The name of your dental practice holds within it your business identity. It’s your brand. Does it need to be catchy? If so, how do you come up with something catchy? How do you convey trust and professionalism? Where do you start? How do you know if it’s right? There are several important factors to weigh when choosing a dental practice name. Doing it right means finding the right name to reflect your unique practice.
What Is a Practice Name?
Your dental practice name is not only how you introduce your practice to the world but also what carries it through the years ahead. It forms the foundation where you build:
- Successful brand recognition
- Robust marketing campaigns
- An identity as a quality oral health care provider
- A place that differentiates you from the competition
The goal when choosing a dental practice name is to create a strong foundation for these things to grow. You want potential patients to know immediately what it is you do. You want to convey your credibility and expertise as a quality oral health care provider. You need something unique enough, so an online search does not return hundreds of practices with the same name. You want a memorable name, but not something so catchy that it appears unprofessional.
Reasons for Choosing a Dental Practice Name
How you go about choosing a dental practice name may be influenced by why you need one. You may have recently purchased an existing practice and want to make it your own. You may be opening a new practice and need a new name. You may be looking to rebrand your existing practice after a service expansion or bringing on a new partner. Weighing these factors is essential as you focus your attention on choosing a dental practice name.
Brainstorming and Wordsmithing Dental Business Name Ideas
Simply put, choosing a dental practice name is about finding the right words to convey the right meaning. Brainstorming potential creative dental practice names starts with words. These words fall into different categories.
Dental Words
Use some combination of dentist, dentistry, or dental. Often paired with care, practice, clinic, or office. It can include a specialty such as orthodontics or endodontics.
Descriptive Words
Describe the type of results or care a patient receives. Includes shiny, dazzle, gentle, happy, luminous, bright, or quality.
Nouns with Meaning
There are plenty of names of dental companies that incorporate “smile” or “teeth.” These words convey meaning about what a dentist does. Other such words are grin, braces, tooth, solution, bite, ivory, pearl, diamond, care, or health.
Focus Words
Specify more clearly who you serve in your practice or a special service you provide. Includes family, kids, teeth whitening, pediatric, or cosmetic.
Wordsmithing includes generating ideas for rhyming, alliteration, or a play on words. Using a business name generator can also help to brainstorm unique dental practice names.
Naming Conventions for Choosing a Dental Practice Name
When thinking of dental practice names, certain naming conventions come into play. Each one has pros and cons to weigh in your search for dental business names.
Your Surname
Using your surname or your surname with DDS is a traditional naming convention. It is often used if your family is known to be connected to dentistry in your area. It can also be a choice if you are looking to build a family legacy. The benefits however may not outweigh the drawbacks, including:
- A longer time to build your brand
- Insufficient searchability
- A lack of memorability
- Too hard to spell or pronounce
Communicates Meaning
Choosing a dental practice name that communicates meaning helps future patients know at a glance what you provide. If you focus on family dentistry, use family in the name. If you provide cosmetic procedures, use cosmetic in the name. The pitfall is that it can make it difficult to differentiate your practice from the competition. Pairing it with something more unique and creative can help you stand out.
Conveys Feelings
Patients often associate ideas of pain, anxiety, cost, or fear with dental visits. One naming convention is to meet these negative feelings with more positive ones. Use a welcoming name that evokes warm emotions and an understanding of patients’ needs. The trick is to not get too obscure or creative that your meaning gets lost.
Your Location
Your city or town, your neighborhood, or a local landmark or park can be used to identify your practice within your community. This common convention can be advantageous with local keyword searches and pinpoint your service area, making you easy to find. It may however undermine your ability to be unique enough to rise above the competition.
Conceptualizing Your Dental Practice Name
Maybe you have no shortage of dental clinic name ideas but have no idea how to narrow it down to the best one. Perhaps you have come up with a dental practice name but are not sure if it will work as well as you want. Before choosing a dental practice name, weigh a few more considerations.
Make It You
Your dental practice name will be everywhere. It should embody your values and philosophy. It should take your goals and vision for your practice into consideration. You don’t want a clever name that does not speak to potential patients about who you are as a dentist.
Know Your Target Audience
The best dental practice names resonate with the audience they are trying to reach. The tone of your dental practice name should speak to your target audience. If it is pediatric, then it should be fun and friendly. If it is cosmetic, it should be low-key and elegant. If it is family, it should be reliable and trustworthy. Building a brand means knowing who your audience is and what appeals to them. Great dental practice names speak directly to their target audience.
Think Your Logo
Your logo is a part of your branding too. Your name and your logo will work together to communicate with your potential patients. A memorable name with a memorable logo equals a memorable brand.
Stand out
Standing out from the competition means being unique from what is already in your area. You don’t want potential patients to mix you up with another practice nearby. When a patient searches for you and finds your competitor, you have a problem. Do your research to know what else is in your community.
Make It Memorable
Great dental practice names are memorable and clear at a glance. When someone sees your practice name, you want them to think “dentist” without hesitation and then remember they saw it. You want people who need a dentist to say, “oh, I remember that one.” You want “that one” to be you.
Do Your Research
For both reasons of legality and branding, you want to make sure your dental practice name is not already taken. Do your research ahead of time. Google search the name and see what comes up. Check the business database in your state and the county recorder’s office. Search the US Patent and Trademark database.
Feelings Matter
First impressions are real. When choosing your dental practice name, focus on making a good one. You want to convey an image that communicates the brand you want before a patient enters your dental office. Emotional influence matters.
- Is it meaningful?
- Is it warm and positive?
- Does it build trust?
Check the Domain
Do your research to make sure a suitable domain name is available for your dental practice name. You want to claim the best possible domain name for your dental website. You want a single identity from your physical signage to your online presence. You do not want your name to be confused online with another practice nearby.
How Do You Say That?
Dental practice names that make an impression can help build a quality brand, but make sure it is easy to:
- Pronounce immediately
- Type in a browser
- Spell right away
- Say out loud
Keep It Clear
Good dental practice names convey meaning in as few words as possible. Leave the guesswork out. Short and sweet is the name of the game when choosing a dental practice name. Keep it to no more than 3 or 4 words. Use a tagline if you need more detail.
A Sign Says It All
Your dental practice name will be seen everywhere. Think about how it will look on:
- A sign on a street corner
- Your business card
- Your website
- Your brochure
Clarify Your Name
Your dental practice name forms the foundation of your practice. It communicates your brand identity, influences your marketing, and helps differentiate you from the competition. Choosing a dental practice name that communicates the quality of dental care you provide for your patients is vital. Clarifying your name means clarifying who you are and the path for a successful career.
