How to Find Your Next LOCATOR FIXED® Case

You’ve received your LOCATOR FIXED^® starter kit, now what?

If you’ve recently purchased a LOCATOR FIXED bronze, silver, or gold starter kit but don’t know where to start when it comes to finding your first case, we are here to help. It’s exciting to be offering a new service and you should be proud of yourself for taking the time to hone your skills and invest in your continuing education! You’re one step closer to being able to scale your practice and increase your revenue while also adding value for your patients. But in order to get there, you need case acceptances. Instead of waiting for new patients to trickle in, the best place to start is where you are.

Did you know you have hot leads at your fingertips already? When practitioners begin offering a new service, oftentimes the knee-jerk reaction can be to think “I need to get new patients in the door to get my ROI!” In actuality, the best place to start may be with the patients that are already in your system. You know your patients best, so get in your practice management system and see who may be a good candidate for a fixed full-arch solution. Remember, most patients simply are not aware of all their options so don’t wait for them to approach you about a service. 

A good place to start is to see if you have any patients who currently have removable dentures and talk to them about the benefits of a fixed solution. After all, converting a removable denture patient is easier than getting an acceptance from a patient that will still need extractions and implants placed. This is because there is less to say yes to and less to digest! They already have dentures, now you just need to educate them about their options. It may be the case that they settled for a removable denture due to budget, or maybe they just aren’t aware of the lifestyle and health benefits of a fixed-arch solution. If you don’t feel like having your staff call them to let them know about this new service, you can simply mention it to them during their next appointment.

It doesn’t have to be a sales pitch either. Start the conversation by asking them how they are liking their dentures. Then, open up the conversation to see if there are any pain points you and your patient can identify and discuss how moving to a fixed-solution could help alleviate these annoyances. It can be as simple as asking one of the following questions:

• “If you could change anything about your dentures, what would it be?”
• “How could your smile be better?”
• “Have you ever been worried about your dentures feeling too loose while talking or eating?” 

More often than not, patients will have a couple things to mention that you can go off of.

Once you’ve begun to speak with your existing patients about the issues they may be facing with their current prostheses, it’s important to arm them with knowledge to dispel any preconceived notions they may have about perceived barriers to entry. That is to say, your patients might dream of having a fixed solution but have real or imagined reasons as to why it won’t work for their budget or lifestyle. 

A great way to overcome these hurdles is by using effective patient education materials. You can talk about the benefits of a service until you’re blue in the face, but most patients need something more tangible to make a decision. That’s where our patient marketing kits or other educational tools come in handy. You should always have brochures, 3D models, testimonials, and other impactful tools on hand to help your patients learn about fixed-arch overdentures. It can be complicated to talk about, but by breaking it down in a relatable and digestible way, patients will start to get excited about the prospect of having the next best thing to real, permanent teeth.

Even with your first few cases, it is important to document your work. You may feel the urge to “just get a few under your belt” before you start documenting, but every case provides an excellent marketing opportunity. You will likely be surprised with how easy your LOCATOR FIXED cases are, and as a result, you will probably wish you had taken a before and after for every one. Not just for your own documentation and records, but also for showcasing these powerful transformations to existing and prospective patients. 

If you’re reading this blog, the likelihood is that you have an online presence for your practice. –If you don’t, that’s the first step you need to take!– A simple and easy way to get more patients interested in this procedure is to write a little blurb about the procedure and post your before and afters on your website (with patient consent, of course). Bonus points if you can post the newly transformed smile to your social media accounts! The more content you have on the service, the more Google’s search algorithm will see you as an authority on the topic and start pushing your content to the top of the search. (Keep in mind this is a long-term strategy and immediate changes are not likely.) 

Patients who are searching for these services will see your website and/or your posts and your practice will be top of mind for them as they search for a service provider. The saying is trite, but true: a picture is worth a thousand words! Patients relate to patients, so it’s important to show your prospective and current patients what can be possible for their smile.

You likely already have incentive programs in place to encourage your patients to leave reviews after their visit, but have you thought about extending that to a specific service? For example, each time you complete a LOCATOR FIXED case, you can inform your patients that if they leave a review mentioning their experience with their fixed-arch treatment process they can receive a percentage off their next visit. Or maybe even free cleanings for the rest of the year! 

This will tailor your reviews to what you want your prospective patients to be seeing while keeping them authentic. They are still in your patients’ words and they are still only leaving them if they want to, but it helps by giving them a jumping off point and incentive. (This will also help boost your searchability online as mentioned above!)

And of course, word of mouth referrals are a gold mine! As your newly converted removable-to-fixed patients go about their daily life sporting their new smiles, they’re likely to share their experience with friends, family, and coworkers. If you give them a mutually beneficial incentive to mention during these conversations, you’re more likely to get more new patients in the door. People trust their network, so usually they are more likely to trust a word of mouth referral than they would an online review. Incentives can vary based on your practice, your demographic, and what you’re passionate about. As long as they are meaningful and attractive to both your current patient and the new lead, you are increasing your odds of getting inquiries.

Other than looking to your existing patient base, you can also reach out to your network to see if any specialists have a lead pipeline you can tap. Remember that implantologist you went to dental school with? Yeah, it’s time to hit them up on LinkedIn.

If you don’t already have a robust network to talk with, that’s okay. That just means that it’s time to get out there and start making connections. This can be a fun way to advance your career while meeting new people too! Join a study club near you, or attend CE events and courses where you can network with specialists who may be able to refer patients to you to complete their restorations. If you really want to move away from general dentistry and start focusing on specialty procedures like fixed full-arch implant-retained overdentures, you need to lay the groundwork for yourself.

If you found this blog helpful, we’d love to know what steps you’re going to implement in your practice. Are you going to offer a LOCATOR FIXED referral special? Are you going to commit to posting more actively on social media to make yourself visible to your patients? We want to hear your approach! Join the conversation by sharing this article on LinkedIn or by discussing with us on Instagram or Facebook. If you have a fixed case you’d like feedback on or want us to celebrate, feel free to share with us by using the hashtag #ZestCaseReview. As always, we are here for you! So if any questions arise, don’t hesitate to contact us.