Good to know
Before you market a dental practice
You market general dentistry and high-value treatments in different ways. A cleaning and exam brings a family that stays for years, and it sells on location, insurance and convenience. An implant case, a full set of aligners or a cosmetic makeover sells on the dentist, the consult and the financing conversation. That patient will often drive across town. Your plan needs both, with a clear idea of which chairs you want to fill first.
Insurance, offers and what ads may say
An in-network practice and a fee-for-service practice draw different patients, and your ads have to say what's true for you. A new patient special is fine when the front desk honors it exactly as advertised, including for patients who then ask about their plan. Before-and-after photos need written consent from the patient, and anything that sounds like a promise of a clinical outcome stays out of the copy.
HIPAA and marketing tools
HIPAA shapes marketing more than most owners expect. Ad platforms never receive patient information, tracking pixels stay off pages where a patient enters health details, and review replies never confirm that someone is a patient. Any tool that touches your patient list, from an email platform to a text messaging service, needs a business associate agreement in place before the first message goes out. The specialist works within these rules rather than around them.
Seasonality and the front desk
Dentistry runs on its own calendar. Back to school brings families in for checkups, year end fills the schedule with patients using up their benefits, and January goes quiet while deductibles reset. Campaigns follow that rhythm. Every lead ends at the phone, too, so the team reviews call recordings with you. A caller who asks about implants and hears 'call back later' is a lost lead, not a marketing failure.