How to Handle a Negative Review Online

Social networking sites offer great marketing and branding opportunities. Not only can you showcase your practice and dentists, but satisfied patients can go online and tell the world how happy they are with their brand new smile. But what about the unhappy patients? Is it worth participating in social media if it means that you may be opening up yourself or your practice to negative reviews?

I believe that reputation management is a main reason for joining social networking sites, not against using them. First, unhappy patients can easily review your services on sites like Yelp.com, whether you are a member or not. And if they are talking about you on Facebook or Twitter, the only way you’ll know is if you’re on there too.

Don’t be afraid of negative reviews – face them. If handled properly, a less than flattering review from a past patient can help you more than it hurts. Use these types of comments to make your practice look even better by showing how much you care about patient satisfaction. Respond to the review (publicly or privately) in a manner that demonstrates your commitment to excellence. Apologize to the patient; offer a remedy to the situation; go above and beyond.

If you respond to the review in a professional, compelling manner, you will not only save your relationship with an existing client, but you may pick up some new ones.

Great Blog Posts in Recent Cosmetic Dentistry News

It's great to see more and more people in cosmetic dentistry creating and maintaining blogs about their field. Here are some great blog entries we've seen lately from cosmetic dentists across the nation!

• Are You Eating What You Want, or What You Can? by the Coleman Center for Cosmetic Dentistry in Poway, California. If you're having difficulty eating all the foods that you enjoy, cosmetic dentistry might make a difference.
• Sedation Dentistry: Don't Fear the Dentist by Discover Dental Care in Shawnee, Kansas. If you have a fear of dentistry, this blog entry will tell you all the different options for sedation and which one might be best for you.
• Do You (Or Someone You Love) Snore? by Boulder General Dentistry in Boulder, Colorado. Learn about a dental appliance that might alleviate the embarrassment of snoring!
• Rachel's All New Smile by Josh Bernstein, DDS in San Francisco, California. This is a great patient story about a woman whose bad bite was causing premature aging in her teeth. The before and after photos are amazing!
• What Is Neuromuscular Dentistry? by Sean Michael Anderson, DDS, in San Ramon, California. This blog entry describes neuromuscular dentistry and how it can help with neuromuscular problems like TMD.