Dental marketing: how to get more patients for your practice

For most practices, the order that pays back is:

1. 1Keep existing patients on recall, so the diary doesn't depend on new ones.
2. 2Make your Google Business Profile and website answer what new patients ask first: are you taking NHS or private patients, what does it cost and how soon can I be seen?
3. 3Build reviews steadily, within Google's rules and the GDC's standards on confidentiality.
4. 4Market the treatments you want more of, such as implants, aligners or hygiene, with claims you can back up.
5. 5Answer every enquiry quickly, including the calls that come in while reception is busy with patients at the desk.

The GDC's guidance on advertising applies to every dental professional, and through them to your practice's website, social media and adverts. The main points:

• Advertising must be accurate and not misleading, as Standard 1.3.3 of the Standards for the Dental Team requires.
• Include your GDC registration number. On websites, show your professional qualification and the country it comes from.
• Practice websites should show the practice name, address and contact details, the GDC's contact details or a link to its website, and your complaints procedure, and make clear whether the practice is NHS, private or mixed.
• Only dentists on a GDC specialist list can call themselves specialists. Others can say "special interest in", "experienced in" or "practice limited to", but not "specialising in". Dental care professionals must not use titles such as "smile specialist".
• Back up claims with facts and avoid claims likely to create an unjustified expectation of results. On social media and marketing sites, make clear a treatment may not suit every patient and depends on an assessment.
• Don't list memberships or fellowships of professional associations as abbreviations after your name.

Facial aesthetics have an extra rule. Botox is a prescription-only medicine, and the ASA says advertising it to the public breaks rule 12.12 of the CAP Code, including on your own social media. Promote a consultation instead. Salons offering aesthetics are caught by the same rule, which our salon marketing ideas guide covers.

In England, the Care Quality Commission registers and inspects dental practices, and patients can look you up on the CQC website. Make sure the details there match your website and Google profile.

Your recall list is your most reliable source of appointments. NICE guidance on dental recall intervals says the gap between oral health reviews should be set for each patient: no less than 3 months, up to 24 months for adults and no more than 12 months for under-18s. So the recall date belongs to the patient, not to a blanket six months.

• Book the next check-up before the patient leaves, where they're happy to.
• Send reminders by the patient's preferred channel, and follow up anyone who doesn't book.
• Check the recall list each month for patients who've lapsed, and contact them.
• Make rebooking a hygiene appointment easy by phone, online or at the desk.

Keep reminders about the patient's care. If you send promotional messages, such as an offer on whitening, by email or text, the ICO's electronic marketing rules apply: you need consent or the soft opt-in for existing patients, and an easy way to opt out in every message.

Many people ask first whether you take NHS patients. The NHS tells patients they can contact any NHS dentist to ask for an appointment, may be asked to join a waiting list, and that registering at a practice doesn't guarantee NHS care there in future. Say clearly on your website and Google profile whether you're taking new NHS patients now, and keep it current. A wrong answer wastes calls on both sides.

NHS treatment in England is charged in bands, which the NHS website listed on 21 October 2026 as £27.90 for Band 1 and urgent treatment, £76.60 for Band 2 and £332.10 for Band 3. Every practice charges the same bands, so market access instead: how soon you can see new patients, your opening hours and how to book.

For private patients, publish prices or "from" prices for your main treatments, explain what's included, and set out payment plans or membership schemes clearly. Private patients compare practices, and a clear price page answers questions that would otherwise be calls.

Reviews matter to people choosing a new dentist, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Ask every patient after their appointment with a review link or QR code. Never offer anything in return, and don't ask only the patients you think are happy: both break Google's policy, and the CMA's fake reviews guidance treats selective asking as cherry-picking.

Replying needs more care than in most businesses. The GDC's guidance on using social media repeats Standard 4.2.3: you must not post any information or comments about patients on social networking or blogging sites, and must not publish anything that could identify a patient without their explicit consent. In practice:

• Thank positive reviewers without confirming they're a patient or mentioning treatment.
• For a negative review, don't discuss the case. Say you take feedback seriously and invite the person to contact the practice manager directly.
• Even if the reviewer describes their own treatment, don't add details in your reply.

Our guide on how to get more Google reviews sets out Google's rules in full. It was written for plumbers, but the rules are the same.

• Whether you're taking new NHS patients, private patients or both, near the top of the page.
• Treatments and prices, with "from" prices where the cost depends on an assessment.
• Your team, with names, GDC numbers and qualifications.
• Opening hours, and what patients should do in a dental emergency when you're closed. The NHS tells patients they can get urgent advice from NHS 111.
• The complaints procedure and GDC details the guidance asks for.
• A way to book that works on a phone: online booking if you have it, and a number that's answered.

Before-and-after photos need the patient's explicit consent for that use. The GDC says to tell patients exactly how the information will be used, for what purpose and where it will appear, and the photos must not mislead about the results.

Paid marketing works best once the basics above are in place, because every click lands on a profile and website that answer the patient's questions.

Whatever you pay for, ask where each new patient heard about you on the first call, so you can see what each channel costs per patient booked.

Marketing makes the phone ring. In a dental practice, reception is often checking a patient in, taking payment or already on a call when a new patient rings. Someone looking for a new dentist, or in pain, will usually try the next practice.

• Make sure calls are answered or picked up quickly, during opening hours and when the desk is busy.
• Capture the basics on the first call: name, number, new or existing, NHS or private, what they need and when they can come in.
• Give a clear answer about NHS availability and prices.
• Have a clear out-of-hours message that gives your emergency arrangements and mentions NHS 111.

Our guides to dental answering service options and what a dental front desk costs go through the choices. To put a number on missed calls, use our missed call calculator: missed new patient calls a week × the share who would book × what a new patient is worth to you in a year × 52. An example with made-up figures: 4 missed new patient calls a week, half of whom would have booked, at £300 each in their first year, is £600 a week, or £31,200 a year.