Survey says dentists and dental practices becoming more Internet-savvy [VIDEO]

It may have taken some time, but it appears that dental practices may have reached the tipping point when it comes to embracing the digital age and understanding what the Internet can do for the practice’s bottom line.

Sesame Communications recently commissioned a blinded study that was administered by Dental Products Report. The study focused on the key drivers of adoption and use of digital marketing and patient engagement technology and services by dental practices.

The study surveyed 586 dental professionals across the nation, 82% of whom were dentists, and addressed all core areas of digital marketing and patient engagement including websites, SEO, social media, patient online review syndication, and patient engagement platforms (sometime referred to as ‘patient login’ systems).

“The numbers we saw in this survey tell us is that it isn’t just about dentists having a Web site. There’s a real sophistication there when it comes to the Internet and knowledge about it,” said Diana P. Friedman, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Communications. “It’s almost like we’re dealing with a new vertical, which is fantastic.”

What dental tech trends are still coming in 2014? Check out DPR Technology Editor Dr. John Flucke's predictions here.

While core technologies such as automated appointment confirmation (one component of a complete patient engagement management platform) ranked highly (76.34%) as drivers of practice production, newer innovations such as patient accessibility to their records any time from any mobile device (71.39%) and the importance of these systems to new patient acquisition (70.4% of respondents) also scored high marks from those surveyed.

On the down side, this same study also found that while the majority of practitioners had a practice website presence (78%), only 53% use SEO services, a key strategy to ensure their website is seen by prospective patients.

The complete results from this study are in the Sesame Communications Whitepaper The Digital Dental Practice, which can be viewed by clicking here.

To see more thoughts from Friedman on the survey and the digital mindset of today’s dental practice, click below to watch an exclusive video interview.