Importance of Quality Supplies for Your Dental Practice
In a time when over 70% of dental practices are not taking on new patients, it has never been more important to take stock. While many see dental practices as essential services that will continue to operate no matter what, your firsthand experience tells you something altogether different.
We’re talking, of course, about the quality of the treatments and the level of service that’s provided. While economic pressure makes trying to do more with less increasingly common, there is a key area that cannot be economised.
Patients expect quality supplies
Just because there has been a single-digit revenue decline in the industry and there are long waiting times doesn’t mean that corners can be cut. Dentists know this, of course, because you got into your profession to make a difference to people from all walks of life. The problem is that pressured markets will often attract the attention of new suppliers and entrants into the market.
Investing in quality supplies should never be seen as a luxury in the world of dentistry — it is taken as a given by patients. A supplier that is well-established in the market can offer the combination of resources, lead times, and product quality that will ensure a patient is never left waiting. We like to think about it as investing in the future prosperity of the practice so that patients don’t think twice about booking follow-ups and regular checkups.
Quality supplies lead to greater efficiency
Take a quick look at the range of dentist equipment and dental products that can be ordered online and you will see that everything can be covered via a central point of contact. By ensuring that a dedicated account manager oversees the practice’s account, dental professionals can focus on what they do best. The same is true of practice managers who will be able to focus more on connecting with the local community and improving other areas of how the practice runs and functions.
Connecting with a trusted national supplier ensures that the same items can be ordered on a rolling basis, all while safe in the knowledge that consistency will never drop. Changing to a startup supplier who appears to offer a better price can be counterproductive if their supply becomes inconsistent. There is a lot to be said about the efficiency gains that come from working with an established supplier who can provide resources at scale on a consistent basis. Consistency is also key in securing a constant stream of new patients.
Word-of-mouth referrals matter in the digital age
It would be a mistake to think that just because the UK dental industry is oversubscribed it operates in a vacuum. While many citizens simply opt for their nearest available practice, a good reputation will always lead to higher quality leads and referrals. While dentists themselves may not think of prospective patients as leads, it is becoming increasingly common for practice managers to do so.
A Google search of various ways to build a customer base in the UK will introduce you to topics such as online lead list building that are far better suited to e-commerce than the more traditional world of dentistry. While a dental practice needs a visible online presence so that new people to the area can find it and know where to apply, direct marketing is typically less effective than in other business areas. People want to know they can trust their local practice, and having quality supplies as standard ensures procedures never have to be cancelled. Trust is very much the currency of a successful practice in 2025.
Building trust is all about longevity
When a patient trusts their dentist, they do far more than recommend them to a friend or neighbor who is experiencing a toothache. What happens is that the patient in question will think nothing of booking a regular checkup because they know they are in the best possible hands. They do so with confidence because they have never had an appointment cancelled or pushed back, and they know they will leave with everything they need to take care of any follow-up work at home.
Patients who trust their dentist visit more often, provide referrals, and bring their children for regular checkups throughout their lives. Quality supplies help build trust and trust helps build the practice so that it sits right at the heart of the local community.
Final thoughts
At a time when businesses in all industries are attempting to do more with less, it’s important that dentistry bucks the trend. Good quality products that are fairly priced and readily available are what make the practice run and keep the appointments running on schedule. Anything less than that and there is always the risk that trust will start to erode.
