Walking On "Dental" Sunshine (Yeah, Yeah!)

Smile your way to more new patients 😊

Does the song “Walking on Sunshine” perk you up and make you smile?

Writing a dental marketing blog week after week, month after month, year after year is hard! What have we learned that’s worth sharing? What will genuinely help our clients and industry colleagues – and still be entertaining?

Today, I was staring at a blank screen. So, I went back into my archives to see what I was writing about five years ago. And wouldn’t you know it, I found a 2011 blog so relevant we reposted it in 2021 … and now here I am again in 2026 circling back.

Because it still matters.

And this story will help you get more new patients for your dental office.

Want more new patients for your dental practice? We can help you get them.

Schedule a free consultation today

That 2011 blog was a touch on dental coaching and how to say things on the phone. You may be surprised, but that includes SMILING, which we love to do because we’re in dentistry. 😊

As a dental professional, you’ve likely had a ton of training on communication skills. You’ve heard it said before: it’s not just what you say – it’s how you say it. That message may be even more relevant in 2026, when patients are overwhelmed by automation, AI, online forms, chatbots, and impersonal digital transactions. People are craving real, positive human connection.

When it comes to call handling, though, the level of training is often much less. So, when looking at your dental coaching plan for 2026, consider that a UCLA study, often cited in communication training, revealed that when speaking face-to-face, gestures account for 55% of impact, tone of voice 38%, and words just 7%. While those numbers are frequently oversimplified, the takeaway remains powerful: delivery matters. On the phone, gestures disappear, so tone carries even more weight.

And yes, a smile can absolutely be heard.

Back in 2011, we had just conducted a training session with our sales team on delivering effective online presentations. (We were just implementing PowerPoint into our sales process – that tells you how long we’ve been doing this. Well, longer still – we’ve been exclusively helping dentists and teams since 1993!) At the time, I shared tips from that coaching session and connected them to new patient call handling in dental practices because it’s very relevant. And I have more great tips below, so keep reading!

At that time, most of our face-to-face interactions happened at trade shows and events. The rest? Phone calls. Today, Zoom has brought smiling faces to screens, but voice inflection, presence, focus, and, yes, smiling while you talk, are still central to effective communication.

Those fundamentals were then – and remain now – core elements of our Phone Power call coaching program, which supports direct mail and website campaigns designed to drive new patient calls.

Here’s the reality: when you do something all day, every day – answer the phone, present treatment, respond to questions – and you’re juggling a dozen other tasks, it’s easy to slip from energetic and engaged into distracted and indifferent.

At that long-ago training session, we did an exercise that was simple, fun, and surprisingly powerful.

The trainer asked us to say the same sentence in different emotional tones: bored, flirtatious, angry, excited … you get the idea.

Try this dental coaching exercise at your next team huddle.

You’ll need one brave volunteer. 😉

First, as if you’re BORED and distracted, say out loud:

• “Good morning, Dr. Smith’s office. Yes, we have one-hour whitening. We can fit you in at 2.”

Now think of something that genuinely makes you feel good. Your child. Your dog. Your team winning a championship. A walk by the lake. That first sip of coffee. Hold that feeling and say:

• “Good afternoon, Dr. Smith’s office. Yes, we have one-hour whitening. We can fit you in at 2.”

The words didn’t change.

The experience did.

Every dental office should have some level of dental coaching going on with the front desk team. Have the top performer review how they handle objections and get patients talking more, listen to calls, and review where there are wins and where improvements can be made. Ensure that a consistent welcome script for new patients is in place, and that everyone speaks clearly and confidently. (We’ve heard too many mumbled names and greetings, which doesn’t establish confidence for new patients, and that’s what’s needed for successful call conversion.) But beyond the words, it’s the energy, warmth, and confidence behind them that builds trust.

You want every new patient to feel like they’ve called the right place – that it’s safe, welcoming, professional, and that their call truly matters. When you sound confident, proud to represent the practice, and genuinely happy to help, patients feel it.

After scoring and coaching millions of dental calls over the years, we can confirm: the basics make a measurable difference in bookings.

• Smile
• Answer live – don’t let calls roll to voicemail
• Be enthusiastic about your doctor and your practice
• Be present, caring, and helpful
• Maintain positive energy throughout the call
• Say thank you!

