“Dear Dr. [Last Name]” – I’ve typed those words thousands of times over the last 20 years marketing to dental practices.
On the surface, it seems like the ultimate symbol of impersonal marketing: a mail-merged greeting blasted out to strangers. But after two decades competing for the attention of dentists and their teams, I’ve found the opposite is true. The marketing (and selling) that actually works in dentistry has always been the most personal.
It started when I took my first job as a marketing copywriter at 1-800-DENTIST. Yes, a company named after a phone number. My job was literally to write letters to dentists – coming up with a series of new ways to ask if they needed new patients every single month. Since then I’ve carved out a strangely specialized career in dental marketing, promoting everything from patient acquisition and automated communications to intake systems and outsourced billing. I've worked for industry giants and brand new start ups. Lived through three company acquisitions. Edited two dental marketing books.
I don't say any of that to brag. (It's not much of a flex to roll out your dental marketing resume.)
But selling to dentists for two decades has given me a unique perspective on a side of dentistry I don't hear much about: What it's like trying to ‘prescribe treatment' – in this case business solutions – to this important, complicated, lovable, and sometimes maddeningly idiosyncratic group of professionals called dentists.
What's Changed
Thinking back to my early days feels a bit like a time capsule. In 2007, a significant part of my job was writing postal mail — but we were also routinely sending marketing messages via fax blasts. Remember those? Everything was hard copy.
When I started, the idea of marketing your practice was actually still controversial. Huge segments of the industry thought advertising for new patients was flat out unethical.
It was also a time when every new innovation in dentistry felt novel, and the market was far less crowded. There seemed to be a clear market leader — or maybe two or three max — in each space. They were the companies out on a limb trying to convince the industry that things like digital x-rays, CAD-CAM, and online reviews were the future. Today we’re bombarded with marketing messages from a conveyor belt of new products across phones, social media feeds, and even our favorite streaming shows. And for every new service it feels like there are five doppelgängers competing for your attention.
Back then the playbook was also decidedly less digital: conferences, door-to-door sales, outbound calling, mailers and yes, more faxes. Things like SEO, paid search, and email marketing still felt unfamiliar – and we debated things like whether this new word “webinar” should be capitalized. Every marketing piece ended with some variation of “Call this phone number.” (Of course today, every message uses its more modern descendant: “click here to request a demo.”)
So yes, like my own personal version of Mad Men, I can look back on those early days through sepia-colored glasses. Tales from a dental marketing dinosaur. But the truth? Though the surface details have changed, the real marrow of the job hasn’t changed all that much at all.
What's Stayed the Same
In my humble opinion, there are a few timeless truths of dental marketing I can follow across every role I’ve held:
1. You have to believe in what you’re selling. Sure, as a 20-something in my first marketing job I was mostly earning a paycheck. But after a few years something becomes clear: To effectively market anything — especially to dental teams — you have to genuinely believe it adds value. That’s been one of the accidental gifts I’ve received by working in healthcare. Whether I was promoting recall reminders, insurance verification, or revenue cycle management, the most effective marketing always came from a real belief that these tools could improve the lives of people who improve the lives of others. Tap into that, and the rest comes easy…er.
2. Dentists are skeptical of the new thing. It’s been my experience that dental offices are slow to adopt new trends and can look with suspicion on any new ‘fad.’ In hindsight it feels almost comical — persuading someone that having a practice website was worthwhile or hearing that “my patients will never use text messages.” Today those ideas are table stakes, but the skepticism has shifted to newer developments like AI and outsourcing. The technologies change. The caution doesn’t.
3. I’ve never once replaced an office manager. With pretty much every product I’ve ever sold I’ve been accused of trying to steal the job of the office manager. As if I could. Office managers are the lynchpin of the practice and for every task you take off their shoulders two new ones appear. My only advice here: revere the office manager and be their ally instead of their adversary. Anyone who teaches you how to ‘go around the gatekeeper’ is probably giving bad advice. In my current role at Wisdom we take a ton of tedious billing tasks off the front desk’s plate and guess what? They’re still extremely busy and extremely important.
4. Dentistry isn’t like every other industry. The dental market is weird — and every outsider eventually learns that the hard way. I spent a few years at a company that served all healthcare specialties, and when we did campaigns we’d have one version for dentists and one version for everybody else. For one thing, dental audiences demand authenticity and credibility. Use the wrong words, accidentally use a stock photo with a stethoscope in it, or in any other way demonstrate you don’t understand this world, and you’re lost. On my marketing team today I have a 50/50 split of career marketers and career dental practice veterans. Because any time we lose the trust of our customers that we really understand their business, we lose.
5. It’s a small world after all. I like to joke that no one leaves dental. I never dreamed I’d stay in one industry so long – but I have, and so has everybody else. I still run into the same people I started my career with at conferences all these years later. When I start a new role I first pull out my rolodex of editors and vendors and partners and see where there’s room to reconnect and work together. So don’t burn bridges, don’t lose touch, and don’t be surprised if every time you think you’re out, dentistry pulls you back in.
6. You have to be willing to be called annoying. I know. You hate my emails. You hate seeing ads. You hate when I call to you from a tradeshow booth. But it’s the only way to be heard. I’ve had plenty of debates with teams over the years about whether you should ask for the sale or sit back and let the customers come to you. But see my points above. Dentistry moves cautiously, and sometimes practices need to be (respectfully) prodded into considering something new. But if you actually believe that what you’re offering will benefit them, persistence is the noble path.
7. It’s really hard. It’s always changing. It’s really rewarding. As much as I’d like to say at this point in my career I’ve cracked the code, marketing to dentists has never become cookie cutter or rinse-and-repeat. I’d like to think I’ve developed good instincts and insights, and a good set of guiding principles. But after all this time I’m still having to lean in with curiosity, try new things, and sometimes fail. But it’s worth it. If it wasn’t, I’d have given up to pursue a modeling career years ago.
Why am I sharing all this? I asked myself the same thing. I've never been the person to crave the spotlight or a byline. But after a whole career of pushing other thought leaders to stand up and share their perspective I thought -- maybe my perspective would be helpful too.
So to my fellow dental marketers: If you're just cashing a paycheck or treating dentistry like any other industry, I can't express enough how much your life will be improved by embracing the quirks of the trade and really leaning into the important field you serve. That goes double for sales people talking directly to practices. The results will follow the conviction.
To my much-loved dental audience: Be kind to your marketers. I know we get it wrong sometimes. I know you just want to focus on your patients. I know sitting through demos and sales pitches and cleverly crafted subject lines isn’t always your favorite. But I promise you underneath it all we're trying to help. And chances are over the years I played a small part behind the scenes to push you kicking and screaming to adopt new tools that are now a standard part of your practice success.
It's been an honor.
And of course…click here to request a demo.
Figures and Images
Brian Becker
