Posted by Amy Carbone on Dec 29, 2021 9:00:00 AM
Your dental practice’s name is an important part of your business, so while deciding on it may feel difficult, it gives you the opportunity to create a brand that people are excited to support.
There’s power in the name you choose, so it’s crucial that you thoroughly think it through to choose the best name and use that power to your advantage. Here are five things to consider when deciding on a name for your dental practice:
1. Your Own Name
A common method for naming your dental practice is using the surname of the owner(s) of the practice.
This is a simple, direct approach that is often effective — especially if you’re carrying on dentistry as a family tradition. If your family’s name is already known within your community, it’s an excellent idea to include your name, as it gives you an immediate connection with many of your potential patients.
This naming convention does emphasize your name over other ideas, so if you feel there are other aspects that should be more significant, you may want to consider combining the two ideas or using another naming convention.
2. Your Location
Since dental practices are operated in-person, you'll be serving the patients in a particular geographic area, which you could consider including in the name of your practice. You can consider the town, region, or even state that you’re located in as part of your name.
This is a great convention to follow if you feel you can use the name of your local area to your advantage. Whether it’s beneficial or not can depend on whether any other dentists in the region are already using geography in their practice names, since you won’t want to choose a name too similar to another practice in the area.
If you can use the name of your region, it allows potential patients to know if they’re in your service area, gives you a higher chance of registering your desired website domain, and can improve your search engine optimization (SEO). Anyone who is searching online for a dentist in your area will be able to easily find your site and practice, which can help put you closer to the top of internet search results.
3. Symbolism
Symbolism is a powerful concept that can amplify brands of any size by allowing you to convey ideas or values in your name and logo.
When considering a name for your dental practice, you should decide what concept or idea, if anything, you want to convey to your audience. You will do that with the choice of name and logo.
Thinking outside the box can be helpful, but be careful not to get too abstract — you’ll want potential patients to understand at a glance what it is that you do.
4. Benefits
Why do patients come to your practice? The answer to that question is another aspect to consider for your practice’s name.
When patients come to you, they’re likely expecting to leave with perfect smiles or white teeth. By implementing these benefits into your practice’s name, potential patients will know your focus is on providing quality service to them.
5. Feelings
Many people are apprehensive about going to see a dentist. They may be concerned about a number of things, including potential pain or the cost of the visit. A warm, welcoming name for your practice can let potential patients know you understand they may be nervous about their appointment.
This can create a connection between you and the patient before they’ve even come into your practice. When they already feel like you’ll take quality care of them, they’re more likely to come in relaxed to their appointment.
When considering feelings for your dental practice’s name, know that it doesn’t have to be a literal emotion. You can choose something metaphorical that will evoke positive emotions in the patients.
For example, while sunshine is not a literal interpretation of emotions, most people feel happy at the thought of going outside to enjoy the warm, summer sunshine. This can help your patients feel at ease — especially if you serve a pediatric audience.
Are You Ready to Start Your Practice?
Picking a good name for your dental practice is a great way to start your branding strategy — but it’s also just the beginning. After you’ve decided on a name, you’ll need to get your practice up and running. This includes protecting your business from the unexpected.
Download this free e-book on starting a new dental practice and get your practice off to a great start!
About Treloar & Heisel
Treloar & Heisel offers dental and medical professionals a comprehensive suite of financial products and services ranging from business and personal insurance to wealth management. We are proud to assist thousands of clients from residency to practice and through retirement. Our experienced teams deliver custom-tailored advice through an active local presence, while our strong national network ensures that clients experience the same high level of service throughout the country.
