6 pillars of all-on-x case acceptance success
There are successful full-arch implant practices, and then there are “uber successful” full-arch practices. By uber successful I’m speaking of offices that perform anywhere between one to 20+ all-on-x cases per week. Practices that have reached these levels in all-on-x procedures didn’t get there by chance. They are very intentional.
While no two offices achieve their success exactly the same, there are, however, a few commonalities that almost always show up in each of these successful full-arch practices. These characteristics are so common that I have chosen to refer to them as “six pillars” of all-on-x case acceptance. Let’s explore what makes up each of these six pillars, in my experience.
Pillar #1: Strong empathy for oral functionality
Teddy Rosevelt, said “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Call it cliché, but it’s true. All-on-x patients are no different. The key to success in all-on-x case acceptance is to actually give a damn!
Without exception, a strong sense of empathy for oral functionality is the foremost common characteristic of offices that consistently close the greatest number of all-on-x cases. These offices genuinely care about influencing said patients to make a wise choice about their health.
The prevailing thought among these uber successful full-arch practices is simple: Poor oral functionality is among the worst overall healthcare problems an individual will suffer through. This includes diabetes, a failing hip, a bad knee, even painful back problems.
It is remarkable how successful full-arch doctors, and their teams are highly conscious of the ill-effects of poor dentition and multi-tooth loss. Their ability to help patients appreciate what this means to a person’s masticatory capacity and dietary influence in unrivaled.
A typical day for New Day Smile of La Mesa, CA can mean performing four to six all-on-x procedures. Stacy Feffer-Farley closes each of these full-arch cases for the practice.
“We’re basically selling three things to patients in need: Comfort, function and health,” said Stacy. “People in dentures are miserable and can’t even eat. How amazing is it that we get to sell a product that literally changes peoples’ lives?!”
During patient consultations, successful full-arch implant practices are far more likely to show empathy for an individual’s overall health. Topics that become a natural part of the discussion include:
The influence poor oral function has over food choices which lead to a poor nutritional status
Only full-arch prosthesis, supported by dental implants, are capable of preventing mass jawbone loss
Removable dentures become loose, limit food choices, and accelerate jawbone loss
Dental implant supported prostheses allow for a diet with no limits over healthy food choices
Conversely, practices that perform less than eight all-on-x cases per year usually struggle to appreciate the overall sufferings of someone with poor oral function. Consequently, case acceptance drops.
In my experience, empathy is the most important key to success in full arch case acceptance.
Strong empathy for the patient’s limited oral function leads to all-on-x case acceptance.
Pillar #2: Confidence in all-on-x clinical skillset
The second most foundational attribute that’s undoubtedly present practices who put up exceptional all-on-x numbers is the confidence for the doctor’s clinical skillset.
Without exception, doctors that successfully close all-on-x procedures, routinely, seek out quality full-arch implant training. They seem to appreciate what learning from great full-arch trainers will do for their confidence in performing these procedures. Great full-arch courses should offer training in the following surgical and restorative subjects:
Inter-arch occlusal spacing and ridge reduction
Anterior-posterior (AP) spread
Implant torque levels
Freehand or fully guided full-arch implant surgery
Pre-operative images, smile line and smile design
Multi-unit abutment emergence
Immediate denture conversion
Full-arch digital dentistry, including photogrammetry, InstaRisa, Optisplint, etc.
Adequate all-on-x clinical training is critical to closing more full-arch implant cases.
TeethXpress immediate load courses are among the most comprehensive full-arch courses available. If you are a surgical specialist looking to improve your full-arch skillset and/or the clinical confidence of your restorative referrals, for best results, it is advised that you attend a TeethXpress course with two to four of your top implant referrals.
Good full-arch dental implant continuing education is a must. When the doctor and their team believes the clinical team is well trained in all-on-x procedures, and can articulate its value to a prospective patient, it becomes challenging for the patient to consider going elsewhere, regardless of fees or required travel distances.
Pillar #3: Internal marketing
Internal marketing, specific to full-arch implant dentistry, is the third pillar of full-arch case acceptance. With solid internal marketing, coupled with pillars one and two, a force multiplier effect can take flight. Without it, an office is likely to struggle to consistently closing cases.
Internal marketing all begins with a simple phone call. How does your team address common questions over the phone regarding full-arch implant dentistry? For instance, a successful patient patient inquiry over the phone may go something like:
Patient phone call: “Do you offer full-mouth dental implants, and if so, what do you charge?”
Team response: “Yes, of course. We perform full-mouth implant dentistry at our practice, daily. We’re actually quite exceptional at this procedure. Our entire dental implant team is experienced. You will be very pleased with the end result of your treatment if it turns out that you are a candidate for this procedure. We offer multiple dental implant options to best suit your specific needs. Let’s get you scheduled right away for free implant consultation and CT scan so that we can together determine what best meets your needs.”
