This ever-increasing statistic represents a dramatic shift in the way patients perceive dentistry and the options available to them, as their personal time is being spent researching cosmetic treatment and trawling practices for last-minute appointments whilst sitting in the comfort of their own home.
The analysis, by Toothpick also uncovered that over a third of these bookings (37 per cent) were made for cosmetic consultations. With around one in ten general dental practitioners now signed up with toothpick.com and the average practice offering cosmetic treatments, online appointment booking is proving to be an ideal platform to promote these services.
Mintel’s ‘Dentistry MBD 2013’s recent report also supports these statistics, reporting significant growth in cosmetic dentistry over the last five years, increasing to £1.3bn in 2013, and highlighting that there is likely to be as much as 21 per cent growth in the next five years. Such findings are further evidence that by opening your doors 24/7 with an online appointment booking system, your practice can generate additional revenue and become more profitable whilst working the same surgery hours.
Additionally, this electronic revolution offers an obvious solution to prevent last minute ‘white space’ in the appointment diary, as Toothpick’s analysis confirmed that over one in five (21 per cent) bookings are made within 24 hours of the practice putting them online, successfully making unfilled gaps in the diary visible to potential patients and ensuring they’re quickly occupied.