The digitisation of dentistry is at the tipping pointbetween leading edge and best practice. Before too long IOS, CBCT and otherdigital solutions will become part of the standard of care for many dentaltreatments. Increasingly, the adoption of these technologies will also be thedecisive factor in growth and profitability of dental practices. If you have notyet, we highly recommend viewing our digital dentistry patient survey CPDwebinar. It highlighted that 95% of patients prefer digital dentistry and 66% would consider switching to a dentist that uses digital technology.
Dental clinics that are able to adapt and respond to what their patients want will always be successful. In this case there is no denying the preference of patients for digital treatment options, especially for intraoral scanning over physical impressions. While it may be a bit counter intuitive, it's more important than ever during a slowdown to be able to offer the highest value dental treatments. It's during these times that the number of patients willing and able to pay for treatment dips and those who are still “in the market” are less sensitive to costs and more focused on quality of care.
As well as being preferred by patients, digital solutions provide new options for fee generation and improve uptake of high value treatment. So, in addition to paying for themselves through direct patient services, these technologies support structural change towards more profitable dentistry. For many of our equipment packages, the payback period is as little as 6 to 12 months particularly when you factor in the tax benefits.
There are a number of factors that will support strong growth in Australian dental practices for the years ahead:
- Record level employment
- Strong skilled population growth in Australia that will have the disposable income to demand dental services
- There remains a backlog of demand from delays in preventative visits during COVID-19.
- Increasing demand for cosmetic dentistry such as ortho, implants and veneers.
- Our ageing population is growing and this segment is the least sensitive to recent cost of living pressures.
It's no secret that businesses need to invest to harness their growth potential. This isn't a hard choice to make. What can be harder to discern though is exactly when and how to do this. It's going to be a different answer for different businesses, based on your specific circumstances. A one solution fits all policy won't facilitate predictable growth.
This is why MoreDent takes a consultative approach to help find and customise the best solutions for our clients' needs. With hundreds of years of cumulative experience within the MoreDent team in dentistry, accounting, finance, engineering, radiography, dental technology, marketing and more, we are well-equipped to help you assess and explore your options. We will help you to develop a strategy to ensure that the equipment builds and supports your practice growth from day one.
