Here is a proposal line written for this article as an illustration, not quoted from any agency. "We will make you the best implant specialist in the city, post before and after smiles on Instagram every week, and promote Botox alongside a discounted new patient exam". The first clause runs into the General Dental Council's advertising guidance, which bars a dentist who is not on one of its specialist lists from using any title that suggests specialist status. The same guidance says such a dentist must not describe themselves as "specialising in" a treatment. Botox is a prescription-only medicine, so it cannot be advertised to the public under CAP rule 12.12, including in social media posts. The weekly smiles need a file behind them, because CAP's advice for the dental sector asks for signed and dated proof that each before and after picture is genuine and representative. Nothing in that line is a creative problem. Each clause can be checked as pass or fail, which is the idea behind this whole article.
Part one: seven checks an agency passes or fails
Take five live adverts or pages the agency made for a dental client and run the checks below on them. Each one is a thing that is on the page or is not. The GDC, the UK-wide statutory regulator of the dental team, puts the duty on the dentist: whenever you, your practice or any place where you work produce information containing your name, you are responsible for checking that it is correct. It adds that misleading advertising may lead to a fitness to practise investigation and can be a criminal offence. The CMA's guidance says businesses that engage in misleading practices may be in breach of consumer protection law, which can lead to a fine of up to 10% of global turnover.
Check 1: Titles and specialist claims
In the UK, ask for the free GDC register entry for every dentist the agency names. A dentist can only use the title "specialist" if they are on a GDC specialist list. For hygienists and other dental care professionals, there are no specialist lists, so titles such as "Smile specialist" or "Denture specialist" are not allowed. If a dentist uses "Dr", CAP advises making clear that it is a courtesy title and that the dentist holds no general medical qualification. In the US, the American Dental Association Code of Ethics asks a general dentist who announces a service to make clear that a general dentist provides it. It is a membership code: ADA members agree to abide by it as a condition of membership. Texas makes a version of this a board rule. When a Texas general dentist advertises a specific service, "General Dentist" or "General Dentistry" must follow directly after the dentist's name, in type at least as large as the service names. Ask the agency to confirm each name on your state board's own licence lookup. California's is the DCA License Search that the Dental Board of California uses for licence verification. Pass means every name and title in the five adverts matches a register entry or licence record, and no unlisted dentist is called a specialist.
Check 2: NHS, mixed or private
Under the GDC's guidance, a UK practice's adverts and other publicity must say whether it is NHS (or the equivalent health service), mixed or wholly private. Look for that line on a landing page and on a paid social advert, not only in the footer. Offers on sites such as Instagram, TikTok or Groupon need a second line, because the guidance asks the advert to warn that the treatment may be unsuitable for some patients and is subject to a satisfactory assessment. The check fails if either line is missing from an advert that needs it.
Check 3: Registration number and website details
The same GDC guidance says to make sure that your GDC registration number is included. A practice website must also show the practice's name and address, contact details, the complaints procedure, and the date the website was last updated. In England, where CQC is the regulator of health and adult social care, CQC says it does not have the legal power to rate some kinds of services, such as dental practices. So a dental practice has no CQC rating to display, and no advert should suggest one. A practice elsewhere in the UK should ask its own regulator what applies. To pass, the number and the website details are present, no CQC rating is claimed, and the agency can say who keeps them current.
Check 4: Photographs and consent
In the UK, ask to see the file behind each before and after pair, since that is where the CAP proof described above should sit. Texas allows photographs of actual patients. Consent comes first there: the rule asks for written consent from the patient before facts that may identify them are communicated, plus the line "Actual results may vary". California goes further on presentation. Its statute wants the two views comparable in presentation, so that favourable poses or lighting do not distort the results, with a warning that other patients may not see the same outcome. At federal level, the HIPAA privacy rule at 45 CFR 164.508 requires a covered entity to get the patient's authorisation before using or disclosing protected health information for marketing, apart from face-to-face communications and promotional gifts of nominal value. Whether a testimonial counts is a question for your lawyer. Pass means the agency can produce a consent form and a dated proof file for every pair of photographs. It should also shoot them with one angle and one lighting setup.
Check 5: Prescription-only injections
In the UK, ask how the agency keeps Botox, and indirect references to it, out of copy. CAP says that phrases like "wrinkle-relaxing treatments" and hashtags such as "#brotox" count as indirect references, while a consultation for wrinkles can be advertised. For a US practice, this article did not research state rules on injectables, so get your state dental board's position in writing before any injectables copy is written. Fail the agency if it has no written list of banned terms or if any advert names an injectable.
