Dental care: The next step

February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Although dental care is obviously critical to pets’ health every day, this could be a special opportunity for your team to focus on discussing dental care. Here are some ideas about how you could leverage the awareness about dental care in February (and this toolkit) and rally around preventive dental care in your practice:

1. At your next team meeting, talk about specific steps your team could take to help clients adopt a home preventive care routine. Decide on a plan of action, and then discuss your progress in a 10-minute meeting once a week for the next month.

2. Choose at least one of the free client handouts from this toolkit, and present it to the next five clients to whom you recommend dental care. Evaluate all those conversations and talk to your team about how each of you can make even more compelling recommendations to pet owners about dental care.

3. Set a goal. Perhaps you want to discuss dental care with every client who visits with an adult pet. Make a note in the record every time your team has that conversation with a client and evaluate your progress once a week.

4. Get the word out. Use your Facebook page or Twitter account to educate your clients and potential clients about the need for preventive care. (Remember, the social media toolkit puts these kinds of messages at your fingertips, so it will be easy.) For the next month, share at least two posts a week to your followers to get the education started before the client walks through the door. See page 9 to get started.

Then tell us what you did, what worked, and what you learned. We’d love to share your experiences and your successes! Drop us an email: dvm360@advanstar.com.