Some dental Web sites rank high in the search engine lists, generate new patients and referral sources, and have visitors coming back on a regular basis. Others sit on the Web, stale, forgotten and of little use. Which category does your dental specialty practice’s Web site fit into?

Did you create a Facebook page that now sits idle with few updates and little activity? Or are you considering putting your orthodontic, pediatric dentistry or other dental specialty practice on Facebook—but are unsure about the best way to keep the page active?

Our newsletter marketing company works with hundreds of medical and dental specialty practices. Some, we are surprised to see, have no Web site at all. This is not a good idea because people of all ages look to the Internet for more information once they have been referred to a practice.

As a dental specialist, you know many ways to keep patients coming back to your practice. The ingredients for a successful pediatric dentistry practice might include a child-friendly waiting room. For an orthodontics practice, you might engage your young patients and their parents with social media. For all dental specialty practices, success includes a professional staff, a comfortable waiting room and up-to-date technology.

When potential patients search online for your orthodontic practice, what are they likely to find? Your Web site or the Web site of a competing practice? Like it or not, those who receive recommendations for or referrals to your practice are likely to check you out on the Internet before picking up the telephone to make an appointment. And there’s a good chance they could land on the Web site of a neighboring practice.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Irv Lubis developed a successful periodontal practice and now wants to give back by helping other dental specialists grow their practices. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Lubis about some of the ways dental specialists can grow their practices during difficult economic times.

We are often asked why marketing for a dental specialist is different from the marketing activities of a general dentist. The key difference is the way patients determine which endodontist, oral surgeon or other dental specialist to choose.

If you are an endodontist doing a lot of single-session root canals, patient recall may not be a prime issue for your practice. However, for most periodontists, prosthodontists, orthodontists and pediatric dentists, increasing patient recall is critical to the financial well being of their practices.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Tim Andrus, chief executive officer of Esthetica Dental Exchange. Esthetica is devoted to helping dentists promote their practices.

According to Debbie Bittke, a well-respected expert on dental hygiene, many dental specialists may be missing a $100,000 per year opportunity. She contends that too few dental specialists are effectively using dental hygienists in their practices and thus are billing too soon.