3 Places Patients Get Their Info On Oral Health Trends

The consumer products market in oral health care is always coming up with new products, promising everything from whiter teeth to easier flossing.

Patients are bombarded with messages and ads about these products everywhere, from television to social media and digital advertising. The one place they’re probably not getting their information? Verified sources like the American Dental Association, and other industry leaders that dentists rely on for the most up to date trends and research.
 
From healthy living magazines to social media influencers, here are some of the most common places patients are getting their information about oral health.
 
HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINES
 
Many healthy living magazines are focusing more on a holistic approach to health and wellness – and that includes oral health! That’s certainly a good thing. Whole Foods Magazine, for example, recently wrote a well-researched post about How Oral Care Habits Can Boost Wellbeing. But many other ads or feature stories can often promote questionable products or practices. Articles like “How to Get Whiter Teeth Fast” are extremely common in magazines like Women’s Health, Prevention, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and others. Since many of these magazines are probably in your waiting room anyways, take a look and see what they’re saying about oral health!
 
CELEBRITIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA
 
Actress Shalaine Woodly recently told Ellen DeGeneres that she uses oil pulling to clean her teeth (bonus points to Ellen for being horrified when Shalaine said she doesn’t floss!).  Celebrity influencer Nicole Ritchie also promoted oil pulling with coconut oil in a New York Magazine article, and Gwyneth Paltrow and supermodel Elle McPherson have also posted about doing this. It’s no wonder dentists are getting more questions about this strange sounding practice!
 
ONLINE NEWS ARTICLES
 
In just the last month, MarketWatch and the San Francisco Chronicle both wrote articles about charcoal toothpaste. And the New York Times wrote about how going to the dentist for certain procedures is often on couples’ pre-wedding checklists.
 
Obviously you can’t spend all your time scouring the internet, social media, and magazines for every post about oral health. Fortunately, there are tools to do that for you! One easy way is to set google news alerts for key terms – like “oral health trends” or “charcoal toothpaste” for example – and google will send you an email with the related content as often as you choose.

Hashtags are also an easy way to search social media. For example, if you’re getting a lot of questions from patients about certain products, try searching the hashtags. You can quickly search #oilpulling or #charcoaltoothpaste or the more general #oralhealth on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook to see what people are saying.
 
And then join the conversation! Whether on your social media pages or in your office, patients will only benefit from your perspective on these trends.
 
In case you missed it, Dr. Sean Boynes talked about some of these trends in our latest episode of Pearls of Wisdom.

Here’s Dr. Mike Monopoli talking about Staying Up-To-Date on Dental Consumer Trends: