What Do Chicken Sandwiches Have to Do With Dentistry?

This article originally appeared in August/2026 on DentistryToday.com.

Chick-fil-A’s Secret to Success

The fast food chain stands out in a crowded field, consistently ranking at the top for customer satisfaction. The secret to the chain’s success isn’t that it continuously pumps out chicken sandwiches and waffle fries to as many diners as possible. While its sales are certainly impressive, as the third-largest fast food chain in the U.S., Chick-fil-A has built its brand on consistency.

The Chick-fil-A Experience

Chick-fil-A is unique among its peers. Even though it’s a fast food franchise, the customer service is famously cheerful and personal. That’s because, at all levels, Chick-fil-A prioritizes not only efficiency and innovation but also a predictable dining experience.

According to Food Republic (foodrepublic.com), franchise owners must work on-site as managers, which fosters a sense of propriety and connection with patrons as well as employees. The corporation also encourages community involvement and outreach initiatives to ensure that each location is invested in the neighborhood it serves. Because each location embraces similar values, turnover remains low and customer satisfaction high — two things you wouldn’t expect from a fast food chain. In fact, until as recently as June 2026, Chick-fil-A was the top-rated quick-service restaurant for 11 years in a row.

What We Can Learn from Fast Food

Anyone can make a tasty chicken sandwich, but it takes genuine intent to be the customers’ number-one pick for 11 consecutive years. And that’s a good lesson for dental practices looking to win and retain quality patients.

Chick-fil-A is known for exceptional customer service, the most important element in creating the dependability customers have come to expect. It starts with what the restaurant calls the “Core Four”: 1. make eye contact, 2. smile, 3. speak enthusiastically, 4. stay connected. It seems simple, but for many service-based businesses, including dentistry, these customer service basics aren’t always present.

Five to Thrive

In dental practice, applying the principles Chick-fil-A espouses means outlining the fundamentals every patient can count on every time they interact with your team, whether that’s in person, on the phone, or online. The practices thriving today are doing these five things consistently:

1. Answer phones and return calls promptly — It seems obvious, but it’s obviously not because it’s a top complaint among prospective patients. In many cases, the person reaches out via an online request form or leaves a voicemail at the practice, only to be ghosted.

A person who takes time out of their day to contact a dental practice is genuinely interested in what that practice has to offer. If no one from the practice is responsible for responding to incoming calls, messages, and requests for information, those prospective patients (i.e., leads) will move on, and quickly.

The patient-practice relationship starts the moment the patient reaches out — before they set foot in the office. Not answering the phone, returning their call, or responding to their inquiry sends a very distinct message: we don’t need your business. That’s the opposite of the Chick-fil-A mentality, where every customer is valuable and deserves the utmost respect and attention.

Starting out on the right foot is paramount to creating a consistent, positive patient experience.

2. Create a pleasant environment — Patients are usually less than excited to visit the dentist, and when they’re met with equally unexcited faces, it only validates their feelings. Most dental practices want returning patients rather than one-timers. Giving patients a reason to return means treating them with kindness, warmth, and compassion. However, that’s not all.

Team members who interact with employees are quite literally the face of the practice. If their faces say, “We’re too busy,” or “We’re stressed,” or “We’re distracted,” patients will not feel welcome or wanted. And no one wants to do business in a place where they’re unwanted, especially if they’re nervous about being there in the first place, as is the case with many dental patients.

For that Chick-fil-A feel, staff should smile with patients, in person and on the phone, greet them when they arrive, thank them when they leave, give them their full attention, actively listen to their questions and concerns, and be willing to help. Simply being kind, courteous, and friendly can break down barriers and calm frazzled nerves. Patients remember how they’re treated and will spread the word to others.

3. Follow up — A busy dental practice can see upwards of 40 patients a day. Between keeping patient rooms clean and stocked, processing insurance forms, answering phones, handling daily administrative duties, and more, it may be difficult to keep up. But think of it this way: As a dental professional, you may see 30 patients in a single day, but those patients only have one dental appointment, and it may be the only one they’ll have for several months. While you may not recall every patient’s face and name, it’s almost certain they know yours.

Dental appointments make an impression (no pun intended) on patients. For some, it’s a stressful experience. For others, it can even be frightening. Wouldn’t it be nice for those patients to know that they matter even when they’re not physically there? A follow-up phone call would do just that, especially after a major procedure or a particularly tense visit.

It’s not just the patients who visit who deserve a follow-up call. Those who have been delaying treatment or who call to inquire about cosmetic treatments but don’t schedule an appointment should also receive calls. They may be on the fence and have more questions, or they may have gotten busy and need a reminder. No matter the reason, following up shows you care.

4. Communicate clearly — Dentistry is a complex medical specialty. It takes years of schooling and specialized training to learn all the terminology and techniques. Most patients aren’t dental professionals and aren’t trained in biology, anatomy, or chemistry. They may be intimidated by the technology, instruments, and medical terms or simply nervous because they’re in a dentist’s chair. They may tell you they understand what you say to them even when they don’t.

In a clinical setting, it’s easy to get caught up in the routine of treating patients and speaking to equally knowledgeable colleagues without considering that what you’re saying may be going right over the patient’s head. That’s why it’s important to meet patients where they are and communicate with clear language that the average person can understand, to avoid frightening patients or, in some cases, failing to get through to them when there’s a need for treatment.

Applying the Chick-fil-A philosophy, it’s important to stay connected to patients. Connection means keeping the patient engaged during their appointment by showing, rather than merely telling, encouraging questions, and checking in to ensure they understand their treatment options and timeline. That connection increases the likelihood that the patient will follow through with their treatment next steps.

5. Ask for reviews — At this point, we’re all accustomed to seeing reviews for just about every type of business and service there is, including dental practices. In fact, many patients have already read a practice’s reviews before they ever make contact. If you want to ensure that the reviews prospective patients see remain relevant and up to date, you need to solicit feedback from your current patients.

Not only do reviews tell people whether your patients like you, but they also tell the world what kind of practice yours is. And it’s quite possible that a potential patient’s decision to schedule an appointment could hinge on the number of recent reviews they see.

Just like with a hotel or restaurant, if the most recent review is more than a year old, it raises questions about quality, among other things. Recent reviews tell potential patients that what they’re reading reflects what they can expect if they were to schedule an appointment next week, giving them a reliable sense of the patient experience at your practice, just like Chick-fil-A provides a reliable dining experience day after day after day.

For every private dental practice, great service matters just as much as it does for the third-largest fast food chain in the country. By creating a consistent patient experience every day with every interaction and at every touchpoint, you open the door to attracting more high-quality patients and achieving sustainable long-term growth.