Google Ads for dentists: costs, campaigns and the rules

Do Google Ads work for dental practices?

Yes, for treatments people search for when they're ready to book. Search ads appear on Google's results page for the searches you choose, so a new practice, or one in a crowded area, can show up for “emergency dentist” the day the campaign starts.

These are US medians; WordStream doesn't publish UK or Australian figures. A “lead” there is a call or form, not a booked patient, so judge your own campaign on bookings.

Ads stop the day you stop paying. That's why most practices run them alongside the free work in our local SEO plan for dentists, not instead of it. Where ads fit among recall, reviews and referrals is in our one-page dental marketing strategy.

How much should a dental practice spend on Google Ads?

Start with a budget you can afford to test for two or three months, then judge it on cost per booked patient. Google spends against an average daily budget, not a fixed one:

• On any single day, a campaign might spend up to twice your average daily budget.
• Over a month, it won't spend more than 30.4 times your average daily budget.
• So an average daily budget of $30 means up to $912 a month. At the 2026 median of $72.97 a lead, that's about a dozen calls or forms. That's an illustration, not a forecast: your area, treatments and landing pages change it.

Put the budget where a new patient is worth most to you, usually implants, aligners and emergency appointments, rather than spreading it thinly across every treatment.

Which Google Ads campaigns should a dentist run first?

A search campaign split by treatment, aimed at people in your area, with your phone number and Business Profile linked. Add the rest once that one is booking patients.

In the US, Local Services Ads list “Dentist” and “Orthodontist” as categories; Google notes booking leads aren't available for health care. See our Local Services Ads guide for how they're charged, and dental website design for what the landing pages need.

Can dentists use remarketing and audience lists in Google Ads?

Only in a limited way. Google's personalised advertising policy treats some health content as a sensitive interest category, and says audiences such as Customer Match and your own data segments can't be used to promote it.

Google's list of health content includes “invasive medical procedures, including cosmetic surgery, surgical procedures, or injections”. It doesn't name dentistry, but implant, surgical and injectable campaigns clearly sit close to that line, so don't plan on following past website visitors around the web with ads for them. Build the campaign on search intent instead: people who search for the treatment.

Can a dental practice advertise Botox or anti-wrinkle injections?

Not by naming the medicine, in the UK or Australia. Botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine, and both countries ban advertising those to the public.

• UK: the ASA says Botox is a prescription-only medicine and cannot be advertised to the public, but clinics can promote a consultation for the treatment of lines and wrinkles.
• Australia: the TGA says prescription medicines cannot be advertised to the public.
• Google: its policy lets pharmaceutical manufacturers promote prescription drugs only in the US, Canada and New Zealand. Its healthcare policy says ads targeting Australia can't use prescription drug terms in the ad or on the landing page, and UK online pharmacies and telemedicine providers can't promote prescription drugs in theirs.

In the US, check your state's rules on who may provide and advertise injectables before you run ads for them.

What do dental advertising rules say in the US, UK and Australia?

Your ads must be accurate, and in the UK and Australia the professional regulators add their own rules. This is a summary, not legal advice:

How do you track which Google Ads bring new patients?

Count booked appointments, not clicks. Calls from ads can be tracked with Google's call reporting, but a call isn't a patient until someone books.

1. Count calls over a set length as conversions with call reporting, so wrong numbers don't count.
2. Ask every new patient how they found you, and note it in your practice software.
3. Once a month, compare ad spend with new patients booked from ads and the treatment they booked.
4. In the US, don't put ad pixels on pages patients log in to. HHS says trackers there generally have access to protected health information and the vendor would need a business associate agreement. Booking pages without a login may be covered too in some cases.

Answer the phone, or text back within minutes when you can't. A paid click that reaches voicemail is the most expensive lead you'll buy.

Should a dental practice manage Google Ads itself or hire help?

Manage it yourself if you have a few hours a week to review search terms and calls; hire help if you don't. Either way, you should own the ad account and see the spend, the calls and the bookings.

Flexi Local's Growth + Ads plan ($997 a month per location) manages Google and Meta ads on up to $3,000 of ad spend a month, with 15% of spend above that; you pay the ad spend directly to Google and Meta. It also runs your Google profile, reviews and website. Nobody can promise a position or a number of patients. See how our local ads service works, or start with the free audit below. For ads on Facebook and Instagram, see dental social media marketing.