Aesthetic Dentistry Practice Opening Story, Part 2

In Part 1, I talked about the unique aspects of opening an aesthetic dentistry practice compared with the usual formula for opening a general dental clinic.

Then I started thinking about what topic to choose for the second installment, and wondered whether I should talk about branding for an aesthetic dentistry practice. Branding is also a subject that many dentists have been thinking about lately. When most dental clinics think about “branding,” however, it often ends up filled with predictable words, predictable stories, and formulaic statements that the dental clinic next door could make as well.

The reason is simple. The target audience is not clearly defined, the areas of treatment are not clearly defined, and they feel that they cannot afford to leave anything out. And when it comes to a general dental clinic, I think branding inevitably becomes vague and broad like that.

That is why I do not think the branding of a typical neighborhood dental clinic is built around particular treatment areas or specific treatment techniques. That kind of strategy cannot really be used, because the clinic has to promote all of its treatments broadly.

2. Branding Is the Director’s Life Itself

Ultimately, I think branding is the result of “what kind of life the director has lived and how they are living now” being revealed to the outside world. I have often said that “branding means becoming obsessively committed to a concept,” but that commitment becomes a true brand only when it is not deceptive and actually aligns with the director’s real life.

I am obsessed with resin. In reality, I constantly think about how to make resin restorations look more natural and last longer, and if there is a good course, I make sure to take it even when it is expensive. Even after finishing treatment, I look up papers and test new materials. I make tooth specimens with various resins and compare how they reproduce color and texture. That attitude is reflected in my diagnosis and treatment, incorporated into the way I run the dental clinic, and revealed through the website, Instagram, and blog.

Perhaps branding is not something you force into existence; perhaps it simply seeps out. What the director likes, what they spend their time on, and what they are willing to spend money on eventually becomes the brand. So when other dentists visit and tell me that my dental clinic is “well-branded,” I feel embarrassed. I have simply followed my own preferences and done things the way I normally do them. I am only continuing to think carefully about what kind of dental clinic ours should be and working toward maintaining a consistent identity. I was not trying to create a brand; I have simply continued to uphold the values that I consider important.

That is why I think the same ultimately applies to the branding of other dentists’ clinics. “We are good at implants and extracting wisdom teeth. We are also good at resin, so come to us for veneers.” is something any dental clinic could say. But no one can imitate what philosophy a particular dentist uses when treating patients, what treatments they refuse to cut corners on, or what they continue to study. A fake who only talks about it and someone who is genuinely obsessed with their work cannot help but be distinguishable in one way or another. Ultimately, what patients remember is not the list of treatments but the dentist as a person.

I think the answer to branding is to follow the human instinct to trust “consistency.”

Patients have little ability to directly evaluate a dental clinic’s clinical skill. Unless someone takes the time to explain it, most patients cannot know how well the resin has bonded, how precise the margin is, whether a translucent layer is present, how subtle tints have been combined, whether the line angles are symmetrical, or how well the secondary anatomy has been reproduced. So patients evaluate the “person.”

They keep asking themselves:

“Is this person genuine?”

In the treatment room,

at seminars,

on a blog,

on Instagram,

on YouTube,

and even at the desk in the director’s office, where no one is watching,

when someone shows a consistent self everywhere, people begin to feel, “This person is ‘the real thing.’” I think that is the moment a brand is created. That is why I say branding means becoming “obsessively committed to a concept.”

In other words, branding is “the process of eliminating contradictions.”

If your words and your treatment are different, if your treatment and the system pursued by the clinic are different, or if the dental clinic and the director’s life are different, the brand collapses.

“What am I someone who is obsessed with?”

If you have a clear answer to this question, you do not need to struggle to create a brand.

That obsession seeps into your treatment,

seeps into your dental clinic,

seeps into your content,

and eventually people will come to call it a brand.

I think this is the most fundamental point. A brand comes not from “differentiation” but from “consistency.” Differentiation arises from being conscious of your competitors, but

consistency arises when you focus only on yourself. That is why a long-lasting brand is not one that has struggled to be different from everyone else, but one that most closely resembles itself.