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Would You Warranty Your Work?

Would You Warranty Your Work?
by Howard Hopenwasser, DMD

Most dental practices stand behind their work and repair or replace work if it fails in the short term. When a patient came into our office with a broken crown that had been recently made, we remade the crown at no charge. Then we decided that if we already replace these crowns at no charge, why not put this policy into writing and make it a positive marketing bonus? We decided to spell out our remake policy in a formal "limited warranty" and add it to our other office policies.
We formalized a written limited warranty and gave this to patients when we completed their fixed prosthetic dentistry. We did not include other restorative and removable prosthetics in our warranty. If we were restoring something that we felt might not hold up long term, we advised patients and did not include the procedure in our warranty program.

We also spoke with our lab partners and advised them that we were warranting these fixed prosthetic services, and asked if they would also warranty their work. We do a fair amount of work with our labs, and we learned they were more than happy to honor such an arrangement with us.

So now we can promote and publicize our warranty policy. Our patients feel more secure that we stand behind our work. We promote our warranty under the guidelines that our patients must keep up with their six-month recalls, routine cleanings, and maintenance to keep their warranties valid. This helps in our recall program. Also, we have our labs on board, promoting quality dentistry.

Read full article on Dental Economics.