Google Ads for dentists, with emergency and elective kept apart

A toothache at 7am and an implant enquiry are different buyers with different budgets. We run them as separate campaigns and write ads the Board's guidelines allow.

Get started See pricing

$549 a month: Google Ads for dentists, AUD, GST inclusive
Month to month: Added to the $298 website plan, cancel on 30 days notice
Your account: You pay Google your ad spend directly, and we never hold your card

Three campaigns, three ways to count

Each kind of search has a different value, a different hour and a different conversion.

Emergency: Within hours; Call extensions, tracked calls and a schedule for the hours the phone is answered, or a same-day booking slot. Count calls over a minimum length.
General and new patient: Next two weeks; Completed bookings from the booking system where it can report them, not just clicks on the button.
Implants, aligners and other elective work: Weeks to months; A consultation booking as the conversion, valued higher than a check-up, and a landing page per treatment with no outcome promises.

Emergency is a different business

A broken tooth at seven in the morning needs a phone that is answered. The click is expensive, the intent is high and the patient will book with whoever picks up. We run it as its own campaign, with its own hours and budget, and judge it on calls that connect.

General patients book online

A family looking for a regular dentist wants hours, a map pin and a booking button. This campaign sends clicks to a page that shows who takes new patients and what funds and the Child Dental Benefits Schedule apply, and ends in an online booking.

Elective work has a longer road

Implants and aligners are researched for weeks, across several clinics. The ad earns a click and the landing page earns a consultation. We count the consultation as the conversion and keep outcome claims out of the ad and the page.

What you see each month

Spend, bookings, calls, the search terms that triggered ads and what we added to the negative list. If a campaign did not pay for itself, we say so and change it.

Terms by campaign

Cost words in dental searches mean price comparison, and some completions point overseas. The negative list does as much work as the keywords.

emergency dentist near me
Emergency campaign
dentist open today
Emergency or same-day
dentist near me book online
General campaign
kids dentist near me
General campaign, parent buyer
dental implants cost
Elective campaign
invisalign near me
Elective campaign
dental implants bali, dental tourism, thailand
Negative
dental school, dental assistant jobs, dental course
Negative
medicaid, blue cross, dental clinic for sale
Negative

Terms by campaign
Search term	What the searcher wants
emergency dentist near me	Emergency campaign
dentist open today	Emergency or same-day
dentist near me book online	General campaign
kids dentist near me	General campaign, parent buyer
dental implants cost	Elective campaign
invisalign near me	Elective campaign
dental implants bali, dental tourism, thailand	Negative
dental school, dental assistant jobs, dental course	Negative
medicaid, blue cross, dental clinic for sale	Negative

Candidate terms from Google autocomplete, Australia, checked 2026-11-03. Volumes and cost per click come from Keyword Planner and are not measured yet.

Offers need terms, and urgency needs a clinical reason

Dental Board of Australia and Ahpra

Under section 133 of the National Law, a gift, discount or inducement is allowed only if its terms and conditions are stated, and free must mean free. The guidelines warn that phrases like don't delay, act now, time is running out and limited time only may be unlawful when linked to unsupported claims that health will suffer without the service. Encouraging regular appointments without a clinical reason is also a breach, and so is an incentive worth more than the cost and risk of the treatment.

An ad for a new-patient check-up links to a landing page with the full terms visible. Headlines avoid scarcity words and avoid pain-free, best and most advanced. A year-end benefits message says the fund benefit resets, and does not say health will suffer. General dentists never use specialist titles in headlines. The maximum penalty is $60,000 per offence for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate.

Read Ahpra's advertising rules

Presence in the catchment, a wider ring for specialist work

Local

A general practice draws from a few kilometres. Elective campaigns can reach a metro region. Set the option to presence so interstate and overseas interest is excluded.

Separate budgets for emergency, general and elective, so one cannot starve the others
Ad schedule matched to the hours the phone is answered, with the form covering the rest
Location groups for the suburbs where patients actually come from, read from the booking system
Negatives for overseas, US insurance terms, jobs and courses

Nearest accounts and sites we run

We run no dental account yet. Wollongong Service Company is a booking-led business whose Ads account we manage. Karnib and Co is a regulated profession where we run the website and search work but no Ads. Neither is a dental result.

Google Ads for dentists: your questions

Can dental ads say free consultation?

If it is free and the terms are stated or easy to find. A free second visit paid for by a higher first visit is a breach. We put the terms on the landing page, one click from the ad.

Can an ad say we are the best dentist in the suburb?

No. Superlatives need acceptable evidence under the Board's guidelines, and we can't get it for best. Ads state what the clinic does, where it is and when it is open.

How do we count a booking?

At the diary, not the click. We connect a conversion for completed bookings from the booking system where it can report them, plus tracked calls and the form, and we keep these as separate conversion actions.

Why are Invisalign and implant ads priced differently?

They are researched for weeks and compared across clinics, so cost per click and cost per booking differ from a check-up. We have not measured your cost per click yet, and we do not quote one before we see real data.

Should we run ads on the clinic name?

Often yes, because other clinics and platforms can bid on it. It costs little, and we read it separately from the campaigns that find new patients.

Can ads mention health fund networks?

If you are in the network, and the page tells patients to confirm cover with their fund before treatment. Do not use a fund's logo unless you have permission.

What if we run ads on HotDoc or HealthEngine as well?

The advertising rules can apply to those listings when the practice controls the content, so the same wording rules cover them. We read their conversions against ours so a booking is counted once.

Do you promise more patients?

No. Dental practices are pitched constantly. We start with what the current ads cost per booking, which searches waste money and whether the emergency hours are covered, and we report that.

Google Ads by practice type

Health practices

Google Ads for physiotherapists

Google Ads for dentists, month to month.

$549 a month AUD, on top of the $298 website plan.