Are you struggling with your dental patient retention? As dentists, it can be disheartening to see patients leave and go to a competitor. Attracting new patients is far more costly than retaining existing ones, so focusing on patient retention is essential for practice growth.
At Titan Web Agency, while we focus on helping dentists increase their online presence, there's no point in increasing it if you can't retain the patients you have. In this guide, you'll learn what patient retention means, why it matters, and 15 strategies you can use to improve your dental patient retention rate.
What Is Dental Patient Retention and Why It Matters
As you likely know, dental patient retention refers to how well your practice keeps patients coming back for future visits. It’s a way to measure how many of your patients stay with you over time, instead of switching to another dentist or dropping out of care completely.
A high retention rate means patients trust your practice, value your care, and feel comfortable returning. This is good for both patient health and practice stability.
Retention also affects your bottom line. It costs far less to keep an existing patient than it does to attract a new one. More retained patients mean more consistent appointments, more referrals, and higher lifetime value.
The Cost of Patient Retention vs. Patient Acquisition
One reason patient retention matters is that it is far less expensive to retain an existing patient than it is to attract a new one. According to Forbes, it may cost up to five times as much to acquire a new patient as it does to hold on to a patient who has already come to your practice.
Continue reading about patient retention at a dental practice.