Bamboo Dental, based in Cardiff, United Kingdom, is so enthusiastic about Six Month Smiles, that they wanted to offer some helpful advice to the dentists who are thinking about adding the program into the practice – and to those who are already providers as well.

We’ve included two versions of our interview with Bamboo Dental. The first transcript will give you a quick highlight of each answer with a paraphrasing of the answers. On the second transcript, you’ll see the same questions, but with the word-for-word answers they gave us to each question.

Do you have any advice for other providers that has made you successful in providing Six Month Smiles?

• Use high quality, before-and-after photos in your marketing materials. They show the true effectiveness of Six Month Smiles.
• Use the on-line forum for dentists. Ask anything; if you are unsure, then so is another dentist.
• During treatments make sure you are progressive with the IPR, check bracket positions, and don’t rush the wires (especially the .016 wire).
• Red heads may need longer treatment times; they generally have a lower pain threshold.
• Be careful not to overpromise. The treatment is brilliant, but nothing is perfect.
• Include a few post-treatment visits in the cost. You will get better photos for marketing.
• Increase your credibility with the Six Month Smiles “Stars” title (on the "find a dentist" page)

How long has your clinic been doing Six Month Smiles?

• Since 2011 

Was it easy to implement into your practice?

• Yes. And it complimented the range of treatments we already had.
• The product sells itself. Everyone wants a great smile in a short time. Six Month Smiles does exactly that.
• It’s more affordable compared to rival treatments.
• The Level 1 training course gave me the essential skills I needed.
• Bamboo Dental offers a free whitening with the Six Month Smiles treatment. This helped a lot in marketing the product.

What kinds of results are you seeing?

• In short, very drastic ones. It is just incredible what can be done to the front ten teeth with this treatment.
• Once you have some experience, you can more easily predict how well each patient will respond to treatments and deliver realistic expectations without overpromising.

Has your practice grown as a result?

• Yes, absolutely. There are huge revenues to be gained using the Six Month Smiles treatment, and it’s our top selling treatment. We used the revenue to expand into a new practice next door to our current one.

What are the patients saying?

• The patients are amazed.
• There is some discomfort in the first four weeks, but after that they are comfortable.
• Patients often say that family and friends barely notice the braces.
• Some patients come with some misinformation. They think the treatments takes two to three years. After consulting with us, they are over the moon to learn that the program takes just six months.
• Patients often want to make appointment for a friend.

Full Transcript

How long has your clinic been doing Six Month Smiles?

Our clinic first started providing Six Month Smiles treatment in 2011.

Was it easy to implement into your practice?

Six Month Smiles was extremely easy to incorporate into our practice and complimented the range of treatments we already had on offer.

The way the product has been branded and developed means that it is able to sell itself. Everyone wants to achieve their perfect smile in as short a time as possible and Six Month Smiles does exactly this. The other main selling point of the treatment is the more affordable cost compared to other rival treatments.

In terms of training, level 1 course allowed me to pick up the essential skills quickly and easily. Any of the tricks and tools that I needed to know were easy to implement.

We include a free teeth whitening for anyone who goes with Bamboo for their Six Month Smiles treatment and this really helped the treatment get noticed and become one of our most popular treatments that we offer.

What kinds of results are you seeing?

In short, very drastic ones. It is just incredible what can be done to the front ten teeth with this treatment. It is not only me who notices this - but out of all of my patients, those undergoing Six Month Smiles treatments are of the most complimentary.

We do try not to overpromise what we can achieve to the patients and this is especially important when you first start to implement Six Month Smiles as you need to understand the limitations of the treatment. This can take some time to get used to but you can easily predict how well each patient will respond to treatments once you have some experience under your belt.

Has your practice grown as a result?

Yes, absolutely. We have been turning out over 100 cases in each of the last three years. There are huge revenues to be gained using the Six Month Smiles treatment. It is now our top selling treatment, there is not only a great hourly rate but it is great value for money for our patients.

Six Month Smiles has been instrumental in the development of the practice. In fact, the revenue gained has put us into a position in which we now have the ability to expand into a new practice next door to our current one.

What are the patients saying?

Overall our patients have been amazed by incredible results achieved with their smile. A great benefit of this treatment is that the patients can see their progress month by month and this is something that they love. Patients are often pleased with the discreet white appearance of the brace stating that family and friends had barely even noticed that the brace had been fitted.

It is important to note that due to the nature of teeth straightening treatment, there is a little discomfort for the patients to start with. However, from talking to our patients about their progress they are usually completely comfortable with the brace around one month after it is fitted.

There have been times when our patients have been for a consultation with their own dentist before visiting Bamboo. They had been given information that they needed to see a specialist and that it would take 2-3 years for them to achieve a perfect smile. So when they came to visit Bamboo and realised that they could achieve what they desired in just six months, they were over the moon.

The best feedback is when one of our happy patients asks if they can make an appointment for one of their friends!

Do you have any advice for other providers that has made you successful in providing Six Month Smiles?

A key marketing tool to use from day one are good quality before and after photos. These photos really do make it much easier to sell the treatment and to actually show potential patients the true effects that the Six Month Smiles treatments can have in such a short space of time.

I frequent the forum often and find it not only incredibly useful but also a friendly environment. It is key to harness the ideology that there is no such thing as a silly question. If there is something that you are unsure about then most likely another dentist is too!

In terms of carrying out the treatment, the main tips would be; to make sure you are progressive with the IPR, to check bracket positions and to be sure not to rush the wires (especially the 016 wire).

Red heads may need longer treatment times as they do generally have a lower pain threshold and so it is best to pre-warn these patients.

Something key is to not overpromise results to your patients. Although the treatment gains brilliant results, nothing is perfect and so it is best not to promise the world.

I would advise taking time and care with bonding after the treatment. I also make this inclusive in the cost. Taking extra care at this stage of the treatment means that your after treatment photos look even more impressive and this can be used as a marketing tool across your website and social media channels.

As a final note to your progression with delivering the treatment I would recommend looking at the benefits of gaining the Six Month Smiles stars. They can provide great benefits to your practice in terms of credibility and so are definitely worth working towards. (on the find-a-dentist website)