The Strategic Role of Marketing for General Dental Practitioners

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Abstract
Dentists, whilst recognizing, in the main, the need to be more marketing oriented still have some way to go to improve the perception of themselves and their services in the eyes of the public. Research indicates various barriers to attendance, some of which could be minimized by elementary marketing considerations, e.g. accessibility to potential patients. Reviews the literature to determine what these barriers are together with indications of how these issues could be addressed. A survey of the UK dental schools indicates a lack of a marketing input until the postgraduate vocational training year. Given changes in the way in which dentists are being remunerated and the well‐documented problems which they face in encouraging people to use their services, suggests that perhaps an earlier and more systematic application of marketing principles is needed. The research indicates that major barriers are fear and cost. Discusses possible ways in which basic marketing principles could be used to mitigate their effects.

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