Marketing for dentists is the work of consistently attracting new patients to your practice — and keeping the ones you have — through the channels people actually use to choose a dentist: Google search, your Google Business Profile, reviews and your website. What makes dental marketing different from marketing any other business is that it operates under strict AHPRA advertising rules, and that a single new patient can be worth thousands of dollars over their lifetime. Get both of those right and growth follows. This guide covers the whole picture.
Why a new patient is worth more than you think
A patient who joins your practice for a check-up and clean doesn’t represent a single appointment — they represent years of six-monthly visits, plus the fillings, crowns, whitening, Invisalign or implants that follow, plus the family members they bring with them. That lifetime value is what makes dental marketing such a strong investment: you can afford to spend meaningfully to acquire a patient because each one is worth so much over time. The practices that grow understand this maths; the ones that stall treat marketing as a cost to minimise.
Get the AHPRA rules right first
Before any tactic, understand the guardrails. Under Section 133 of the National Law, you cannot use testimonials that refer to clinical aspects of care — and in 2026 those rules are being enforced harder than ever, with penalties reaching $30,000 per breach for an individual and $60,000 for a business. This catches out practices that repost glowing Google reviews mentioning treatments or outcomes. You can display your overall star rating and link to your Google profile; you can’t feature individual reviews describing clinical care. Every channel below has to work within these rules, which is exactly why generalist agencies get dental practices into trouble. We cover the detail in our guide to AHPRA advertising rules for dentists.
The channels that bring dental patients
Local SEO and your Google Business Profile
Most patients want a dentist near home or work, so they search “dentist [suburb]” or “emergency dentist near me” — and they choose from the map pack, the three listings at the top. Ranking there is the highest-value free thing you can do. It starts with an optimised Google Business Profile for dentists and flows into your website’s dental SEO.
Google Ads
When you need new patients faster than SEO can deliver, or you’re promoting a high-value treatment, paid search puts you at the top immediately. Location-and-service keywords like “dental implants [suburb]” convert far better than generic terms. See Google Ads for dentists for how to run it profitably.
Reviews
Reviews are both a local ranking factor and the trust signal that tips a nervous patient into booking — but they have to be gathered and displayed in an AHPRA-compliant way. Here’s how to get more Google reviews for your dental practice without breaching the rules.
A website that books appointments
Over 70% of dental searches happen on a phone. Your website needs to load fast, offer online booking, and build trust with staff photos and your star rating — then every other channel that sends patients to it converts better. See dental website design that converts.
Turn attention into booked patients
Getting found is only half the job — converting that interest into booked chairs is the other half, through gap-free new-patient offers, online booking and recall systems that bring patients back. Our guide to how to get more dental patients covers the conversion side, and how much a dental practice should spend on marketing helps you budget for it.
Grow your practice with a partner who knows the rules
We help dental practices grow within AHPRA’s advertising rules — no risky testimonials, no shortcuts, just more of the right patients. See how we approach it on our dentist marketing page, then call (02) 8357 4899 or book your free audit and consultation.