Four key steps to an effective tooth whitening offering

Four key steps to an effective tooth whitening offeringThe latest predications for the global tooth whitening market are for it to grow by 13.4% between 2022 and 2029 and reach £4.6 billion of sales.

Should this happen, the market will have more than doubled in the space of eight years.

In the UK, professionals are legally able to carry out tooth whitening treatment containing more than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide. So dentists are in prime position to spearhead this growth.

Here are our four keys to providing an attractive and successful tooth whitening offering that can increase your practice earnings.

Price

With many teeth whitening products now available on the high street at a low price, it is important that your treatment fees do not scare away potential patients. It’s also important to stress the differences between an over-the-counter High Street product and a regulated professional dental one, and how this leads to the price difference.

Aim to set your fees at a price that is profitable for your practice but affordable for patients. The cost of private tooth whitening in the UK ranges from anywhere between £300 and £1000.

Keeping your fees around the mid to lower end of this scale can go a long way to convincing a customer to whiten professionally over opting for a quick fix from the local pharmacy.

To keep your own fees down, it is important to shop around for whitening products that offer the best all-round value.

Kent Express, the UK’s largest mail order dental supplier, is running a special Tooth Whitening Month throughout August 2022 with exclusive offers available on Big White Smile, SDI Pola and many more of its most popular brands.

Expertise

No matter how reasonable your whitening fees might appear, price is guaranteed to be a sticking point for many patients.

One way to get around this obstacle and steer patients away from a cheaper high street product or potentially dangerous online kit is through education.

All members of the dental team should be adept in explaining to customers the differences in effectiveness between your treatment and over the counter and DIY home whitening alternatives.

A grounding in how tooth whitening actually works is a real benefit for selling the treatment to the patient. Recommend that your dental nurses read our blog for more on this subject.

To help generate enthusiasm among the team, consider designating a tooth whitening champion. Perhaps incentivise them for selling discretionary treatments.

For patients interested but unsure whether to proceed with treatment or not, being able to provide a leaflet or flyer with the relevant information can let them buy into the idea in their own time.

Big White Smile, Kent Express’ most competitively priced whitening brand, comes with free patient leaflets and posters with every purchase.

Tactfulness

It is one thing having a team clued-up on your tooth whitening options. But another thing choosing the right time to open this dialogue. This can be a sensitive skill to master.

It is important to be tactful when starting a tooth whitening conversation with a patient.

One approach to increasing the likelihood of the patient starting these conversations is to promote your whitening options around the practice. This could be through posters, commercials played on the waiting room screen or with a menu of whitening services.

Putting together a menu of services that spell out the tooth whitening services you offer. Showing what they get and how much it costs can make it easy for them to digest and understand exactly what their options are.

Including a question on their medical history from related to whitening treatment is recommended. This gauges the interest of new patients from the get-go.

Another option might be to discuss tooth whitening in the context of a particular upcoming event in the patient’s life. For example a holiday, wedding or party.

The dental team can also be powerful advocates for whitening themselves if they choose to undertake treatment.

Convenience

Many patients want to be able to whiten their teeth from home with fast results. So it is important the whitening products you offer can accommodate this.

Premium quality whitening gels, such as Big White Smile, have a selection of different formulas. They work at varying rates to add convenience to a patient’s tooth whitening experience. This is also true of the long-established SDI Pola range.

The ability to provide assurance of quick visible results is an essential part of advertising whitening treatment. It justifies the extra cost of private treatment to the patient.

It’s also important to consider patient tolerance for wearing whitening trays, and whether an overnight treatment might be more suitable than a shorter daytime treatment. The patient’s lifestyle must also be considered here.

Here is an example of patient usage requirement with Big White Smile:

  • Big White Smile 10% CP – for 8-10 hours (or overnight)
  • Big White Smile 16% CP – for 4-6 hours
  • Big White Smile 6% HP – for 1-1.5 hours.

If you have any questions on our tooth whitening range, please contact Kent Express’ whitening product specialist Chaminder directly on 01634 878759 who will be happy to help.

You can shop Big White Smile here.

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