Rachael Strauss, The Pink Hygienist, was still attending dental hygiene school at NYU when suppliers began giving free samples to her class. And she discovered other unique products when attending dental conferences shortly thereafter.
If Strauss had never seen these products before, she knew dental patients hadn’t either.
“Dental hygienists are taught that the way you’re supposed to look at each patient is as an individual and decide what their regimen of care is supposed to look like,” Strauss said. “It’s supposed to be unique and individual to the patient. And yet we’re handing them average toothpaste and average toothbrushes and average floss.”
That’s where The Pink Hygienist comes in. Strauss opened her @the_pinkhygienist Instagram account and began posting funny photos and videos with these new dental products, so other dental hygienists could be aware of them too. Suddenly, dental companies started sharing their products with the hopes of being featured on her page. Rachael has continued to build her brand as a dental influencer ever since.
Beginning Your Influencer Journey
There are many reasons a dental professional may feel called to develop their brand on social media.
Dr. Sanya Arora, for example, had already been posting covers of songs to Instagram when COVID-19 hit. While dental offices were shut down during the pandemic, she felt the urge to combine two of her biggest passions: singing and dentistry. She started posting parody covers of popular songs with a dental twist to their lyrics. Thousands of people watched her first video overnight.
“Because of COVID, everybody was on their phones. It helped me get the views that I needed, and I think it connected me to dental professionals from all over the world,” said Dr. Arora, the Singing Dentist or @doctor.singer on Instagram.
Dr. Avi Patel decided to start his social media brand (@doctor.avi on Instagram) as a free promotional tool for his consulting business. Educational Instagram reels came first, addressing common issues dentists face when starting aligners. Then he began generating leads for his training courses by including calls to action at the end of his reels or in the captions.
“I actually found that I was following a lot of ‘Instagram coaches’ or ‘Instagram gurus’ that teach people how to essentially create a business on Instagram. I just basically took the stuff they were teaching, and tried to apply it to what I was doing, which was aligner education for dentists. And I just stayed consistent with it,” Dr. Patel said.
In each case, the influencers started their journeys for reasons that made sense to them. All of them were doing something that no one else was doing at the time. Each was sharing content that they felt passionate about.
“Basically, whatever content you’re putting out, you need to be able to talk about it essentially every day for five years…because if you don’t have that level of passion, you’re not going to be consistent with it,” Dr. Patel said. “The first or the second time that things get hard, or your schedule gets busy, you’re going to drop it.”
Growing Your Platform
One of the secrets to growing a loyal following is to engage with audiences. Strauss did this through interactive Instagram stories. She began hosting Q&A sessions with followers, explaining in more depth how to use the products she was featuring in her regular posts. She adapted her other content based on the stories’ high engagement rates.
When Dr. Patel’s reel about the toxicity of the dental industry went viral, gaining over half a million views, he realized it was a topic others could relate to on a personal level.
“It showed me that people appreciate this very authentic, raw form of content,” he said. “And the video itself was just on my phone – no editing, production, nothing. Just right on the app. So then I started making more videos similar to that on different topics, just sharing my thoughts, sharing my perspectives, and then all those videos just started to perform really well.”
Since content on social media tends to be on the shorter side, and followers are scrolling quickly, another thing to consider is how to grab attention.
Dr. Patel shared some thoughts on a good hook: “Think about who you’re posting for and think about something that they want to achieve, something that they may be struggling with, something that they may be feeling emotionally.
“Then if you can speak to that and make it very relatable to them, they will stop, they will watch, and now they’ll watch the rest of the video – most of the time. So long as you’re providing value or entertaining or whatever it may be.”
However, if you find yourself constantly thinking strategically about how to build followers, keep in mind that staying authentic is key.
“I think it’s really easy to get lost in reading all the strategic things and thinking, ‘If I do this because this person did it, I’m going to have the same growth,’” Dr. Arora said. “It’s very easy to get lost in that because you then start to post things almost forcefully.”
