Google Ads · Dentists
Google Ads for dental practices, bidding on treatments not on your postcode
The most expensive keyword a private practice can buy is “dentist near me”. It is dominated by people looking for an NHS list, it converts badly for private treatment, and it costs as much as the terms that would have brought you an implant case.
In short
Google Ads for dentists in the UK needs a different build from a generic Google Ads account, and this is how PipelineOS structures it. Campaigns are organised by treatment, because treatment is what separates a £90 patient from a £20,000 one. High-value restorative — implants, full arch, bridges — is its own campaign with the highest bids and the longest consideration. The first ad group to build is Dental implants: highest bids in the account and a wide radius. The most common way this goes wrong: bidding on “dentist near me” as a private practice.
How we build it
Campaigns are organised by treatment, because treatment is what separates a £90 patient from a £20,000 one. High-value restorative — implants, full arch, bridges — is its own campaign with the highest bids and the longest consideration. Orthodontics and clear aligners is a second, where brand terms compete against nationally funded advertisers and need careful budget discipline. Cosmetic work — composite bonding, veneers, whitening — is a third: cheaper clicks, younger buyers, heavy weekend and evening search. Emergency dental is a fourth, small and always on, and it is worth more than its appointment value because a patient in pain who is treated well frequently joins the list.
Compliance shapes the copy in ways no other sector on this site faces. GDC guidance means no claims of superiority, no “best”, no language that trades on anxiety or trivialises treatment, and any before-and-after imagery must be your own patients with consent and not retouched. Separately, and this catches practices out constantly, botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine and advertising prescription-only medicines to the public is prohibited. A facial aesthetics campaign therefore cannot name the product, cannot bid on the brand name, and has to be built around consultation language instead. We negative the product names out to stop Google matching them for you.
A brand-defence campaign is close to mandatory. Corporate dental groups routinely bid on independent practice names, and a patient searching for you by name is the cheapest and highest-intent click in the account. Beyond that, geography is tighter than practices expect for routine work and considerably wider for implants and full arch, where patients will travel an hour for the right clinician. Scheduling runs heavy on evenings and Sunday for cosmetic and aligners, and 24/7 on emergency.
Ad groups
The account structure in practice. Ad groups stay tight so the ad can genuinely match the search, which lowers cost per click for the same position.
| Ad group | Example keywords | Bids and handling |
|---|---|---|
| Dental implants | dental implants [town], single tooth implant cost, full arch implants, all on four | Highest bids in the account and a wide radius. Route to a page with consultation process, clinician credentials and finance, because finance decides more implant cases than price does. |
| Clear aligners and orthodontics | invisalign [town], clear aligners cost, teeth straightening adults | Brand terms are expensive and contested by nationally funded advertisers. Cap the budget, bid on treatment outcome language alongside the brand, and measure to consultation attended. |
| Cosmetic dentistry | composite bonding [town], veneers cost, teeth whitening [town] | Cheaper clicks, younger buyer, strong evening and weekend search. Instagram-adjacent decision, so the landing page needs your own consented case photography. |
| Emergency dental | emergency dentist [town], toothache dentist today, broken tooth appointment | Small always-on budget with call extensions. Judge it on patients registered rather than on the appointment fee, which understates it badly. |
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Call 07443 392243WhatsAppBudget and the arithmetic
Private practices commonly run £800–£3,000 a month, and the spread reflects how many treatment campaigns are live rather than practice size. Implant clicks run £8–£20, aligner clicks £6–£14, cosmetic terms £3–£8 and emergency £4–£10. Cost per enquiry lands roughly at £70–£250 for implants, £50–£140 for aligners and £15–£45 for emergency.
The arithmetic depends on a step most practices do not measure: the consultation-to-treatment conversion. An implant enquiry at £150 that converts to consultation two times in three, and consultation to treatment one time in three, is about £675 of advertising for a case worth £2,500–£30,000. That is excellent, and it is entirely dependent on the front desk booking the consultation quickly and on the practice offering finance. Aligners are tighter: a £100 enquiry at similar conversion is roughly £450 per case against a £2,500–£4,500 fee, which works perfectly well but leaves considerably less room for a phone nobody answers on a Saturday morning.
Four ways this goes wrong
- Bidding on “dentist near me” as a private practice. A large share of that volume is people hunting for an NHS list, and the click costs the same as a treatment term that would have brought a case worth thousands.
- Advertising facial aesthetics by product name. Botulinum toxin is prescription-only and advertising prescription-only medicines to the public is not permitted, so the product name belongs in your negatives rather than your headlines.
- Ad copy claiming to be the best, the leading or the number one practice. GDC guidance does not allow claims of superiority, and it is a straightforward complaint for a competitor to make.
- Sending implant traffic to a page with no finance information. Cost is the objection in implant dentistry, and monthly payment options convert enquiries that a total figure alone will not.
The two pages behind this one
This page is the intersection. For the wider picture:
Google Ads in general
Everything about marketing for dentists
Questions
What can dental ads not say?
GDC guidance rules out claims of superiority such as best or leading, anything that plays on patient anxiety or trivialises treatment, and before-and-after images that are not your own consented, unretouched patients. Separately, prescription-only medicines including botulinum toxin cannot be advertised to the public at all, which rules out naming the product in ads, keywords or landing page headlines.
Is it worth advertising emergency dental appointments?
Yes, but measure it correctly. The appointment itself might be £80 to £150, which looks poor against a £40 enquiry. The value is that a patient in pain who is seen quickly and treated kindly very often registers with the practice and returns for everything else. Track registrations from that campaign, not just the appointment fee.
Should we bid on our own practice name?
Almost always. Corporate dental groups and aggregator sites bid on independent practice names routinely, and a patient searching for you specifically is the highest-intent click you will ever buy. Brand clicks are cheap, so defending is inexpensive, and the sitelinks let you push new patients straight to the registration or consultation page.
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