A dental practice sells two different things. Check-ups, hygiene and emergency visits are routine and local: people pick a nearby practice with good reviews and an appointment this week. Implants, clear aligners, veneers and whitening are considered purchases worth thousands, researched for weeks and usually decided at a consultation. As a digital marketing agency for dentists, we treat those as separate jobs, with local search and reviews for routine care, and campaigns, treatment pages and follow-up for the treatments that carry the practice's margin.
- For general, cosmetic and mixed dental practices in the US and UK, independent or in small groups.
- A separate campaign, budget and landing page for each high-value treatment.
- Follow-up from inquiry to consultation to accepted treatment plan, where most of the value slips away.
- Ads or SEO management runs $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month. Treatment pages and websites run $1,200-$15,000, fixed price.
Why dental marketing stalls
- Whitening inquiries pour in, implant cases don't. Every treatment shares one campaign, so the cheapest offer soaks up the budget.
- Consultations happen, treatment plans stall. Nobody follows up, so the plan sits in an inbox while the patient gets a second opinion.
- Calls from people who wanted NHS or insurance-covered care. Ads and pages that don't say what kind of practice you are, or roughly what a treatment costs.
- Rejected ads and nervous compliance checks. Copy that names prescription-only medicines, or specialist titles the dentist isn't entitled to.
Routine care and big treatments need different marketing
| Treatment | How patients choose | What we run | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check-ups and hygiene | A nearby practice with good reviews and an appointment soon | Google Business Profile, reviews, location pages | New patients booked |
| Emergency appointments | Fast, on a phone, often out of hours | Google search and call ads during opening hours | Calls answered and booked |
| Implants | Weeks of research on price, finance and the dentist | Google search, Facebook ads, a treatment page with finance | Consultations booked, plans accepted |
| Aligners and cosmetic | Visual, social and compared on price | Facebook and Instagram video, a smile assessment offer | Assessments booked, treatments started |
The split matters for budget as much as for message. An implant case can be worth many times a whitening course, so it can carry a far higher cost per inquiry, and it needs a budget of its own to prove it. How much to spend on Facebook ads works the sum through for a dental practice.
What we do for dental practices
- Facebook ads for local businesses. You want more aligner, whitening or cosmetic consultations from people nearby who aren't searching yet.
- Google Ads for local businesses. People already search for implants or an emergency dentist in your area.
- Local SEO. You need more new patient registrations, and the map results and reviews decide where they go.
- Landing page design. Each treatment needs a page with a price, finance, the dentist and a consultation slot.
- AI marketing automation. Treatment plans go quiet after the consultation, and follow-up depends on reception remembering.
From inquiry to accepted treatment plan
One campaign per treatment
Implants, aligners, cosmetic and emergency work each get their own budget and ads, so you can see which treatment pays and none starves the others.
A page for each treatment
A starting price, finance options, who carries out the treatment and their registration, what the consultation involves, and whether it's private or NHS care.
A consultation people can book
An online slot, or a call back within minutes, then a confirmation and a reminder the day before with a link to reschedule rather than skip.
Follow-up on the treatment plan
A written plan the same day, then a call, a clear answer on finance, and two or three more contacts over the next two weeks. Plans with no follow-up go cold while the patient compares quotes.
Send outcomes back to the ad platforms
A neutral consultation-booked event, and later a plan-accepted event with a value, sent from your server with no clinical details. Our Conversions API guide covers the setup.
Report by treatment
Cost per consultation and per accepted plan for each treatment, every week, set against what a case is worth.
The rules for dental advertising
In the UK, the GDC's guidance on advertising says practice publicity must be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and must make clear whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private. A practice website has to show each dentist's qualification, the country it was gained in and their GDC number, and only dentists on a GDC specialist list can call themselves specialists. Standard 1.3.3 of the Standards for the Dental Team adds that advertising must be accurate and not misleading. The GDC consulted until 31 August 2026 on replacing those standards, so check for changes.