“I’ve always believed, if you’re going to put out something, do it with good quality and have good engagement on it,” she said. “That to me is way more powerful than posting three times a day and posting lower-quality content. That strategy has worked for me.”
The Benefits
Being a dental influencer is the perfect way to show the industry who you are, what skills you have, and what you can offer potential employers, peers, and patients. The best part: you can develop it on your own time, with a simple smartphone camera and some good lighting.
“It’s been great for brand creation and brand recognition of ‘who is Doctor Avi and what does he do?’” Dr. Patel explained. “I think most people don’t realize that they are their own brand, and making content that’s true to you is the easiest way to create that brand and how you want it.”
He finds pride in being able to show other dentists that there is more than one way to be successful in dentistry, and that includes a path on social media.
The related online brands can lead to many different opportunities, including employment.
“I have never ever sent a resume to have a dental job,” Dr. Arora said. “I have always gotten them through Instagram.”
If you are already scrolling on social media, Dr. Arora suggests making that time more productive, especially if you are a recent dental graduate looking for a job. What employers really care about if you are a new graduate is your communication skills. You can easily connect with potential employers and coworkers online, possibly getting your foot in the door of a dream job.
Online brands can also lead to additional opportunities such as free products, speaking engagements, or mentors and other meaningful connections.
For Strauss, the biggest benefit is the satisfaction in knowing someone learned about a product because of her. She uses her platform to educate people so everyone can grow to be as obsessed with their oral hygiene regime as they are about hair, makeup, clothes or whatever else they enjoy.
“I love putting on makeup. I think it makes me feel beautiful. I enjoy the act of it,” she shared. “But then I don’t understand why you can’t love brushing your teeth. And I think you can. I think you can love flossing. You can love brushing your teeth. It’s just we have to find what parts of it you love.”
The Downside
Despite all the benefits of being an influencer, there can be a darker side.
It is easy to get caught up in the numbers of followers, likes, and comments, or comparing yourself to others. Then there are the negative comments, especially as profiles grow. It can be hard on your mental health and self-esteem.
“I think the biggest way that I stopped myself from falling into that trap is I turned my notifications off,” Dr. Arora said. “I don’t know who likes my photos, or who likes my videos when they do it, or who comments on it. I check my social media at a certain time every single day for a certain amount of time, and that’s it. It’s turned off. So I think that really helps me.”
Dr. Patel recommends ‘self-work’ such as going to therapy, which he had been doing even before his dental influencer journey began.
He also added, “Don’t take the comments to heart. It’s hard not to read them because you created something, so you want to just naturally know what people are saying about what you’re doing. But if you’re going to start posting and going down this route of influencing, you have to not care what people think about you.”
Strauss recently shared some information that others disagreed with. If using a platform to educate – especially as a new dentist or hygienist – mistakes can happen. Even if you’re right, comments can say you’re wrong.
“You’re always going to get someone who knows more or thinks they know more, who is going to come in and try to correct you. And I think that’s fine. I actually think it starts a conversation,” she said.
Final message
Not every dentist is going to become a dental influencer. But it is something to consider if you are looking for additional opportunities in the industry and have a unique message to share.
Just remember to stay authentic and be confident.
As Dr. Sanya Arora put it: “Do it because you love it. Don’t do it because you’re hoping to get patients out of it and monetary products out of it and ads out of it and sponsorships out of it. Do not go into it with that mindset. I guarantee you will not enjoy it and you will end up quite miserable. So do it with unconditional love. Do it even if you get nothing out of it. And that is truly how you’re going to grow authentically [while] still being happy at the end.”
About the Author:
Marley Gieseler is the Digital Content Coordinator for the Oral Health Group. She writes, edits and organizes content across all OH brands. She is a Media Studies graduate from the University of Guelph-Humber. If interested in submitting content to Oral Health, please reach out to her at marley@newcom.ca!