Why most dentists have become a commodity in an economy where patients shop for dental care using their own system for buying
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that absolutely nothing has changed in how dentists market to attract new patients to their practices.
The patients who pay, stay and refer.
You see the flashy websites with stock photos of smiling faces and offers for Free Exams and X-rays. Some dentists get adventurous and throw in an electric toothbrush or a whitening coupon—only to have their competitors complain it’s an “unfair advantage.”
That’s become the industry standard—just chasing new patients who search Google for “dentist near me.” If that’s your method of attracting new patients, I’ve got a brutal reality for you—you’ve become a replaceable commodity in the economy where patients shop for dentists using their own system for buying and you do not even know it.
They’re comparing you by price… by the photo on your website… and by how your front desk answers the phone—if they even pick up before dumping the call into a generic recorded message: ‘Did you know we offer Invisalign? Our dentists will make you smile again…’
Some dentists resort to “clever” and “cute” rebranding—trading the trusted title of Doctor of Dental Surgery for names like “Smile Crafters” and “Smile Architects.” They toss out professional credibility and diagnosis-driven care in favor of a beauty salon menu.
This game has no winners.
The only way out? Engineer your entire business and marketing strategy around a principle I’ve learned and implemented for years in my own practice—offer your services in a complete vacuum.
No price comparisons. No side-by-side evaluations. No “but the other guy says” conversations.
Just you. Just the prospective patient. Just your unique value—and your full control of the environment.
A patient wakes up with a toothache, didn’t sleep all night, and starts calling down the list first thing in the morning. The question? “Can you see me now—and how much?”
Their only decision driver: who can see me right now? If you’ve got the slot—you’ve got the patient. Congratulations. You’re the commodity, available to fill the pain gap. That’s it.
Now when patients are shopping for elective treatments—veneers, crowns, Invisalign, implants, All-on-X, sleep appliances—it’s a different beast. They’re spending BIG money. And their motivation shifts.
Like it or not, know it or not—you are in sales. They will price-shop you. They will interrogate you. They will use their system to buy—and you’ll play by their rules unless you change the game.
Here’s the truth. He who controls the frame controls the sale.
And when you build a deliberate frame that boxes out everyone else, when you construct a process that positions your offer as uniquely indispensable, your price becomes an afterthought. It becomes irrelevant.
You’re not the best option. You’re the only option.
Now, you can accomplish this in a number of ways. Some of them are structural, like bundling your offering in a way that no one else does or delivering your solution in a timeframe and process others can’t touch.
Some are psychological—reframing what you do from “service” to “asset creation,” to delivering a life-changing transformation. That’s exactly what I’ve done with my private consulting clients offering high-ticket elective dental treatments.
Others are entirely procedural, like controlling how and when the prospective patient gets to access you.
Let me give you a concrete example.
Years ago, my close friend finished a 2-year ortho case and needed 24 veneers and crowns. She didn’t even consider her family dentist—he was “bread and butter” dentistry. Not even in the running. And like any savvy shopper, she set up a controlled comparison.
She booked free consultations—X-rays and ortho records in hand—and went from one cosmetic dentist to the next. Each one gave their dog-and-pony show, answered her questions, quoted a fee—and she smiled, thanked them, and walked out to “think about it.”
She held all the power. She would decide who “won.”
Now here’s the problem. Because they all agreed to a free consult to pitch knowing she was shopping around—she wasn’t their patient of record—they allowed themselves to be commoditized. They gave her, the buyer, permission to line them up and compare them like cans of soup on a shelf.
And even though she didn’t choose based solely on price, she could have. That possibility shouldn’t have even existed if they had any idea what they were doing. But they didn’t.
So, they got treated like options instead of like solutions. But imagine if just one of them had done it differently.
If just one had said: “Mrs. Patient, I don’t compete on price. I don’t do free show-and-tell interviews. I’ll send you a full Decision-Making Packet. Review it. If you’re still serious, call my office—we’ll schedule a proper consultation.”
Boom. The whole frame changes.
That one move—that one refusal to participate in a beauty pageant—would’ve made them instantly different. Not just in price or presentation. But in power. They would have pulled her into their frame, their process, their rules.
And if they’d followed that with a well-structured appointment in their environment, with an offer she couldn’t get anywhere else—say, a paid discovery and diagnostic step, a wax-up, or a computer simulation fee—they’d likely have closed her right then and there.
That’s what selling in a vacuum looks like. It’s the opposite of what most people do. Most people run their business like a public swimming pool. Everyone’s welcome. Everyone’s treated the same. Everyone can wade in, compare, poke, prod, and maybe, if they feel like it, buy.
