ARLINGTON, TX   -   So, what happens when a pediatric dentistry group puts out a web site and no one visits it? That was exactly the question that confronted a group of three pediatric dentists in Texas and Julie Brown about three years ago. Brown worked with the practice in marketing, business management, bookkeeping and various other tasks.
     The problem as Brown saw it was that having the web site wasn't enough in and of itself. "We could tell our patients about it, but we wanted to drive parents in the community to it," she says. There was no way to do that short of expensive media campaigns.
      And that became the birth of Dentists4kids.com, which opened for business in January 2000.  Its goal was to be a web site that promoted pediatric dentistry to the general public. There would be lots of educational material for parents 

"But then one of the dentists suggested that we put everyone on the web site (because no one else had done that yet) and have them pay for enhanced listings. "

as well as a pediatric dentistry referral component. "It was my idea to limit the pediatric dentists on the web site to those who would pay for the listing," Brown says.  "But then one of the dentists suggested that we put everyone on the web site (because no one else had done that yet) and have them pay for enhanced listings."
    The group had the directory of pediatric dentists available from the dentists' membership in the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists. However, some of this group had their home addresses and phone numbers on the list. "We faxed or mailed letters to all the pediatric dentists telling them we were putting information about them on our web site and they should go to it and correct anything that's incorrect," she says.

     The company worked with GoTo.com to get the Dentists4kids.com site at the top of the various search engines.
    The basic free service to pediatric dentists include each dentist's name, address, phone number and fax on the site. Paid enhancements include: a 25 word description of the practice, bolding, e-mail address, a link to a map through MapQuest that would give exact directions to the practice and a link to a web site or web page. Additionally, the company designs web pages for dentists using a template that includes a bio, education, hobbies and a section about the practice.
    Dentists pay $300 a year for the enhancements plus web page or $240 for just the enhancements.
    "We also design custom web pages that start at $350 for three pages or less and $650 for seven pages and $99 a page above that," she says.
    Approximately 4,700 pediatric dentists are on the referral panel. Of that number about 200 have enhanced listings and/or custom web sites. The company markets the enhancement option through using consumer behavior. "When a consumer searches a zip code for a pediatric dentist we then fax all the dentists appearing on that page," she says. "We tell them that someone has looked at their listing today on our web site, and would they be interested in an enhancement of their listing."
    Dentists with enhancements that

include links to their web site can track how well they're doing with Dentists4kids as a referral source. It has worked well for Brown and her three dentist partners in promoting their four Dallas area offices. Brown estimates that the practice gets 60 hits a month from the web site, resulting in about 16 dental visits.  That's almost 200 new patients a year coming from the web site.

Working With Crest and UPN The television network UPN recently asked Dentists4kids.com to be the referral source for a local promotional program it is doing with Crest toothpaste as part of Crest's Healthy Smiles 2010 Campaign. Under this program, parents who purchase a Crest spin brush and two tubes of toothpaste are eligible for a free dentistry exam for their child, age three to 12. The participating dentists agree to also spend time giving presentations to Boys and Girls Clubs about proper dental care.
    Tampa was the first market followed by New Orleans and Miami. Then, it was to be evaluated by UPN and Crest for its viability for the rest of the country. "We sent letters to 50 practices in Tampa and 14 agreed to participate," she says. "We put the logo by their names on our web site." Interested parents seeing the ads on UPN shows in Tampa were told to visit the Dentists4kids.com web site or call the organization's toll-free number.
    So far the response has been underwhelming, Brown says. But that could be due to time needed to make a new promotion work or even things like low summer viewership of re-runs affecting the early stage of the program. Additionally, though, half of this promotion is about the Boys and Girls Clubs. Through these visits there does exist important potential to get proper dental care messages conveyed, she says.