An insightful article on how the world seems to be going through a health-kick, but oral health is overlooked and how you can change that for your dental practices marketing by our director, Kieran. No AI blogs round here, just research, analysis and opinions.
Introduction – Why Oral Health Is Still the Most Ignored “Wellness Habit” Out There
You’ve seen the guy.
Listens to one episode of Diary of a CEO, and suddenly he’s waking up at 5am, meditating with his phone on airplane mode, running 10k fasted, and finishing it all off with a 3-minute ice bath. By lunchtime he’s done red light therapy, posted about discipline, and eaten exactly 37 grams of protein from grass-fed venison.
Ask him when he last flossed?
*Insert tumbleweed here*.
Before I begin, don’t shoot. This isn’t a pop at anyone who does any of these things, if you are trying to make positive changes to your life, and escape the doom and gloom of the world, good for you – heck, I do some of them myself. Growing up I struggled with my mental health, and also got pretty hefty (just under 20 stone – or 127kg for you…slightly more experienced folk). The best way for me to have a great day, is to make sure the first hour is great. Achieve something big or small like a walk – usually with a weighted backpack (I think they call it rucking) engage with nature (usually sunrise at a spot next to the finish line of my walk) and learn something new (read a chapter of my book – currently it’s David Goggins ‘Can’t Hurt Me’).
The Wellness Boom That Forgot the Mouth
We’re in a full-blown health boom. Podcasts, influencers, and personal trainers are turning every part of the body into a project. Gut health is sexy now. Hormones are a hot topic. There are men in their 20s tracking blood sugar and optimising their sleep like they’re Olympic athletes.
But teeth? Gums? Plaque? Still stuck in the “ugh, do I have to?” category.
Which is wild when you think about it, because the mouth is literally the start of the body. And the science linking oral health to heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, sleep quality (the list goes on) is very real. Just not very viral.
Let’s Be Honest: Flossing Doesn’t Hit Like a Cold Plunge
Honestly, it’s probably this: brushing and flossing don’t feel rewarding.
There’s no dopamine kick. No Instagrammable moment. No visible glow. You floss every night for a month, and what do you get? Slightly less guilt at your next hygiene appointment.
Compare that to the cold plunge, immediate rush. Or a run – endorphins. Or a smoothie, something you can photograph with a quote from Huberman underneath.
Oral health is private. It’s invisible. And let’s face it, it still feels like a chore from childhood, not a tool for performance or longevity.
But Here’s The Thing, Dentists Can Change That
This is where practice owners are sitting on a huge opportunity. Because everyone’s already obsessed with health. They want to live longer, sleep better, stay sharp, avoid meds.
They just don’t know that their mouth is holding them back.
You don’t need to lecture them. You just need to reframe it.
You’re not filling teeth. You’re reducing inflammation. You’re helping people sleep. You’re possibly even lowering their risk of heart disease or cognitive decline.
And right now, no one else is saying that.
Why You Should Stop Marketing Like a Dental Practice and Start Marketing Like a Wellness Brand (If you read any part of this, read this part)
Dental practices are still, for the most part, selling procedures.
“We do implants.”
“We offer whitening.”
“We do checkups and cleanings.”
But look at how actual wellness brands market.
They don’t sell the service – they sell identity, transformation, and belonging.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your patients don’t care about dentistry.
They care about what it does for them – how it helps them sleep better, live longer, feel more confident, eat what they love, or show up better in their relationships.
And that’s what most practices are missing.
What Wellness Brands Do (That You Should Be Doing)
1. They Sell a Lifestyle, Not a Treatment
Peloton never sold bikes. They sold motivation, transformation, and a community of people getting stronger together.
You’re not selling a filling – you’re giving someone the ability to eat without pain, speak with confidence, and age with their dignity intact. That’s the lifestyle.
Shift your message from:
“We place dental implants.”
To:
“You deserve to chew, smile, and live without compromise.”
2. They Build Personal Brands Around Trust
Why are patients obsessed with doctors on podcasts?
Because they’re human, passionate, and educational. They talk like real people, and they believe in what they do.
Your practice’s most powerful marketing asset isn’t your technology.
It’s your face. Your voice. Your story.
So show up on video. Talk about the links between oral and systemic health. Be the local voice that patients trust before they ever Google another dentist.
3. They Create a Culture – Not Just a Clinic
People join CrossFit classes, meditation apps, or wellness clubs because they want to be around something bigger than themselves.
So what if your practice was that?
What if new patients felt like they were entering a health movement?
What if your hygiene plan felt like a membership in something that protected their future?
What if your staff sounded like health coaches, not just receptionists and hygienists?
You’re not just fixing teeth. You’re building a culture of vitality.
Groundbreaking Thought:
Stop trying to “fit in” with the dental industry – start stealing from the brands that patients actually follow, trust, and buy from every day.
Copy how they talk.
Mirror their energy.
Align your mission with theirs: long-term health, high performance, and a better life.
Once you do that, you’re not just a dentist in your town anymore.
You’re a wellness leader with a purpose.
And that changes everything.
The final word
People are tracking everything now – sleep, steps, macros, mental health. They’ll invest in therapy, supplements, saunas, even smart water bottles.
But the part of their body that’s literally the gateway to all of it? Still treated like an afterthought.
It’s not their fault. No one’s told the story well.
But that’s your opportunity. To be the practice that makes it click. To take your spot at the table in the wellness world. To show people that dentistry isn’t just about teeth, it’s about how they live, age, sleep, and function.
And if you’re not doing it, some other practice will.
Let’s look just one, quick example.
We’ve found an example from Headspace, who capture the wellness feel very well. Headspace sell a subscription meditation model. Sound fancy, right? It’s a person, whispering a script into a mic and uploading the audio file to a server. But to the consumer, it’s a new start, it’s peace, it’s a new bed-time ritual. They make it look like an out of the box product, an answer to their prayers. They’re paying x amount per month, for an mp3 file.
We’ve quickly put together an example of how dentistry can capture that look, spark that emotion and tap into wellness with some annotations to explain how simply this can be done. The same can be applied for ads, newsletters, even your practice’s decor.
Headspace
Here’s Headspace’s hero section of their website. Their first impression. They make an audi0 mp3 file for £10.00 per month look like an all-in-one, out the box solution to your problems. (It is a good app in fairness, I’ve used it – just not enough to warrant paying for it)
Our Mockup
Here’s our very quick mockup of how you can apply that for a dental practice. Non clinical talk, holistic solutions talk. Selling as an all-in-one answer to there prayers (most practices offer everything) and making it feel like a movement, rather than a medical practice.
Heads up: We’re looking for ONE practice to implement this strategy with.
We want to work with just one practice, to provide a real-life case study on how well this will work. I’m not talking, turn your practice of 20 years establishment into a wellness retreat centre, but to fun a few ad campaigns and build a few landing pages around this ethos. Ideally, we’re looking for a practice that already markets via paid ads. So we can compare A/B testing results for our case-study. And before you ask, yesssssss – as it benefits us – we’ll sweeten the deal with some special rates.
My name is Kieran, I have been running Wise, our dental marketing agency for 7 year and have a strong interest in dental biology & anatomy and how it can be used to educate patients to make an informed decision.