Botox and other botulinum toxin products are prescription-only, so the ASA's advice on botulinum toxin rules out naming them in ads to the public, while a consultation for lines and wrinkles can be promoted. Before-and-after photos fall under the CAP Code like any claim: they must not mislead about the result a patient can expect.
In the US, check your state dental board's advertising rules, especially before using the word specialist. Implant surgery can fall inside Google's health category, which rules out remarketing lists and Customer Match for those ads, and Meta's health and wellness data category covers provider and patient relationships, so some booking events may be restricted. When you answer reviews, never confirm a patient or their treatment: HHS settled with a California dental practice whose Yelp replies disclosed patient information. None of this is legal advice.
Proof: the closest published work
We have no published dental case study. The nearest is a local business with a structural problem many practices share: several products of very different value, competing inside one campaign.
- Family sessions, beginner bouldering and youth coaching were separated once tracking was fixed, each with its own campaign, budget and creative.
- Return on ad spend was 1.97x in the first phase and 2.95x across the full ten months.
- 118 ads were tested across 34 campaigns in that time, with losing ads cut and winners relaunched.
A practice isn't a climbing gym, and dental rules add limits the gym never had. The lesson that carries over is structure: give each treatment its own campaign and its own number. Read the case study for the full sequence.
What it costs
| Service | Price | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Ads management (Google, Facebook or Instagram) | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no setup fee, ad spend paid straight to the platform |
| SEO and AI search visibility | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no long-term contract |
| Website, landing page or store build | $1,200-$15,000, fixed price | Agreed in writing; 50% to begin, balance on delivery |
Entry plans start at $500 a month. Full details are on our pricing page.
Who we're not for
- Practices that want Botox advertised to the UK public, or ads that promise a perfect smile.
- Practices without the chair time or clinician for the treatment being advertised.
- Anyone judging marketing on cost per lead alone, or without an ad budget alongside the fee.
Guides for dental practices
- How much to spend on Facebook ads: worked through for a dental practice
- Are Facebook ads worth it for a small business?: a two-minute test, with a dental example
- Facebook lead forms vs landing pages: which brings readier treatment inquiries
- Facebook leads not answering the phone?: why inquiries go quiet, and what fixes it
- How much does a landing page cost?: what a treatment page for ads needs
Questions dentists ask a marketing agency
What does a digital marketing agency for dentists do?
It brings in the patients a practice wants more of and shows which spend produced them: local search and reviews for routine care, separate campaigns for implants, aligners and cosmetic work, and follow-up that turns consultations into treatment.
How do dental practices get more implant patients?
Give implants their own campaign, budget and page, with a starting price, finance options and the dentist who does the work. Then follow up every consultation, because implant patients take weeks to decide.
Should a dental practice use Google Ads or Facebook ads?
Google Ads for treatments people search for, such as implants and emergencies. Facebook and Instagram ads for treatments people can be prompted into, such as aligners and whitening.
Can dentists advertise Botox?
Not to the public in the UK, because it's a prescription-only medicine. The ASA allows a consultation for lines and wrinkles to be promoted without naming the product. In the US, check your state's rules first.
Do UK dental ads have to say whether the practice is NHS or private?
Yes. The GDC's guidance on advertising says publicity must make clear whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private.
Why do patients book a consultation and then not go ahead?
Usually because nothing happens after it. They get a second quote, and the practice that follows up with clear answers on cost, finance and timing tends to win.
How much does dental marketing cost with you?
Ads or SEO management runs $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month, plus ad spend paid to Google or Meta. Treatment pages and websites are fixed-price, from $1,200.
Have you worked with dental practices?
We have no published dental case study and won't claim one. Our published work is with booking-led local businesses, labeled as such on this page.
Want to know what an implant consultation really costs you to win today? Book a strategy call and we'll work it out from your own numbers.