That’s not a dental business. That’s a charity.
If you want to build a dental business that’s profitable, consistent, and confident, you’ve got to stop inviting comparison. You’ve got to create a category of one. You’ve got to force the prospective patient to play by your rules, not theirs.
Let me put this another way. If your business can be lined up next to someone else’s and evaluated on anything other than you, your philosophy, your process, your delivery mechanism, and your distinct point of view, then you’re vulnerable.
You’re vulnerable to price erosion.
You’re vulnerable to lookalike competitors.
You’re vulnerable to copycats.
You’re vulnerable to losing business because the other guy was faster, cheaper, or flashier.
But when you’re selling in a vacuum? None of those matters. Because you’re the only one they’re dealing with. And even if they walked in with other options, the right frame makes them forget those other options ever existed.
This is not theory. This is tested, proven, repeated performance.
I built my entire cosmetic dentistry practice on this principle. From day one, I didn’t position myself as a dentist who delivers crowns, veneers, or Invisalign. I positioned myself as an expert in delivering what people truly crave and secretly desire—lasting beauty, youth, charisma, likability, success, influence, admiration, and the kind of magnetic presence that opens doors, turns heads, and reshapes their personal and professional life.
Because let’s be honest—no one spends tens of thousands of dollars on their smile just for a bite adjustment. They do it to upgrade their identity. To feel younger. To attract better relationships. To command more attention in a room. To climb the social ladder faster. To be taken more seriously—or desired more instantly. Whatever their unspoken goal was—that was the language I spoke. The crowns, veneers, and Invisalign were just the product… the deliverables.
That language—that distinction—created a gap my competitors couldn’t cross.
My practice turned into a referral machine—because my patients didn’t just leave with a new smile. They left with a story. A transformation. Something to brag about. And brag they did. To friends, coworkers, gym buddies, clients, even strangers at cocktail parties. People saw the shift—how they looked, how they walked, how they lit up a room—and they wanted in. And every single one of those success stories pointed right back to me.
And let’s be clear—those referrals didn’t “just happen.” I engineered a referral culture by design. It wasn’t random. It wasn’t passive. There were systems, scripts, and intentional touchpoints that made me referable. I didn’t sit around hoping someone would mention my name—I built a process that made sure they had to. From the way I delivered results… to the stories I captured… to the way I followed up after treatment. Every piece of the experience was dialed in to turn one patient into five. That’s not luck. That’s strategy.
That was the gap—and it’s the kind of gap that makes competition irrelevant. Because when the distance between you and the others is that wide, no one even tries to cross it. They don’t compete. They retreat.
Now let me be blunt.
If you’re struggling to attract patients who pay, stay, and refer…
If your marketing makes you look like just another commodity…
If you’re still begging instead of attracting—then something’s wrong. And you’d better fix it fast.
Your marketing company won’t fix this. They don’t have the systems—or the battle scars. They don’t understand how to attract the kinds of patients you actually want to work with.
This can only be engineered by someone who’s actually done it—who’s built the systems, tested them in battle, and come out the other side with results.
Who am I, and why you should listen to me?
I started with a one-chair solo dental practice and, within a few years, transformed it into a 7-chair, 7-figure, associate-driven business with in-house specialists. While working part-time as an owner-dentist, I reinvested my practice’s profits into cash-flowing investments, creating passive income that eventually outpaced my practice earnings. When the time was right, I sold my practice for a life-changing, walk-away sum.
I’ve been in the trenches, faced the same challenges you’re up against, and found a way to thrive—not just survive.
Why am I doing this?
This phase of my life is about one thing: helping independent dentists take back control of their practices—and their lives.
But here’s the truth: independent dentists can implement business strategies that turn their practices into 7-figure, cash-flowing businesses that run without them grinding in the chair. They just need the right roadmap and skillset.
I founded Dental Business Experts—a coaching and training platform for dentists, built on real-world strategies not theory.
Every day, I work directly with dentists—tackling clinical challenges, staffing issues, patient management, and marketing roadblocks. My training isn’t about fluff or vague advice. It’s about battle-tested, reality-based strategies you can implement immediately.
About the author
Dr. Galia Anderson graduated from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry and built a successful private practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she served patients for 15 years. Today, as the founder of Dental Business Experts, Dr. Anderson is committed to empowering dentists to achieve substantial growth in their practices. Schedule a no-obligation strategy call with Dr. Anderson to get started: www.yourdbexperts.com/call