Check 6: Reviews and review replies
In the UK, the CMA tells marketing and SEO companies not to write or arrange fake reviews on behalf of clients. In the US, the FTC rule treats it as unfair or deceptive to reward a review for expressing a particular sentiment. Replies are where dentistry differs. The ADA's guidance warns that a US practice risks fines of thousands of dollars if it answers an online review with identifiable patient information. Fines might also apply if a reply only confirms the person was a patient. In the UK, the GDC's social media guidance repeats standard 4.2.3, which keeps any information or comment about a patient off social media and blogs. Treat a Google review reply as covered until the GDC says otherwise, and ask the agency for a reply policy that thanks the reviewer and confirms nothing about their care. A pass is a written review policy with no incentives and no replies that confirm anyone is a patient.
Check 7: Prices and offers
This article did not review UK price-advertising rules. Ask the agency which rule it applies to a new patient offer, and how it backs the claim with facts. US states differ sharply. Texas lists several disclosures for a price advert, among them a statement that the quoted fee is a minimum which can increase depending on treatment, and when the price is on offer. California's statute says any price advertisement must be exact, and rules out phrases such as "as low as" and "and up". An offer written to pass in one of these states needs checking again before it runs in the other. Pass means every offer carries the lines your own rules need, and the agency can name them.
A fail on one check is not the end of the conversation. Our view: an agency that fails, says so and shows a fix is more useful than one that never ran the check. An agency that cannot answer all seven in writing should not reach the next stage.
Part two: the commercial fit for agencies that pass
Now taste, price and chemistry matter. Two commercial points deserve their own space.
Who owns the ad accounts, the data and the creative
Ask for every ad account, analytics property and call-tracking number to be opened in the practice's name, with the agency added as a user. Ask for the creative files and the copy to become yours when you pay for them. Dentistry adds two things the agency should never hold alone. The first is the consent form and dated proof file behind every patient photograph, described in check 4. If the only copy sits in an agency's drive and the agency leaves, you cannot produce it. The second is Google profiles. Google treats dentists as individual practitioners, and says that where several of them work at one location, the practice should have a Business Profile separate from each practitioner's. List every profile and name the account that owns each one.
Contract length, notice and exit
Ask for the minimum term, the notice period, who pays for ad spend already committed, and what is handed over on exit. Put a number of days on the handover. Our view: a short minimum term followed by a rolling month lets you leave quickly if a live advert fails a check. On exit, ask for the archive of approved adverts, so the NHS or private line and the assessment line travel with each one. Ask also that reports split new patient exams booked from treatment plans accepted and, in the UK, NHS from private enquiries. Our post on what a marketing agency should report on covers the rest of the report.
When an agency is not the answer yet
A freelancer or a trained team member keeping your profiles accurate may be enough, and if your diary is full and you do no cosmetic work, waiting is a fair choice. In the US, a listing in the ADA's Find-a-Dentist tool comes with membership, and patients can narrow its results by specialty, language, insurance accepted and how far they will travel. The listing is opt-in: a member shows up in search results only once the "Include in Find-a-Dentist" box is ticked. Check that profile before paying anyone to build you a new one.
We have no published dental work, so we cannot meet this article's own first request: five dental adverts with the rule checks behind them. If you need that evidence before a meeting, we are not your agency yet. Marketing for dentists describes how we would approach the trade.
The email to send your shortlist
Send this to each agency. One that cannot send the five adverts has failed the first test before the meeting.
Subject: Five dental adverts and the rule checks behind them
Hello [name], before we meet, please send five recent adverts or pages you made for dental practices. With each one, add a short note of the GDC guidance, or the state dental board rules for a US practice, that you checked it against, and say who checked it. If any of them uses a before and after photograph, tell us where the signed consent and dated proof are kept. Please reply in writing by [date].
Thank you, [name], [practice]
If you would like a written reply about your practice, tell us about your business.
↳ Frequently asked
01Can a hygienist's web page carry the title "smile specialist"?
The GDC guidance says there are no specialist lists for dental care professionals, so a hygienist or therapist must not use titles that could imply specialist status. It gives "Smile specialist" and "Denture specialist" as examples to avoid. An agency writing team pages for a UK practice should check every job title against that guidance.
02Does the GDC registration number belong on every Instagram advert?
The guidance says to include the registration number whenever you, your practice or a place where you work produce information containing your name. An advert that names a dentist therefore needs it. An advert that names only the practice is a question for the GDC, so ask the agency to show the answer it relied on.
03Does the ADA Code of Ethics apply to a dentist who never joined the ADA?
The code says members agree to abide by it as a condition of membership. It is an ethics code, and the Texas and California examples show that state rules are written separately. Ask the agency which state board rules it applies for your practice.
04Do the Texas dentist advertising rules apply to a dental practice in another state?
Not directly. They are Texas board rules, and other states write their own, as California's different rule on exact price advertisements shows. Ask the agency to name the rules of your own state before it writes an offer.
05Can a "results may vary" line replace patient consent on before and after photos?
No. Texas requires written patient consent before identifying information is communicated, as well as the words "Actual results may vary". California adds rules on how the two views are presented and a warning that other patients may not get the same results. In the UK, CAP's advice says marketers must hold signed and dated proof.