Your Invisalign ads are showing to people searching for 'free dental clinic'. At $7.85 per click, that's not just wasted money—it's paying to attract patients who can't afford your services. Our audit found dental practices waste 18% of budget on mismatched intent.
5 min
Audit time
6
Areas analyzed
Read-only
Account access
We've audited hundreds of dentist accounts. Here are the most common budget leaks we find:
High-margin cosmetic services (veneers, implants, Invisalign) require affluent patients. But broad targeting shows your $5,000 veneer ads to people searching 'cheap dentist' or 'dental payment plans'. These clicks cost $7.85 each and rarely convert to cosmetic cases. Your ads need audience layering and negative keywords to filter by intent.
Mixing general dentistry, cosmetic procedures, and emergency dental in a single campaign destroys your Quality Score. Google rewards relevance—an ad group with 'teeth whitening', 'root canal', and 'dental implants' can't have relevant ads for all three. Low Quality Scores mean you pay 20-40% more per click than competitors with structured campaigns.
73% of dental appointment requests come via phone, especially for emergencies and new patient inquiries. Dental practices running mobile ads without call extensions lose 40%+ of potential conversions. At $83.93 cost per lead, every missed call extension is throwing away leads you already paid to generate.
Not all keywords are created equal. Here's which ones to target and which to avoid for dentist Google Ads.
Signals ready-to-book intent. These searchers have already decided to switch dentists and are looking for availability.
High-ticket service ($3,000-5,000). Cost-focused queries indicate serious consideration, not just browsing.
Urgent need = high conversion rate. These patients will book whoever answers first. Critical for after-hours visibility.
Specific treatment + consultation signals ready to start. Average Invisalign case = $4,000-6,000 revenue.
Lower CPC, captures families = multiple patients per household. Lifetime value of a family exceeds individual patient.
Price-sensitive searchers looking for discounted student work. Not your target patient.
Zero ability to pay. These clicks convert to consultations but never to paid treatment.
Career researchers, dental students—not patients.
People looking to avoid professional treatment. Will never book a whitening appointment.
Insurance shoppers, not patient seekers. Let insurance companies pay for these clicks.
Timing matters. Here's when dentist demand peaks and how to allocate your budget throughout the year.
January, August, September
Increase budget 40-50% during peak demand
November, December
Reduce spend or focus on maintenance services
Lunch hours (11am-1pm) and early evening (5-7pm) when people research during breaks
Back-to-school season (Aug-Sept) drives family dental checkups. New Year drives cosmetic consultations as resolutions kick in.
Budget recommendations based on real WordStream 2025 data and typical dentist ROI.
Minimum Monthly Budget
$2,500
~30 leads/month
Recommended Range
$3,000-$6,000/month
Best ROI for most dentist businesses
Cost Per Customer
$280
At 30% close rate
At $83.93 CPL and 30% close rate, each new patient costs ~$280 to acquire. Average patient lifetime value = $1,500-3,000 over 5 years. Cosmetic cases ($3,000-15,000) justify higher acquisition costs—separate budget for implants/Invisalign where single case covers 10+ patient acquisition costs.
Our AI audit checks every aspect of your Google Ads account against dentist-specific best practices.
We check if you're separating cosmetic (veneers, whitening) from general (cleanings, fillings) from emergency campaigns. Mixed campaigns have 30% lower Quality Scores.
We identify if expensive keywords like 'dental implants' are paired with implant-specific ads and landing pages, or wasted on generic practice pages.
We verify your 'Invisalign' ads mention Invisalign-specific benefits (clear, removable, no brackets) rather than generic 'straighten teeth' messaging.
We check if phone calls AND online bookings are both tracked. Missing either gives you incomplete data on what's actually working.
We analyze if your budget weight matches service profitability. Spending 50% on $150 cleanings vs 10% on $5,000 implants is backwards.
We score pages for dental-specific trust signals: before/after photos, doctor credentials, technology showcase, financing options visibility.
Understanding your competition helps you find your edge. Here's what dentist advertisers are up against.
Competition Level
high
110,000+ monthly searches for 'dentist near me' in the US
Main competitors: DSO chains (Aspen, Pacific Dental), established local practices, new dentists aggressively marketing
How to Win
Your Differentiator
Win with specialty focus (cosmetic, pediatric, implants), technology differentiation (same-day crowns, digital scanning), or experience positioning (spa-like atmosphere, sedation options).
"We were spending $2,000/month and getting maybe 10 leads. The audit showed our Invisalign budget was being eaten by 'cheap braces' searches. After fixes, we're getting 35 leads for the same spend."
— Dental Practice Owner
Pay per audit. Use when you need it.
“$19.99 to find $1,400/mo in waste? Best ROI I've ever gotten.” — Elite Electric, San Diego CA
$19.99 per audit
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— J.M., Plumber
$17.00 per audit
“Perfect for my 3 locations”
— T.K., Dentist
$15.00 per audit
“Use it monthly, always finds something”
— R.S., HVAC
$10.00 per audit
“Run it for all my clients now”
— M.L., Agency
Common questions about Google Ads for dentist businesses
Most dental practices invest $2,500-$6,000 per month on Google Ads, with the range depending on practice size, location, and service mix. A general dentistry practice in a mid-sized market might start at $2,500/month and see 25-35 new patient leads. Practices focusing on high-value services like implants or Invisalign often invest $5,000+ because the revenue per patient justifies higher acquisition costs. The key metric is patient lifetime value versus acquisition cost. At $83.93 average cost per lead and 30% conversion to scheduled appointments, you're spending roughly $280 to acquire each new patient. Given that the average dental patient has a $1,500-3,000 lifetime value, the math works well—but only if you're tracking conversions properly. Practices that don't track which keywords and campaigns generate actual booked appointments often overspend on low-value clicks.