Dental marketing
Google Ads
for dentists.
Google Ads works for dentists when it's split by why people search: emergencies want today, check-ups want close and easy, and big treatments want information. Budget by what a new patient is worth over the years they stay, not their first visit. Some audience tools may be limited: Google treats health conditions and cosmetic procedures as a sensitive category, where remarketing lists and Customer Match can't be used.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Split by
why they search.
'Emergency dentist Gosford' at 7am is a different person from 'dental implants cost'. The first wants a phone number and a time today. The second wants to understand options and price.
Run them as separate campaigns with separate pages and budgets. Emergency campaigns can run on call ads and ad schedules that match when you can actually see someone.
What is a new
patient worth?
A new patient who stays for years is worth far more than the first visit. Work out the most you can pay to win one.
New patient value
What can you pay
for a new patient?
Put in your own numbers. The starting ones are made up.
Most you can pay per new patient (break-even)
-
Health
category limits.
Google's personalised advertising policy treats health as a sensitive category, including health conditions and cosmetic procedures and injections. Ads in it can't use Customer Match, your data segments (remarketing), lookalikes or audience expansion. The policy doesn't name dentistry, so whether a routine check-up ad falls in the category isn't certain. Treatment for conditions, and cosmetic injectables, likely do.
Google's predefined audiences and location targeting stay available either way. Search ads matched to keywords don't rely on audience lists at all, which is where most dental budget belongs anyway.
The ad copy
rules.
Ads follow the same Ahpra guidelines as everything else: no 'specialist' unless registered, offers with conditions, payment plans with totals. Google ads are short, so the conditions go on the landing page, clearly linked.
Don't name prescription-only injectables in ads or on landing pages. The TGA's rules apply to Google ads too.
Track to
booked patients.
Clicks and calls aren't patients. Track bookings, and where you can, send booked appointments back to Google Ads as offline conversions using the click ID, so it learns which searches bring patients who turn up.
Keep treatment details out of anything a tracking tag can read. A booking confirmation is enough.
Cosmetic
and big treatments.
Implants, aligners and veneers are researched for weeks, sometimes months. Send those searches to a page that explains options, typical costs, risks and recovery, with a consultation as the next step.
Cosmetic treatments sit close to Google's health and cosmetic procedure categories, so expect the same audience limits and review the ads against the Ahpra cosmetic guidelines before they run. The cosmetic dentistry page has a pre-launch check.
The free
listing first.
Before spending on ads, make sure your Google Business Profile is complete: hours, services, booking link and recent reviews. It often brings more 'dentist near me' patients than the ads do.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
in a dental Google Ads account.
- 1
One campaign for everything
Emergencies, check-ups and implants sharing one budget and one landing page.
- 2
Ads running when nobody answers
Emergency ads showing at night with no one to take the call.
- 3
Judged on cost per click
No tracking of booked or attended appointments.
The honest bit. Google Ads can fill the book. It can't make up for a practice that's slow to answer the phone or hard to book online.
Questions
people ask.
How much should a dentist spend on Google Ads?
Work back from what a new patient is worth over the years they stay, and how many new patients you can actually see. The calculator on this page does the sum.
Can dentists use remarketing on Google?
It depends on the ad. Google's health sensitive category covers health conditions and cosmetic procedures, where remarketing, Customer Match and lookalikes are off. Routine check-up ads are less clear, so check how Google classifies yours.
Should dentists run emergency dentist ads?
Yes, if someone can answer and offer a time the same day. Schedule them for the hours you can respond.
How do I track Google Ads to booked patients?
Record the click ID with each booking and upload bookings as offline conversions.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
Google Ads audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.