Increase Your Practice's Social Media Presence By Highlighting Your Everyday Dentistry

Ever since attending the Art of Treatment Planning seminar in Seattle this past August, I’ve made it my resolution to use my new camera more often. While taking a modified full series with frontal retracted, occlusal and buccal images is a great way to start discussing comprehensive dentistry with your new patients, you can start small as well.

Posting photos to an office Instagram account or Facebook page is also a really good way to engage with your patients and the community and show the kind of work you do on a daily basis. I’m finding that it’s more important to be regular and consistent than to make one post a year with a large case that you recently completed.

With all the dental social media accounts that have thousands of followers, fancy equipment and software, sometimes its easy to get into a mindset that the things we do on a daily basis won’t be “cool” or impressive to our patients. But I’m finding that those routine things we do can be a great conversation starter, while also boosting your office’s online presence.

One feature I love on my Nikon D7500 is that it can sync via Bluetooth straight to my phone or iPad through the SnapBridge app. This means that I can take a simple photo before and after the procedure, and within minutes make a spiffy post to our office’s social media accounts via the Instagram or Facebook apps, or discuss with a patient on an iPad in the operatory. No need to take the card out, go find the card reader, download the pictures to the computer and then try to edit the photos in a special program before posting, or trying to get it to a computer in the consult room where you can discuss with the patient and have to move them there.

Now, this won’t take the place of a proper consult or a “tour of the mouth” for comprehensive exams, but this can definitely streamline the process and make regular posting more convenient.

If you plan on posting photos publically, make sure you have a photographic consent form signed by the patient, either on the day of the procedure or one on file from a new patient intake packet. Even though most of the photos I post don’t show or reveal any patient identifying features, it’s good to cover your bases.

If you have a Nikon D7500 or other camera with the SnapBridge technology, all you need to do is download the SnapBridge App to your phone or tablet. You can pair the camera and device together and then be able to see, select and download only the photos you want from your camera on your portable device. If you want to just show the patient while they are in the chair, you can stop right there.

If you want to create a post on one of your accounts, the photos will be right there in your library and can be uploaded like any other photo post. If you are planning on sharing a before-and-after photo, I’d recommend downloading the Layout app as well. The app integrates with Instagram and allows you to show the two images in a single picture. Within the Instagram app, there will be a Layout button, and it will take you through the process of orienting your photos relative to one another, and allowing you to do some minor rotations, cropping and zooming.

Once your collage is done, you can post it straight to your office Instagram account (with witty caption and hashtags, of course). The collage will also be saved in your device’s photo library so you can post it to your Facebook account, just like uploading a single photo. I hope this encourages you to use a camera more and get connected with your community by showing the great work we do on a daily basis.

Dr. Imahn Moin, DDS. http://www.oaktreedentalcare.com/