Staying in your “happy zone” all day isn’t easy. You’re managing patients, team dynamics, insurance questions, production goals, and life outside the office. But attitude is a choice. We can’t control others, but we can control how we show up.

And how you show up directly impacts how many new patients schedule.

Call handling is marketing. It’s part of your patient journey. It’s part of your brand. Whoever answers the phone “is” the practice to the new patient. It’s important to have this positive energy from call one to call 25. It’s just a fact. Call handling is an extension of your dental marketing plan, and all the people who answer the phone at your dental office ARE perceived as the practice to a new patient.

It’s not what you say, but how you say it! New patients are critical to offset patient loss. The practice is investing in practice awareness and marketing to build community reputation and attract more people because new patients add life to practice success. Across the country, dental offices will lose around 20% of their active patients annually due to naturally occurring attrition. In a competitive market, that could increase to 40% annually.

And new patients bring in fresh production. On average, just one new patient contributes approximately $2,000 in production in year one and significantly more in lifetime value.

What if training and incentives helped you book just three additional new patients per week, for 48 weeks per year? Well, the practice would potentially add at least $250,000 in additional topline revenue. That’s success. That’s job security. That’s the ability to add new technology to support a thriving practice. It feels good.

And that’s if you add just three more new patients a week. A third of dentists say they’re not busy enough, so it’s likely you have capacity to do this.

Now layer in the reality of fee-for-service dentistry. How can you smile your way through that?

You can!

Converting patients when you’re out-of-network is challenging, but we found a superstar among our clients, so Megan, our Practice ZEBRA specialist, analyzed calls from this high-performer and found some clear consistencies you can use in your dental coaching session.

Here’s what stood out:

The greeting after identifying the practice and the call handler’s name had a special tone:

• “Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?” instead of “How can I help you?”

After briefly answering the insurance question, the call handler pivots quickly to problem-framing questions:

• “What made you call today?”
• “What’s going on?”

That shift moves the focus from coverage to the patient’s actual concern. Patients feel heard. That emotional shift dramatically increases the likelihood they’ll stay engaged and move toward booking – even when insurance isn’t ideal.

They accept emergency patients and clearly explain the emergency exam fee as a way to get patients in quickly so the doctor can assess and relieve pain. If further treatment, like an extraction, is needed, costs are communicated transparently. Financing options such as CareCredit or an in-house membership plan are introduced early, giving patients time to prepare.

Instead of simply saying, “We’re out of network,” this call handler walks patients through a confident, structured explanation:

1. Acknowledge insurance: “I heard you mention you’ll be using dental benefits.”
2. Use a “Here’s how it works” framework.
3. Clarify status: “We’re an unrestricted provider, which means we’re not in-network, but can submit to all plans.”
4. Reassure confidently: “We have many patients who use insurance here successfully.”
5. Emphasize support: “We handle all paperwork on your behalf.”
6. Set financial expectations clearly.
7. Be transparent about reimbursement timelines (typically 7–10 business days).
8. Highlight that preventative services are often covered at higher percentages.

They also offer complimentary consultations to meet the doctor and ask questions, while clearly distinguishing that a comprehensive new patient exam is required for diagnosis and treatment planning.

For emergencies, expectations are set specifically based on the patient’s stated concern, and the patient is reassured that the exam will address their pain. That clarity reduces anxiety and builds confidence.

And throughout the call, you can hear the smile.

Speaking of smiling….

Did you know that “Walking on Sunshine” was released in 1985? That one stings a little. But it still works. It gets me smiling every time. AND it consistently ranks among feel-good songs in neuroscience-based music studies. Other mood-lifters often cited include:

• “Happy” – Pharrell Williams
• “I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
• “Can’t Stop the Feeling” – Justin Timberlake
• “Don’t Stop Me Now” – Queen
• “Dancing Queen” – ABBA
• “Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys
• “Uptown Girl” – Billy Joel
• “Eye of the Tiger” – Survivor
• “I’m a Believer” – The Monkees
• “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” – Cyndi Lauper
• “Livin’ on a Prayer” – Bon Jovi

Those songs are all proven by neuroscience to improve mood. Whatever song brings out your best energy, play it before the morning huddle. Add it to your practice playlist. Bring that feeling into your practice and into your calls.

Smile! It’s contagious – even through a phone line.

Want more new patients for your dental office?

Schedule a free consultation