Dental Advertising: What is It?

According to a 2008 article in the journal of the American Dental Association, “Advertising by dentists is a complex and significant issue. It does not affect just the business of the practice of dentistry but also—and more importantly, from a professional perspective—the public’s perception of dentistry.”

In the early 1900’s Advertising Executive Claude Hopkins, launched a Pepsodent Advertising campaign on behalf of the inventors of Pepsodent toothpaste that saw an increase in the number of toothpaste in each medicine cabinet from 7% to 65% in a ten-year span.

We have come a long way from the early 1900’s. The fact that today, majority of customers no longer trust advertising is especially important to dentists and dental entrepreneurs, who depend on dental advertising to get their message across to their customers in particular, and the general populace at large.

Barry Polansky, in his article, “Dental Advertising? What’s Your Opinion?” states, “Oral hygiene advertising combined with the idea of seeing the dentists twice per year and the association with the ADA’s Seal of Approval really helped dentistry’s public image” during the fifties and sixties. However, with more than half the population mistrusting Advertising in 2016, the dental profession must get back to basics. According to Polansky this means, “Spending more time with patients trying to understand their true needs.” Understanding people and having a relationship with your customer is very important in the field of dentistry, as going to the dentist involves a certain amount of trust.

Surveys Show Customers No Longer Trust Advertising

According to a McCarthy Group survey, 84% Millennials don’t like or trust advertising. In addition, a Nielsen survey showed 50% Baby Boomers don’t trust Ads on TV, while 90% U.S. adults don’t trust online Ads according to Forrester Research. The lack of trust in advertising is synonymous to the lack of trust in the dental profession, which ironically is caused by false advertisements that give good dentists a bad name.

See our infographic, Surveys Show Customers No Longer Trust Advertising, for the remaining results of the surveys.

So, what do you think? Do you have any insight on the topic? We would love to hear your thoughts/experiences on Advertising. Please share your comments and questions below.