Why must dental specialists do direct-to-public marketing rather than relying on referring doctors for big cases?
Because the referring general practices are not marketing for big cases themselves, so the big-case patients are not entering those practices in the first place, and the few who are there often get mishandled before any referral happens. The chain breaks at the source. Most generalists run referral-friendly practices but do not actively market for full-mouth reconstructive, complex implant, sedation, or major aesthetic patients. The patient base sitting in those practices skews routine. Even when a big-case-candidate patient is present, the generalist often does not recognize them as such, does not know how to surface the treatment conversation, and does not know how to make a referral that preserves the case. The specialist who waits for those referrals waits a long time. The escape route is for the specialist to market directly to the public for the case types they want, capturing patients before any generalist gets involved. The specialist can still partner with referring doctors on shared marketing costs for cases that benefit both practices. The waiting-for-referrals path produces years of frustration and very few big cases.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.
