Where Does Perio Stand Today?

I was speaking to one of the leading periodontists last week, and we were discussing the future of periodontics. The bad news is obvious—the number of referrals for periodontal cases is down. This number has declined since the 1980s when many GPs provided initial therapy without re-diagnosing or referring cases that still needed additional treatment. Today, more than ever before, GPs are holding off on referring and instead keeping these patients in-house.

So far, implants have kept periodontics afloat. They compensate for the lack of periodontal diagnosis and treatments. But, soon most specialties in dentistry will have some involvement in dental implants, which will continue to challenge periodontists.

So what is the future of periodontics? It all starts with where you are today. If you have a pure periodontal practice, you need to initiate a referral marketing program immediately. We still see practices that are very strong in periodontal treatment. In fact, the client I was talking to provides more than $2 million a year in pure periodontal treatment himself.

The reality is that when the economy gets tough and competition increases, you must accelerate your referral marketing by instituting a proper referral marketing program.