Of the 20 dental practices we read among the businesses someone searching in Milwaukee, WI is shown, Lake Park Dental had replied to all 10 of its most recent reviews. Its listing holds 355 reviews. Two more of the practices we read had answered 6 of their last 10: Centre For Exceptional Dentistry, on a listing of 499 reviews, and Downtown Dental Group, on 465.
We read 20 orthodontists in the same catchment. Ferri Orthodontics had answered 8 of its 10 most recent reviews, on a listing of 354. Downtown Dental Group appears in this set too, again at 6 of 10. The third practice on the orthodontic list, Ortho Smiles - Milwaukee, had answered 2 of its last 10, on a listing of 396 reviews.
The two trades sit at different depths. The median dental listing we read carries 97 reviews; the median orthodontic listing carries 195. The three heaviest dental listings hold 499, 465 and 439 reviews, and the three heaviest orthodontic listings hold 798, 470 and 465. Median rating is 4.9 in both trades. Those counts and ratings describe each listing's full history, while the reply figures above describe only the last 10 reviews on each of those listings — two different windows, and they say different things.
Put together, the picture is not one of thin listings or weak ratings. Lake Park Dental carries 355 reviews and a reply on all 10 of its most recent; Centre For Exceptional Dentistry carries 499 and a reply on 6 of its most recent. Between those two listings the review count is not what a patient sees a difference in — whether the practice wrote anything back is. Across the 56 businesses we measured in this catchment, a typical one had answered 66% of its recent reviews, so replying is neither rare nor universal here. Lake Park Dental at 10 of 10 and Ferri Orthodontics at 8 of 10 sit above that share. Among the practices named on this page, the reply figure does not track the size of the listing: Ferri Orthodontics answered 8 of its last 10 on a listing of 354 reviews, and Ortho Smiles - Milwaukee answered 2 of its last 10 on a listing of 396.
What to do about it
Your review count is probably not the gap. The median dental listing we read holds 97 reviews and the median orthodontic listing holds 195, and the median rating in both is 4.9. What separates the listings we measured is replies: Lake Park Dental answered 10 of its last 10 and Ferri Orthodontics 8 of 10, against a typical measured business here answering 66% of its recent reviews.
So treat replies as a standing job rather than something you do when a review stings. Every new review gets a response, written by someone in the practice, in your own words. Answer the good ones as well as the difficult ones; a patient reading the page sees which reviews got a name attached and which were left alone, and that pattern is easy to read from the outside. Start with what is on the page now, then hold the habit going forward.
Dentists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Park Dental | 10 of 10 | 355 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Centre For Exceptional Dentistry | 6 of 10 | 499 | 4.9 |
| 3 | Downtown Dental Group | 6 of 10 | 465 | 4.9 |
Orthodontists
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferri Orthodontics | 8 of 10 | 354 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Downtown Dental Group | 6 of 10 | 465 | 4.9 |
| 3 | Ortho Smiles - Milwaukee | 2 of 10 | 396 | 5 |