How Dental Networking Can Help Strengthen Your Referrals

Key Takeaways

• Developing strong referral relationships with dental specialists, health providers and local businesses can help expand your patient base and enhance comprehensive care.
• Consistently nurture your network through clear communication, value-driven collaborations and an easy-to-share referral system both online and offline.
• Engage patients and offer flexible financing options to help improve treatment acceptance and make your practice a preferred referral destination.

Why is networking important in dentistry? Developing a robust professional referral network is a powerful way for dentists and orthodontists to create a working group of pros, colleagues and community members who are likely to refer potential patients to your practice. Investing in referral partnerships is a sign of a deep level of patient-centered care.¹

Referrals to your office are both flattering and valuable for building your patient base. Extending the same courtesy by referring patients to trusted colleagues when appropriate reflects positively on your practice — demonstrating confidence, empathy and a commitment to ensuring patients receive the specialized care they want or need.²

If you are a dentist or orthodontist who wants to boost your professional referral network, the following strategies can help you connect with viable, helpful resources and may increase the potential for new patients and conversions.

Actively Build Dentist Referrals and Relationships

Suggesting that your dental patients visit another provider is occasionally necessary so you can offer the best care. You may not offer certain types of services, but you can refer patients to others in your network that provide the care they want or need. Building a working referral network can foster cooperation between provider and patient as well as provider and provider.³

A professional dental referral network with the following professionals is important to expand your patient base, enhance patient care, improve your reputation and strengthen ties with your community.³

• Dental specialists. If you’re a general dentist, creating connections with oral surgeons, pediatric dentists, orthodontists, endodontists and periodontists can help create a mutual referral situation that makes it possible to provide comprehensive care to patients. Specialty referrals, in turn, can send patients to your general dentistry practice for routine cleanings, check-ups and conventional oral health care.
• Health and wellness providers. Dental health is part of overall health and wellness, so it makes sense to collaborate with neighborhood physicians, therapists, nutritionists, pediatricians and mental health professionals. Certain medications, aging and chronic conditions can lead to oral health complications and vice versa, so having access to dental expertise is valuable for health and wellness providers who want to offer referrals to patients who may need specialized dental care.
• Local businesses and organizations. There are potential professional connections in your zip code, especially those that attract families or health-minded individuals like fitness centers, schools, community centers, libraries, places of worship and small businesses such as shops or cafes. Cross-promotion among businesses outside of dentistry or orthodontics can help reach a fresh audience. If you sponsor local events, support a sports team or have a presence during activities, these efforts spotlight your practice’s community involvement, charity efforts and position as a recognizable local resource.

Best Practices for Expanding or Building a Dental Referral Network

Just existing is not enough to bring in new patients, and a dental referral program requires ongoing effort. Once you’ve done the work to establish your referral network, it’s your job to nurture it and keep the momentum going.

• Do your homework. Seek out professionals and businesses who match your target patient base. When you identify potential partners to network with, choose those who echo your approach to dentistry or orthodontia or wellness. This holistic effort can lead to higher patient satisfaction.³
• Take the first step. The only way to connect with some businesses and professionals is by reaching out by phone, email or an in-person visit for a face-to-face introduction. Explain why you want to work together for better patient outcomes and how you can both benefit from being in each other’s network.³
• Offer creative options. Dental professionals who offer patient financing options show new patients that their wants and needs matter, especially their financial concerns. Financing like the CareCredit credit card offers flexibility and can improve the patient financial experience, helping people move forward with recommended treatments. This benefit may also make them more inclined to be an active referral partner.
• Deliver value. Sometimes, you need to show other professionals what you can do for them before they see mutual benefit. Offer an incentivized referral system, team up for community outreach programs like a free dental clinic or host educational workshops with peers to bring referral partners together.³ 
• Ask. Engage with your existing patient base and remind them to tell their family and friends about you. Actively promote your dental or orthodontic services at every opportunity when you are in or out of the office and train your clinical team to do the same.¹

Create a Powerful Referral Program Online and Offline

Your referral network extends beyond other dental professionals, and it may be in your best interest to encourage any relevant professional, patient or community member who would like to participate in your network.

• Develop incentives. A structured referral program can motivate existing patients to refer people in their circle to your practice, whether that means family, friends, colleagues or neighbors. Consider a dental patient referral rewards program that offers discounts on procedures, a nominal gift card or a complimentary service to patients who refer new clients to your practice.⁴ The rewards don’t have to be complex to make an impact.
• Make sharing easy. Through referral cards, t-shirts to new customers or even a shoe charm advertising your business, patients can advertise your practice to others in subtle but memorable ways.³
• Go digital. Easy-to-share booking links or digital referral codes can make it simple for partners to refer interested patients to the right professional resource with little fuss. With a click or two, there can be a new, trusted resource thanks to a streamlined process.³
• Use social media. When a colleague refers a patient to someone in their network, many go on social media to find reviews, before-and-after photos, educational content, informative videos and positive engagement with followers.⁴ You have the power to control your online presence, influence your reputation and reinforce referrals.⁵ Take time to curate dental patient referrals through social media — CareCredit’s Dental Connect on LinkedIn can help you meet colleagues and industry leaders.

The Importance of Dental Referrals to Orthodontists

Orthodontists are in a unique position when it comes to professional networking and practice success — their most valuable patient acquisition channel is referrals, especially from general dentists and pediatric dentists.¹ If you want to be the go-to orthodontist that patients are referred to every time, your strong connections with dentists and the community matter.

• Referrals translate to success. Referred patients have a 16% higher lifetime value for orthodontists than non-referred patients, making them important contributors to long-term practice success and sustainability.⁶
• See an increase in acceptance rates. Patient referral to an orthodontist by a dentist shows higher treatment acceptance rates and delivers greater lifetime value to the practice.⁶
• Coordinate oral health care. Connections between dentists and orthodontists naturally lead to coordinated dental care, so the patient is more likely to work with both practices, whether they need an early evaluation for a child or are interested in braces or clear aligners.¹
• Recommendations in return. Orthodontists can benefit colleagues in return, recommending oral surgeons for extractions, cosmetic dentists for veneers, sedation experts for anyone undergoing multiple dental procedures or general dentists for cavity repair during orthodontic treatment.

Maintain Your Hard-Won Professional Dental Network

Once you’ve begun building, using and adding to your dental referral network, adjust as necessary. Every referral strategy won’t work for everyone in your network, so keep track of the data and ROI so you can regularly evaluate and adjust your techniques.⁶

Regular communication can help maintain relationships. It doesn’t take much to make a connection in your professional community. You can help keep patients as active fans who are eager to recommend you by giving them access to your network of oral healthcare providers, offering easy financing options for dental work and making them feel like an important part of your network.

A Dental Patient Financing Solution for Your Practice

Want to help more patients move forward with the dental care they want or need? Consider offering the CareCredit credit card as a financing solution. CareCredit allows patients to pay for out-of-pocket dental care costs over time while helping enhance the payments process for your practice.

When you accept CareCredit, patients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about the CareCredit credit card as a dental patient financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Elizabeth Weiss is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience in content development for dentistry, orthodontics and cosmetic dermatology. She focuses on making healthcare topics accessible to readers and contributes to many fields, from family and estate law to industrial services and landscape design.

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