Dental marketing for practices

What marketing works best for a dental practice?

New patients usually search for a dentist near them, compare reviews and book. The channels that win those moments are:

• Google Maps and local SEO, so you show in the map results near your practice.
• Google Search ads for high-value treatments such as implants, clear aligners and emergency appointments.
• A page for each main treatment, with what to expect, typical costs or financing and how to book.
• Online booking or a short appointment request form, plus tap-to-call on mobile.
• Reviews from patients, and social content that shows your team, office and approach.

Tracking and patient privacy

Ad pixels and analytics can be a HIPAA problem on the wrong pages. HHS guidance says tracking technologies on pages behind a login, such as patient portals, generally have access to protected health information, and that tools like scheduling pages and symptom checkers can collect it too. In June 2024 a federal court vacated part of that guidance, the part about public pages, and HHS says it is evaluating next steps.

The safe approach is to keep advertising pixels off patient portals, booking flows and forms that collect health details, use vendors that will sign a business associate agreement where needed, and measure ads with conversions that carry no health information. This is general information, not legal advice; check your setup with your compliance advisor.

Replying to reviews without breaking HIPAA

Replying to reviews is good practice, but never confirm that someone is a patient or mention their treatment. HHS has settled with dental practices over exactly this, including a December 2022 settlement in which a California practice paid $23,000 after replies to patient reviews on social media disclosed protected health information. Keep replies general: thank the reviewer and invite them to contact the office directly.

Ad rules for health care

Google and Meta both have extra rules for health care ads, and some treatments and claims are restricted. We check every ad and landing page against the current Google Ads health care policy and Meta's health and wellness ad standards before it runs, and avoid targeting based on health conditions.