Establishing and maintaining a strong referral network is essential for building a thriving orthodontic practice. By partnering with local dentists and pediatric dentists, you create a reliable source of patient referrals while fostering collaborative relationships that benefit both practices. This partnership ensures a steady flow of new patients and enhances the overall patient experience through coordinated care.
Traditionally, orthodontists invited dentists and pediatric dentists to lunch, or to office-based events with information and updates on orthodontic treatment. Whether distributed in person or as part of an email exchange, professionally produced information resources may enhance the effectiveness of outreach.
Our Dentist Referral materials are designed to help you nurture these connections, making it easier to communicate the value of orthodontic treatment and establish long-term referral relationships. Click here to access Dentist Referral Resources from our Practice Marketing Tools page, including:
Guide for Orthodontists: Tips for building strong relationships with local dentists to drive referrals, using strategic approaches to traditional networking.
Guide for Dentists: A handout that explains the benefits of referring patients to orthodontists. Information includes key reasons to refer as well as the AAO’s recommendation that each child have an orthodontic visit by age 7.
Referral Guide for Patients: Highlights the importance of seeing an orthodontist for treatment, emphasizing the orthodontist’s qualifications and issues that can be addressed with orthodontic treatment, beyond simply straightening teeth. Information targets the parent audience as well as teens.
Customizable Referral Card: A card for orthodontists to provide to dentists, making patient referrals easy. Simply fill in your contact information on each card before providing referring dentists with copies.
Bright Referral Provides an Innovative Tech Solution
In addition to AAO resources, members may wish to consider a product that took top honors in the 2024 AAO Ortho Innovator Award program.
The AAO awarded the 2024 AAO Ortho Innovator® Award to Dr. Geoff Sudit and Liz Sudit for their company,Bright Referral.* Dr. Sudit, an orthodontist, founded Bright Referral with his wife Liz Sudit, a marketing industry veteran. The 2024 Ortho Innovator Award winner developed a technology solution to improve how an orthodontist (or any specialist), receives, tracks and follows up with referred patients.
Orthodontists provide their referring dentists with Bright Referral’s NFC-enabled** Bright Cards. When the dentist wants to refer a patient, they tap the Bright Card to the patient’s phone. The patient then sees who they are being referred to and is prompted to share their contact information with the orthodontist for follow-up. The patient can also schedule an appointment, reach out on their own if they wish, and more within the browser-based experience.
* The AAO maintains an investment interest in Bright Referral.
** According to Digital Trends NFC (near-field communication), allows “devices like phones and smartwatches to exchange small bits of data with other devices and read NFC-equipped cards over relatively short distances.”
