As part of my role within Balihoo, I have the privilege of traveling the country and meeting with dental practices all over the 50 states. While the travel can be tedious and the hours long, I am constantly rejuvenated by the people I encounter and the experiences I incur. Just recently I met with a practice that reaffirmed Balihoo’s efforts in bringing enterprise class dental marketing to a local level.

During one of my most recent travels, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of the pioneers of utilizing dental implants in the United States. Dr. Tom Balshi and his wife, Joanne, operate the highly successful Pi Dental Implant Center in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Dr. Balshi and Joanne were gracious enough to converse with me over the course of several hours in the comforts of their home. What I found so intriguing about the conversation was the fact that Dr. Balshi began advertising the practice over two decades ago. At that time, and many today still believing the same, advertising a dental practice was considered highly taboo and borderline unethical. However, Dr. Balshi realized that in order to operate a successful practice, utilizing technology otherwise unheard of, advertising was going to be a critical component in the long term success of the practice. It allowed them to educate the public and bring awareness to new technology. They were spot on in their thinking. External advertising, combined with the highest quality of care and patient experience has allowed Dr. Balshi to build a world renowned dental practice and has allowed him to provide life-changing procedures to people from countries all over the world.

While many criticized Dr. Balshi for advertising his practice to the general public, he has seen sustained growth and success beyond what many would dream of. What this reaffirmed for me was that direct-to-consumer dental marketing is not a fly-by-night concept. In many cases nowadays, it is a fundamental building block in developing a long-standing and sustainable practice. The world of dentistry is changing as the paradigm for building a practice has begun to shift dramatically. I strongly encourage those operating dental practices to be on the leading edge of the paradigm and look to the solution for sustainable growth, rather than dwell on how things ‘used to be.’