How much do you suppose the average smartphone user will spend on their phone over the next 10 years?

If you factor in monthly charges for voice, data and texting (averaging around $200 a month) and regular upgrades to newer models, along with the inevitable new accessories, it comes out to about $25,000.

Compare that with what the average person is projected to spend on dentistry over the next 10 years: about $5,000 in hygiene and clinical care.

You could make a case that having the best possible oral health and an ideal smile should be worth at least as much as having the latest phone and a good data plan; however, maybe that's the point. Dentistry, on the whole, has not made that case – at least not as well as Apple has for the iPhone.

Steve Jobs changed people's concept of a phone. Remember, this is a man who didn't like focus groups because he didn't want the customer dictating the company's vision. People don't know what they want until you show it to them, he said.

In dentistry, we need to take lessons from this. The patient should always be able to tell you what they want, of course, but their perception of what dentistry can be is probably pretty limited. It's up to you to change that perception. It's up to you to get good at demonstrating value and to be confident when talking about money. Apple doesn't try to entice customers with discounts; they know what their products are worth and they have trained consumers to accept that value. That's why people line up around the block for a new phone (the recently-released iPhone 5S pulled in $9 million in just the first three days).

This is where dentists need to change their thinking in order to get patients to change their thinking. As I have said before it comes down to what dentistry means to the patient, and how you communicate what it should mean to them. If you don't give them a new context for thinking, you will always be working within the limited parameters of the tooth-based, insurance-supported model.


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Commenter's Profile Image Barry Polansky
October 9th, 2013
You say... "People don’t know what they want until you show it to them, he said." Easier said than done---3 words--Steve Jobs knew--and so do great marketers (Google) BRIEF...SIMPLE...CLEAR More difficult than it sounds.