Marketing for dental
Marketing for dental practices: what works, what it costs, and when
A dental practice fills its chairs from two places: the patients it already has, and the search a new patient runs in January when benefits reset. The recall system is the marketing that pays first. Then the Business Profile and the review wall, with the HIPAA line respected. Then search ads on the specific services, implants, aligners, emergency visits, that a practice wants more of.
Dental marketing ideas, sorted by cost
The free ones first. Most shops that fix the first four never need to buy the rest.
Free
Answer every call, and text back the ones you miss
The first shop to answer usually wins. A missed call is the most expensive leak in the trade, and fixing it costs no media.
Finish your Google Business Profile
Every service listed, real photos of real jobs, hours that are true, and a reply to every review within a day.
Ask for the review while you are still on the driveway
The customer who just paid is the one who says yes. Ask in person, then text the link before you leave.
Track where every job came from
One question at booking, written down every time. In three months you know which spend to cut and which to double.
Recall every patient who is overdue, by text
Six-month hygiene, unfinished treatment plans. The patient you already have is the cheapest new appointment.
Use-your-benefits messages in November
To every patient with unfinished treatment. December fills from this one message.
Reply to every review without confirming anyone is a patient
A reply that says "thanks for visiting us" is a disclosure under HIPAA. Thank them for the feedback and stop there.
Under $500 a month
Google Local Services Ads
Pay per lead, exclusive to you, above the search results with a Google Guaranteed badge. Verification takes weeks, so start early.
A missed-call text-back that actually sends
Under $400 a month from most vendors. The catch is A2P carrier registration, which takes weeks and can be rejected.
Online booking that shows real openings
A request form is a phone call in disguise. A calendar with real slots books the patient at 10pm.
Over $500 a month
Search ads on the jobs you want more of
After Local Services Ads, on the searches they do not cover. Budget on your own card, management fee separate, reported in booked jobs.
A website that loads fast and books a job in two taps
Not a brochure. Phone number, service area, reviews and a booking button above the fold on a phone.
Search ads on services, not on the practice
Implants, aligners, emergency dentist, with your neighbourhood. A new patient searches the problem, not your name.
The dental slow season, and what to do in it
Our own working calendar for US practices, not a study. Insurance rules move the dates; the shape holds.
January
Benefits reset. The biggest wave of new-patient searches in the year.
Business Profile, reviews and online booking current in December. This is the month a new practice is found.
November to December
Use-your-benefits. The best-converting dental campaign in the US calendar, and it goes to your own list.
One message in early November to every patient with unfinished treatment or unused benefits.
Summer
Families schedule before school. Aligner and cosmetic enquiries rise before events.
Back-to-school hygiene reminders to families; aligner content and ads from May.
The HIPAA line every dental marketer trips on
Replying to a review with "thanks for coming in" confirms that person is a patient, and that is protected health information. So is a testimonial that names a procedure without written authorisation, and so is a marketing text that mentions treatment. The safe reply thanks the reviewer for the feedback and invites them to call; it never confirms the visit. An agency that does not know this is a liability, not a vendor.
Recall before acquisition
A practice with a thousand charts has hundreds of overdue hygiene visits and dozens of unfinished treatment plans. That is more production than any ad campaign buys, and it costs a text. Measure marketing by chairs filled, and count recall first.
Questions to ask a dental marketing agency
1. What number do you report, and who counts it?
The answer that should worry you: Leads, calls or impressions. A lead is not a job. Ask for booked jobs and cost per booked job, from your own books.
2. Does my ad budget go on my card or through your invoice?
The answer that should worry you: Through theirs, with the markup unstated. The fee and the spend should never blur.
3. Who owns the ad account, the pixel and the landing pages when we part?
The answer that should worry you: A vague answer. Get the ownership of what they build and what you brought in writing before you sign, not at offboarding.
4. What happens in week three?
The answer that should worry you: A monthly report. That is a subscription, not a service. Ask who touches the account each week and what they do.
5. Show me a client in my trade, not in home services.
The answer that should worry you: A case study from a different trade. HVAC is not roofing is not dental, and an agency that says otherwise has not run one of yours.
6. What is the contract length and how do I leave?
The answer that should worry you: Twelve months with a build fee you forfeit. A short term with a real notice period is what a confident agency offers.
Want this worked out on your own numbers?
A free consultation, and a straight answer on whether we are a fit, including no.
Straight answers
Dental owners ask
How do dental practices get more patients?
Recall the overdue ones first, message unused benefits in November, keep the Business Profile and reviews current for the January wave, offer real online booking, and run search ads on specific services.
What is the HIPAA problem with review replies?
A reply that confirms someone is a patient discloses protected health information. Thank them for the feedback and invite them to call; never confirm the visit or the treatment.
How much does a dental website cost?
Published agency figures run from a $12,000 standard build split over a year to custom sites well above that, sourced above. The price matters less than whether it books a patient at 10pm.
When is the best time for dental marketing?
Be ready in December for the January benefits reset, and send the use-your-benefits message in early November.
Sources
- 1.r/agency and r/gohighlevel practitioner threads, our own pricing review · read 2026-09-02
- 2.Four vendor pricing pages plus eight practitioner threads, our own pricing review · read 2026-09-02
- 3.hookagency.com, own pricing page · read 2026-09-02
- 4.Practitioner threads on r/PPC, our own pricing review · read 2026-09-02
- 5.r/agency, agency owner's own post, 2025-12-27 · read 2026-09-02
- 6.Vendor pricing pages · read 2026-09-02
- 7.callrail.com, own pricing page · read 2026-09-02