Digital marketing in dentistry and ethical implications

Abstract

With the increase of competition in the market of dental services, it is necessary to use marketing tools that emphasize the dental surgeon and dental clinics. Digital marketing is one of the fastest growing available resources among health professionals, who use websites and social networks as a means of communication, advertisement and publicity. The objective of this literature review was to compare the digital marketing with other marketing strategies in dentistry based on the code of ethics, in order to increase productivity, capture new patients and loyalty of those in treatment. Indexed searches were carried out in the databases LILACS, MEDLINE, SCIELO, BIREME, PORTAL CAPES and included 27 articles, published between 1998 and 2017. It was concluded that digital marketing has shown to be of great importance in the dental services market, if in conjunction with the other types of external and internal marketing, as long as it obeys the ethical precepts of the Dental Ethics Board.