skills for successful implant practice for a number of years. He is a Past President of the Association of Dental Implantology and an examiner for the Edinburgh Diploma in Implant Dentistry as well as for Membership in Oral Surgery for the Royal College of Surgeons, England.
Clinically Ben undertakes all aspects of implant treatment, including Teeth in a Day/All on 4 surgery, aesthetic anterior tooth replacement, and complex cases involving extensive bone reconstruction.
