Consumer Guide to Dentistry experienced its second record-setting traffic quarter of 2010. The largest traffic spike occurred in September, the same month as the introduction of Google Instant.

In the third quarter of 2010, Consumer Guide to Dentistry served approximately 450,000 unique visitors, a 40 percent increase over the third quarter of 2009, according to Google Analytics. More than 92 percent of visits were generated from search engines (75 percent of which deriving from Google search) – an indication that the site’s audience is comprised of highly targeted dental consumers.

Online publishers were unsure how the introduction of Google Instant would affect traffic to larger educational portals like Consumer Guide to Dentistry. Traffic growth for this site appears to have benefited from the updated Google search feature.

“It is more than mere coincidence that Consumer Guide to Dentistry had its biggest traffic month of all time in September, the same month that Google Instant launched,” said David Evans, Ph.D., CEO of Ceatus Media Group. “Our dentistry publication is the most comprehensive consumer oral health site online, and Google Instant’s response has further emphasized this.”

Google Instant is a search enhancement designed to provide users with better, faster search results. Rather than inputting a query and hitting “search,” Google Instant allows users to view search results in real time, as words are typed into the search box. More important than the estimated two to five seconds this saves per search is the fact that it helps users refine their searches through smart predictions that adjust to every keystroke.

Google Instant also refines the search process by providing long-tail suggestions that help consumers pinpoint the exact nature of their search. Consumer Guide to Dentistry’s dominant placement on Google for both core and long-tail search means that dental consumers have even more ways to access the comprehensive oral health publication.

Consumer Guide to Dentistry is produced by Ceatus Media Group, an online publisher of consumer health information portals. Accredited by the Health on the Net Foundation, the site’s 150+ pages of up-to-date, dentist-reviewed content includes articles on an array of oral health topics, including veneers, teeth whitening, dental insurance plans, TMJ symptoms, tooth extraction and more.

Consumer Guide to Dentistry surpassed one million visitors served for the year on July 18, eclipsing the traffic milestone more than two months earlier than in 2009, when the site served its one millionth visitor on September 21. The growth reflects significant updates over the last year, notably the addition of a wide variety of new topic areas and the expansion of topics already covered within the site. For example, three new whitening articles ― Lumibrite teeth whitening, Dash teeth whitening and tooth discoloration ― have been added to further enhance the site’s most robust section. In addition, all cost information has been updated to reflect the most current information, and search engine positioning has improved significantly across the board for popular consumer search terms such as TMJ treatment, wisdom tooth extraction, find a local dentist and dental braces.

Consumer Guide to Dentistry expects to welcome more than 1.9 million visitors in 2010, a 32 percent increase over 2009.

Consumer Guide to Dentistry continues to expand its comprehensive coverage of all things oral health and dentistry with the recent introduction of two new articles: Lumibrite Whitening: Illuminate Your Smile; and OraVerse: Reverse Numbness after Dental Procedures.

Lumibrite is a professional, chairside whitening option formulated with 35 percent hydrogen peroxide than can be used with or without a light enhancer (Sapphire Supreme Light). Treatment time and cost of Lumibrite whitening is comparable with other in-office whiteners such as Zoom, Opalescence and Britesmile whitening.

OraVerse is a patented form of phentolamine mesylate and the first and only product proven to reverse the numbing effect of local anesthetics. Developed by Novalar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the OraVerse injection (or reversal agent) is administered immediately following a dental procedure such as veneers, fillings or root canal. Normal sensation returns quicker to patients treated with OraVerse, allowing them to get on with their day quicker and more effectively.