Internal marketing is vast, though. It includes everything from how an office discusses implants over the phone, the full-arch content found on their website, and the take home materials offered following the all-on-x consultation.
Some must-haves for all-on-x internal marketing tools include:
Fixed and removable full-arch implant models
Strong telephone/front desk all-on-x verbal skills
An ability to schedule all-on-x patient consultations within 24-48 hours
All-on-x patient education brochures, in English and Spanish
Take-home patient consultation folders
YouTube patient testimonial videos
Strong all-on-x website content
Internal marketing systems are synonymous with convincing individuals that this procedure is well worth its investment.
Pillar #4: Large dollar patient finance
Successful all-on-x implant practices understand that when the aforementioned first three pillars are well established, as a foundation, large dollar treatment financing can do its part to support the practice’s ability to close full-arch implant cases.
The reality is, more than 61 percent of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. It stands to reason that most people do not have $25,000+ liquid to pay for a dental procedure.
But this is also where most offices begin to fall short in large dollar implant case acceptance. The doctor and their team members prejudge patients and falsely assume they can’t afford the procedure. This presumption is a disservice to the patient.
“When patients can have large dollar implant procedures reduced to the size of a monthly car payment, more than 45 percent will say ‘yes,’” explained Dave Roehr, Founder and CEO of Procedure Finance. “When the monthly payment looks more like a house note, less than 10 percent will accept your full-arch implant treatment plan.”
A reliable large dollar treatment financing company should encompass the following attributes:
An available credit line of at least $75,000
Quick distribution of funds, one to two days
Extended repayment terms, at least eight years
Reasonable provider fees
Non-recourse loans, meaning the lender is responsible if a patient defaults
Under circumstances where patients refuse to establish a large dollar treatment financing account, or were not approved, other resources should be encouraged to make treatment affordable.
A home equity line of credit (HELOC), borrowing from a 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plan, credit cards and inheritance are a few to consider.
Pillar #5: External marketing
A good external marketing plan will produce an abundance of implant leads. However, it is worth noting here that if your internal marketing (Pillar #3) systems are not well founded, your all-on-x closing ratio will likely suffer.
All-on-X Cases Closed / Total All-on-X Leads Generated = All-on-X Closing Ratio
Offices with poorly established internal marketing systems often blame the advertising for generating bad leads. This is wrong. Usually, the problem lies in the office’s inability to influence all-on-x prospects to move forward with treatment, regardless of where their patient leads emanated.
Assuming you have well-established internal marketing systems in place, a well-executed external marketing plan can be extremely effective at generating large volumes of prospective all-on-x implant cases. Upon generating the lead, the goal becomes to achieve a reasonable closing ratio. An all-on-x closing ratio of 30-50 percent is reasonable.
For instance, generating eight full-arch implant cases, per week, at a 50 percent closing ratio, requires an external marketing campaign capable of producing 16 patient leads.
Establishing a budget to advertise your all-on-x implant services to the general public is important. If you currently do no advertising, establishing a budget that represents ten to 15 percent of the practice’s gross revenue is a reasonable place to start.
Three commonly used methods to advertise all-on-x services includes:
Google Ads, also know as Pay-per-Click (PPC)
TV commercial advertising, usually 30 second spots
Informercial advertising, usually 15- or 30-minute spots
Pillar #6: Analytics
The sixth and final characteristic of a successful all-on-x practice is data analysis. This pillar is integral to maximizing a practice’s all-on-x marketing efforts.
Data analytics allows the practice to identify the most effective advertising channels and their demographics. In other words, let’s assume Google Ads is one method used to promote your full-arch implant services. It helps to know which age and sex demographics are responding best to specific all-on-x Google Ads, and which ads are producing the least results. Good analysis of the data should tell us this.
This allows you to pivot your advertising spend, almost on a dime. Emphasis can then be placed on the more successful key performance indicators (KPI). More resources applied to your KPIs will yield higher quantity and quality of full-arch leads.
In the end, the goal is to leverage data to attract and close more all-on-x cases with the least amount of advertising dollars spent.
Data that should be routinely analyzed by all-on-x practices include:
All-on-x Google Ads, pay-per-click (PPC)
Internet search engine optimization (SEO) for full-arch implant content
Television commercials and informercials
Scripted front desk telephone calls
All-on-x patient consultations
Without data analysis, there is no precise way to understand what is or isn’t working for your marketing campaign. For best results, your implant business must establish systems to capture and dissect its marketing data.
Conclusion
These “six pillars” happen to be very common among the uber successful full-arch practices. The first three pillars – strong empathy, clinical skillset, internal marketing – are crucial and should be considered foundational.
Once established, the remaining three pillars – treatment finance, external marketing, data analysis – can begin to take flight and contribute to the establishment of a very success full-arch implant business.