Paid Advertising to Get New Patients for your Dental Clinic
Most dental practices understand that online advertising matters, but far fewer know how to use it in a way that consistently brings in the right patients at a predictable cost.
Google Ads and paid social media are two of the most effective growth tools available when they are built with intention. When they are not, they often turn into expensive experiments that generate clicks without actually getting new patients for your dental office.
This guide breaks down the #1 Way to Use Google and Social Ads to Get More Dental Patients in 2026. It also gives you insights into how dental clinics think about paid search and paid social, how the two platforms work differently, and why content plays a bigger role than most practices realize.
Start With the Right Goal
Every successful campaign starts with clarity and understanding.
The goal is not more website traffic or higher impression numbers. Those metrics look good on reports but rarely translate into growth on their own. The real objective is simple and measurable: booked patient appointments.
When campaigns are built around that outcome, everything else becomes easier to evaluate. Keywords, ad copy, landing pages, and budgets can all be judged by whether or not they move patients toward booking. Practices that skip this step often assume the platform is the problem, when in reality the strategy was never aligned to begin with.
How Google Ads Brings in High Intent Patients
Google Ads works because it captures demand that already exists. People that are genuinely looking for your services. When someone searches for a dentist, emergency care, cosmetic treatment, or orthodontic options, they are actively looking for your help. These searches carry some of the highest intent in healthcare marketing but they also come at a cost.
To use Google Ads effectively, campaigns need to be structured around services that actually drive growth. Emergency dentistry, new patient exams, cosmetic dentistry, and orthodontics tend to perform well because the intent is clear and the value of a new patient is high.
Keyword selection matters more than budget. Broad keywords bring traffic, but focused keywords bring patients. Campaigns that use tightly themed keyword groups, clear location targeting, and ads written to match the searcher’s problem consistently outperform larger, unfocused accounts.
Where many practices lose momentum is after the click. Sending paid traffic to a generic homepage forces the patient to do the work. High performing campaigns use focused landing pages built specifically for the service being advertised, making it easy to understand what is offered and how to book.
Why Unique Video Content Is the Most Important Part of Paid Ads
Paid ads can create attention, but content is what builds trust.
In today’s landscape, the practices that stand out are not chasing trends or trying to entertain for the sake of visibility. They are educating. Patients want clarity, reassurance, and a sense that the person treating them understands their concerns.
Video content plays a critical role here. Seeing and hearing a dentist explain a procedure, talk through common questions, or outline what a patient can expect removes uncertainty before the first visit ever happens. That familiarity lowers anxiety and makes the decision to book feel safer.
The goal of dental video content is not to perform. It is to explain. When dentists speak the way they would in the operatory, calmly and clearly, patients respond. Short educational videos consistently outperform promotional ads because they answer real questions instead of pushing offers.
This type of content strengthens everything else. Social ads perform better, landing pages convert at higher rates, and even Google Ads benefit when patients recognize the practice from earlier exposure. Paid ads amplify content, but they cannot replace it. Without authentic, educational messaging, even the most well built campaigns will struggle to convert.
The Role of Paid Social in Growing a Dental Clinic
Paid social works differently than Google Ads, and that difference is what makes it valuable.
While Google captures people who are actively searching for a dentist near them, social platforms reach people earlier in the decision process. Facebook and Instagram allow practices to connect with local audiences before they feel urgency, which is especially effective for family dentistry, cosmetic services, and orthodontics.
The most successful paid social campaigns do not feel like traditional advertising. They focus on education, reassurance, and relevance. Short videos, clear explanations, and patient focused messaging build familiarity over time. Even when someone does not book immediately, repeated exposure creates recognition, and recognition drives future decisions.
When the time comes to choose a dentist, people tend to choose the practice that already feels familiar.
Why Google Ads and Paid Social Work Best Together
The strongest results happen when both platforms support each other.
Google Ads captures patients who are ready to act now. Paid social nurtures patients who will be ready soon. When someone sees a practice on social media and later searches on Google, conversion rates increase significantly. This is something we see repeatedly in real campaign data.
Using both platforms together also provides better insight. Search data can inform social messaging, and social engagement can reinforce search performance. Together, they create a more complete and resilient growth system.
Budgeting for Predictable Advertising Results for Your Clinic
There is no universal ad budget that works for every dental practice, but there is a consistent approach.
Budgets should be tied to patient value, not guesswork. When a practice understands the average value of a new patient and the cost to acquire one, scaling becomes a calculated decision instead of a risk.
The most successful practices start with controlled testing, track results closely, and scale what works. They avoid constant changes and give campaigns time to stabilize and improve. Consistency almost always outperforms constant reinvention.
Tracking What Actually Matters
If performance is not measured correctly, improvement becomes impossible. Effective campaigns track phone calls, form submissions, bookings, and cost per patient. Metrics like clicks and impressions still matter, but only as supporting indicators. Without proper call tracking, conversion tracking, and analytics, decisions end up being based on assumptions instead of data.
This is where many practices struggle. The platforms provide information, but understanding what actually drives growth is what separates activity from results.
Common Dental Advertising Mistakes to Avoid
Certain mistakes show up again and again. Running ads without a clear message, sending traffic to weak pages, targeting too broadly, or judging performance too quickly can all undermine results. Focusing on clicks instead of patients is another common trap that many dentists fall into.
Avoiding these issues often has a bigger impact than increasing spend.
How Our Dental Marketing Agency Can Help
We’ve helped many dental clinics in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver to grow their new patient flow. From orthodontic cases to general dentistry patients, we help tailor all of our campaigns to ensure that you get the most conversions for your advertising spend. If you want to learn more about how you can improve your paid advertising campaigns, reach out to us for a free consultation!
Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Advertising
Most dental clinics start seeing initial results within the first 30 to 60 days. Strong performance usually improves over time as campaigns collect data, keywords are refined, and landing pages are optimized for bookings rather than clicks.
They serve different purposes. Google Ads captures patients who are actively searching for a dentist, while social media ads build awareness and trust before someone is ready to book. The best results come from using both together as part of one strategy.
There is no one size fits all budget. The right spend depends on your location, competition, and the value of a new patient. Clinics that tie ad spend to patient lifetime value are able to scale more confidently and predictably.
This usually happens when ads send traffic to the wrong page or the messaging does not match patient intent. High performing campaigns align keywords, ad copy, landing pages, and content so patients know exactly what to do next.
While ads can run without video, performance is consistently stronger when educational video content is included. Video builds trust faster, sets expectations, and helps patients feel more comfortable booking before their first visit.
