Launching a membership program raises one practical question above all: how should you structure the plans? This article is part of our series on membership segmentation — each guide takes a different way to organise your plans and shows you how to set it up inside SmilePass, step by step. Here we look at a hygienist-led plan: preventive care delivered by your hygienist or oral health therapist, at a lower price point. For the full menu of approaches, see our main guide, Example Dental Membership Plans.
What you are building
A preventive plan built around hygiene visits — cleans, oral hygiene advice, fluoride and sealants — within your hygienist's scope of practice. It does not include dentist treatment like fillings; members simply get the standard member discount on that.
Hygiene Essential $5/wk | Hygiene Plus $7/wk ★ | Hygiene Intensive $10/wk | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best for | Healthy mouths, regular cleans | Prevention + maintenance | Periodontal maintenance |
Scale & clean (114) | 2/yr | 3/yr | 4/yr |
OHI (141) | 2/yr | 3/yr | 4/yr |
Fluoride (121) | 1/yr | 2/yr | 2/yr |
Fissure sealants (161) | — | as needed | as needed |
Perio maintenance | — | — | ✓ (within cleans) |
Oral-cancer screen | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Treatment discount | up to 10%* | up to 10%* | up to 10%* |
Numbers are examples — set your own inclusions and pricing.
Who is each plan for?
Hygiene Essential — healthy patients who simply want regular professional cleans and advice.
Hygiene Plus — patients who need a little more prevention: extra cleans, fluoride, and sealants for younger mouths.
Hygiene Intensive — patients on periodontal maintenance who need frequent cleans to stay stable.
Before you start
Keep every inclusion within your hygienist's or oral health therapist's scope of practice, and make sure your usual dentist-examination arrangements still apply so the plan stays compliant. Set up your two price lists — standard and member — so the discount is simply the gap between them, at a percentage you choose. Decide clearly that dentist treatment such as fillings and extractions is not included; members get the member discount on it.
Step by step in SmilePass
Open the builder. Go to Settings then Membership Builder.
Create the first hygiene tier. Click Create New Plan, or start from a template and rename it.
Fill in the Profile tab. Name it (for example, Hygiene Essential), choose the Location, add a short description, and set the price under the right frequency.
Add inclusions on the Benefits tab. List the hygiene services as lines — "2x Dental cleans", "Oral hygiene advice", "Fluoride", "Fissure sealants as needed" — keeping everything within scope.
Set conditions on the Terms tab. Note the waiting period, that dentist treatment is not included, and that the member discount applies through your member price list.
Save, then repeat for Hygiene Plus and Hygiene Intensive, increasing the number of cleans.
Open each tier for sign-ups. Switch "Accept New Members" on.
Enrol patients onto the matching tier. Add a member (Membership then Add New Member), pick the right tier, and move them later via the Patient list Actions menu as their needs change.
Tips and common mistakes
Stay within scope. Only include services your hygienist or oral health therapist can legally provide.
Keep the dentist exam in the loop. Make sure required examinations still happen on schedule.
Use it to fill the hygiene book. Pitch it to price-sensitive, prevention-focused patients.
Make the discount path clear. Members still see the dentist at a member rate for anything beyond hygiene.
Frequently asked questions
Does a hygienist plan include fillings or other dentist treatment?
No. It covers preventive care within the hygienist's scope. Members get the standard member discount on dentist treatment.
Where do I create the plan in SmilePass?
Settings then Membership Builder — build one plan per hygiene tier.
How does the member discount actually work?
Through two price lists — standard and member. Members are billed from the member list; the difference is the discount, and you set the percentage.
Written by Cristian Dunker, BDS, dentist (oral rehabilitation), with MBAs in Marketing (Sociesc-Brazil), Project Management (FGV-Brazil) and Finance (Bond - QLD).
