FILLING A DEMAND: Dental companies cater to clients’ taste for convenience
By Christina Olenchek
Central Penn Business Journal
December 1, 2006
Consumers’ demand for convenience has fed the popularity of online shopping, 24-hour grocery stores and drive-through windows at fast-food joints. Now that trend is catching the eye of some providers in the dental industry.
Two companies — smilebuilderz and Aspen Dental Management Inc. — are putting convenience at the forefront of their new operations in the midstate. Although the organizations have different approaches, their goal is the same: to make oral-care services more accessible to people who traditionally avoid dentists.
"This is the model that will be the future of how things are done in this business," said Dr. Anthony Skiadas, who opened smilebuilderz in July in Manheim Township, Lancaster County.
The patient-centric focus of smilebuilderz is apparent in the practice’s waiting room, with its stylish furniture, sleek flat-screen television and giant fish tank. The amenities continue in each of the practice’s exam rooms, where patients can watch television or listen to music while undergoing procedures. The practice offers extended evening and weekend hours, as well.
"We’re kind of modeling ourselves after Commerce Bank," Skiadas said, referring to the financial-services company known for its customer-focused retail approach.
Such features are not unknown at other dental practices. What Skiadas feels is innovative about smilebuilderz goes beyond appearances. He has assembled a team of dental practitioners — including general dentists, an oral surgeon, a periodontist and an expert in root canals — and put them under one roof. That eliminates the need for patients to run from provider to provider when they need specialty care, Skiadas said. The arrangement also allows the practice to make more efficient use of digital technology so patients’ records and
X-rays can be quickly shared among providers.
Smilebuilderz is not intended to take patients from traditional practices, Skiadas said. Instead, the practice woos people who don’t have a regular dentist because of busy schedules, fear or language barriers. Skiadas and another of the practice’s dentists, Dr. Joseph Torres Ponce de Leon, speak fluent Spanish.
"We’re really trying to bring people back," he said.
That same goal has fueled the growth of Aspen Dental Management. The Syracuse, N.Y.-based company provides management services to nearly 100 dental practices in nine states. At press time, one of those practices was set to open Nov. 30 at Delco Market Place shopping center in West Manchester Township, York
County. That practice will offer various services, including cleanings, whitenings, fillings, bridges, crowns and oral surgery. Aspen opened a location in Dauphin County in December 2005, and is tentatively scheduled to open a Lancaster County office in February.
Aspen’s approach to dental care is similar to how LensCrafters approaches vision care. One of the primary features of Aspen’s practices is same-day turnaround for new dentures and denture repairs or adjustments. The offices are in high-traffic retail areas such as malls.
The convenience factor goes beyond patient care, said Mark Frank, Aspen’s manager of marketing communications. Aspen handles back-office functions, including human resources, accounting and marketing. This approach means practitioners can focus more on patients, Frank said.
"They want to get out from under that business minutiae," he said.
Practices such as smilebuilderz and those managed by Aspen Dental have become more common in recent years, especially in larger urban areas, said Jon K. Seltenheim, senior vice president of operations for United Concordia Companies Inc. The dental insurer is based in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County.
Factors such as new technology and labor costs have increased the expense of running a practice, Seltenheim said. In response, some dentists have added new services or gone into group practice to spread out the overhead costs. Some dentists coming out of dental schools have shunned solo practice because they feel it’s too expensive to run while trying to pay back educational debts that often can total between $150,000 and $200,000.
Seltenheim believes convenience will become more prominent in dental care as patients’ schedules continue to get busier. However, that convenience won’t replace the importance of a good personal relationship between dentists and their patients, he said.
"Ultimately, it boils down to the comfort and confidence level a patient has with a dentist," he said.
