Among the orthodontists someone searching in Berkeley, CA is shown, the three owners we can name for answering reviews are answering nearly every one. Aubrey Barrett Orthodontics answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, Alameda Orthodontics answered 10 of 10, and The Orthodontic Center answered 9 of 10. We read 20 orthodontists in this catchment, and those three are the only ones the figures let us name; nothing here describes how the others handle replies.
Among the dentists we read, the three named figures cover a wider span. Channing Dental answered 10 of its last 10. Your Dental Story - Berkeley Dentist answered 7 of 10. North Berkeley Dental Arts answered 3 of 10. Those are counts of the most recent handful of reviews on each listing, not of everything the practice has ever received.
The listings themselves are a different measure, covering each business's whole review history. The median dentist we read carries 194.5 Google reviews; the most-reviewed dentists carry 756, 576 and 499. The listing at 756 is Your Dental Story - Berkeley Dentist, so the most-reviewed dentist in this read is also one of the three named for replying. Channing Dental's listing holds 414 reviews and North Berkeley Dental Arts' holds 313. The orthodontists carry smaller listings: the median orthodontist we read has 39.5 reviews, and the most-reviewed have 211, 156 and 143. The Orthodontic Center is the one at 156, Aubrey Barrett Orthodontics carries 142 and Alameda Orthodontics 98.
The median rating is 4.85 for the dentists we read and 4.95 for the orthodontists. A median is one number and says nothing about how any single practice is rated. What we do record, practice by practice, is whether the owner wrote back. A reply is the one part of a listing the practice writes itself.
What to do about it
Go to your Google listing and count your replies under your last 10 reviews. It is the same count behind each reply figure above. The benchmark measured here is 70%, taken across 46 businesses; that figure is measured across all trades together, not dental practices alone.
If you run an orthodontic practice, the named orthodontists answered 10, 10 and 9 of their last 10, so that is the figure to put yours beside. If you run a general dental practice, Channing Dental answered 10 of 10. Answer each new review, including the short five-star ones, with a sentence of thanks that fits what the reviewer actually wrote. Keep every reply free of treatment details and of anything that confirms the reviewer is a patient; thank them for the kind words and leave the clinical side out. Then count again after your next 10 reviews.
Dentists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channing Dental | 10 of 10 | 414 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Your Dental Story - Berkeley Dentist | 7 of 10 | 756 | 4.9 |
| 3 | North Berkeley Dental Arts | 3 of 10 | 313 | 4.9 |
Orthodontists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aubrey Barrett Orthodontics | 10 of 10 | 142 | 5 |
| 2 | Alameda Orthodontics | 10 of 10 | 98 | 5 |
| 3 | The Orthodontic Center | 9 of 10 | 156 | 4.8 |