Plenty of dental practices have tried Google Ads once, spent a few hundred dollars, and stopped because they couldn't tell whether it worked. That's usually not a sign that Google Ads doesn't work for dentists — it's a sign the campaign wasn't set up to be measured.

Start with intent, not volume

A search for "dentist" gets a lot of volume but says little about intent — it could be a student researching, a competitor, or someone three states away. A search for "emergency dentist near me" or "dentist accepting new patients [city]" is a much smaller audience, but almost every click is someone ready to book.

For a practice with a limited budget, narrower, higher-intent keywords almost always outperform broad ones — fewer clicks, but a much higher percentage that actually convert.

Set up tracking before you spend a dollar

The single biggest mistake we see: running ads without call tracking or form tracking in place. Without it, you have no way to know which keywords, ads, or times of day actually produce booked patients — you're optimizing blind.

At minimum, before launching a campaign:

  • A tracked phone number specific to the campaign (so calls from ads are distinguishable from other calls)
  • Conversion tracking set up on your booking form, if you have online booking
  • A clear landing page — sending ad traffic to a generic homepage instead of a page built for that specific search wastes a large share of clicks

What to realistically expect

The first 2–3 weeks are largely data collection — Google's algorithm needs time and data to figure out which searches and audiences convert best for your specific campaign. Expect cost per click and cost per booked patient to improve over the first month or two as the campaign is optimized, rather than judging performance from week one.

Budget: how much is enough?

There's no universal number — it depends heavily on your area's competition and the value of a new patient to your practice. A useful way to think about it: figure out what a new patient is worth to you over their time with the practice, then work backward to decide what you can reasonably spend to acquire one through ads while staying profitable.

A campaign that isn't tracked isn't really being managed — it's just running.

We manage Google Ads campaigns specifically for dental and law practices, with call and form tracking built in from day one. See how it works, or get a free estimate for your area and practice type.