More Google reviews for your dental practice

A real question on a Brussels forum sums up the search well: someone asks for "a good dentist who sticks to the official rates and takes patients’ fear seriously... someone gentle who doesn’t hurt" (source: qcunbon.be). Nobody asks about the waiting-room décor. People are looking for reassurance before a visit they would rather skip.

• Tone: do the reviews sound calm or rushed?
• Pain and fear: does anyone write that the dentist took their time?
• Wait: how long did it take to get a first appointment?
• Replies: does the practice answer itself, and how?

The front desk is a narrow counter with a card machine, a tray of insurance certificates and a stack of appointment cards. The patient pays by card, gets their certificate for the health insurer and a text confirming the next appointment. Their mouth is often still numb and they would rather not talk. That is exactly why a QR code works better here than asking out loud: they have nothing to say, only to scan.

1. 1Put the QR code by the card machine, not on the waiting-room rack.
2. 2The patient scans while waiting for their certificate or their change.
3. 3One tap on the question takes a happy patient to your Google profile.
4. 4If something went wrong, they can write to you there and then instead of letting it sit.

A receptionist at a Belgian practice put it to VRT NWS this way: "the phone rings and I see five calls coming in at once." Between scheduling a root canal treatment, managing a waiting list and taking payment, there is no room left to ask for a review on top of it.

A numb patient at the desk is also the worst possible moment to ask for anything. They want to go home, not put into words how happy they were with a crown or an extraction. Asking then feels awkward for both sides.

A QR code by the card machine solves that without handing the receptionist a script. Whoever wants to scan does so while waiting anyway. Whoever would rather not just pays and leaves, as before.

A reply that opens with "when you came to us for your root canal treatment..." already confirms the writer was a patient and what treatment they had. That is exactly what you should not do, even to defend yourself. Never confirm, deny or discuss in public whether someone is or was a patient.

• Thank the writer for the feedback.
• State that you do not discuss individual care in public.
• Give a phone number or email for anyone who wants to talk further.
• Stop there: no explanation, no detail, no name of a treatment.

A reply that stays silent about the treatment protects the patient and the practice at the same time.

• QR code: one code by the card machine. No app needed for the patient.
• WhatsApp or text: for patients whose number you already have from an appointment confirmation.
• Follow-up: one reminder, then it stops.
• Team: both the front desk and the dentist can track who has already been asked.

Nothing changes about payment, the certificate or scheduling. Your till and your scheduling tool stay exactly as they are.

Do not expect many reviews a week: a practice simply sees fewer people through the door than a shop or a restaurant, especially with a waiting list. What matters is spread. A few reviews a month about routine check-ups and a scale and polish tell an anxious reader more than ten reviews about the same difficult extraction.

That last point is exactly why it is still worth asking with a full diary. A colleague considering a referral and a dentist applying for an associate position read the same profile as a new patient. Reviews are then not a recruitment tool for more patients, but a reference you do not write yourself.