How Dentists Can Fill Their Calendar with Paid Ads

Empty chairs cost dental practices $500–$1,200 per hour in lost production. A single unfilled hygiene slot wastes $200–$400. An open implant consultation slot represents $3,000–$5,000 in potential revenue that simply evaporates. Multiply that across a week of scattered openings and you're looking at $5,000–$15,000 in lost revenue every month.

Paid ads solve this by generating a predictable flow of patients who are actively looking for dental care. Not "maybe someday" patients — people searching right now for a dentist who can see them soon. Here's how to set up campaigns that keep your chairs full through PPC for dentists done right.

Why Paid Ads Beat Referrals for Calendar Management

Referrals are the backbone of most dental practices. They produce high-quality patients who already trust you. But referrals have one fatal flaw for calendar management: you can't control the volume or timing.

You can't tell your referring patients "send me three people next Tuesday afternoon." Paid ads let you effectively do exactly that. Increase spend on Monday, get calls by Wednesday. Pause campaigns when you're booked solid. Scale up when cancellations leave gaps.

The control factor:

• Referrals: unpredictable volume, unpredictable timing
• SEO: consistent but takes 6–12 months, no real-time control
• Paid ads: adjustable daily, results within 24–48 hours

The best dental practices use all three channels. But when you need to fill next week's calendar, paid ads are the only lever you can pull.

Google Ads: Capturing Active Searchers

Google Ads puts your practice in front of people who are actively searching for a dentist. These are the highest-intent patients you can reach — they've already decided they need dental care and are choosing a provider.

Campaign Structure by Procedure Type

Build separate campaigns for each major revenue category:

Campaign 1: Emergency Dental

• Keywords: "emergency dentist near me," "tooth pain dentist," "same day dental appointment," "broken tooth repair"
• Budget: 15–20% of total
• Why: Highest urgency, fastest conversion, premium pricing
• Landing page: Emphasize same-day availability, after-hours number

Campaign 2: High-Value Procedures

• Keywords: "dental implants [city]," "cosmetic dentist near me," "teeth whitening," "veneers cost"
• Budget: 30–40% of total
• Why: Highest revenue per patient, strong lifetime value
• Landing page: Before/after gallery, financing options, consultation offer

Campaign 3: New Patient General

• Keywords: "dentist near me," "family dentist [city]," "dentist accepting new patients"
• Budget: 25–30% of total
• Why: Steady pipeline, builds patient base for future high-value procedures
• Landing page: New patient special, insurance list, Google reviews

Campaign 4: Specific Procedures

• Keywords: "root canal [city]," "wisdom tooth extraction," "dental crown same day"
• Budget: 15–20% of total
• Why: Procedure-specific intent means they're past the research phase
• Landing page: Procedure details, pricing transparency, patient testimonials

Keyword Strategy for Dentists

Use phrase match and exact match for core terms. Broad match on dental keywords triggers searches for dental schools, dental hygienist jobs, and dental supply stores.

Essential negative keywords:

• Jobs, hiring, salary, school, program, degree
• DIY, home, natural, remedy
• Free, cheap, low-cost (unless you want price shoppers)
• Specific insurance names you don't accept
• Pediatric (if you're not a pediatric practice, or vice versa)

Ad Copy That Gets Clicks

Generic dental ads all look the same. Stand out with specifics:

Instead of: "Family Dentist — Call Now" Try: "New Patients: $99 Exam, X-Rays & Cleaning — Same-Week Appointments"

Instead of: "Quality Dental Care" Try: "4.9★ Google Rating | 2,000+ Happy Patients | Sedation Available"

Instead of: "Dental Implants Available" Try: "Dental Implants from $2,999 | Free CT Scan | Financing from $89/mo"

Specificity builds trust and pre-qualifies clicks. Someone who clicks on "$99 exam" already knows your price and is interested — that's a higher-quality lead than someone clicking "family dentist."

Is your dental practice leaving money on the table with empty chairs? We manage PPC for dentists across the country and know exactly what fills appointment books. Get a free campaign audit →

Facebook Ads: Creating Demand Before They Search

Google captures existing demand. Facebook creates new demand. Both are valuable for filling your calendar, but they work differently.

Facebook Ads reach people who aren't actively looking for a dentist but can be motivated to book. This is perfect for:

• Cosmetic procedures (people don't search for veneers — they see the results and want them)
• New patient specials (price-driven offers get impulse bookings)
• Reactivating lapsed patients (target your existing patient list)
• Building awareness in a new area (just opened? Google searches won't exist yet)

Facebook Ad Types for Dentists

Lead Form Ads: Patient fills out a form without leaving Facebook. Lower friction, higher volume, slightly lower quality. Best for new patient specials and cosmetic consultations.

Traffic Ads: Sends people to your landing page. Higher friction, lower volume, higher quality. Best for expensive procedures like implants where you want educated prospects.

Retargeting Ads: Shows ads to people who visited your website but didn't book. These are the warmest audience on Facebook and convert at 3–5x the rate of cold traffic.

Targeting for Dental Facebook Ads

• Location: 10–15 mile radius around your practice
• Age: 25–65 (adjust based on procedures — younger for cosmetic, older for implants)
• Income: Target higher household income for elective/cosmetic procedures
• Interests: Dental care, oral health, cosmetic procedures, specific insurance companies
• Custom audiences: Upload your patient list to create lookalike audiences

Offer Strategy for Facebook

Facebook users need a compelling reason to stop scrolling. Your offer must be specific, valuable, and urgent:

• New patient special: "$59 Exam, X-Rays & Cleaning (Regularly $350) — Limited to 20 Patients This Month"
• Cosmetic consultation: "Free Smile Assessment + $500 Off Veneers — This Month Only"
• Implant special: "Free Implant Consultation + CT Scan ($500 Value) — 10 Spots Available"
• Whitening offer: "Professional Teeth Whitening $199 (Reg $499) — Valentine's Day Special"

Notice the pattern: specific value, clear savings, and scarcity to create urgency.

The Scheduling Bridge: Turning Leads Into Booked Appointments

Generating leads is half the battle. Converting those leads into booked appointments is where most dental practices fail.

Speed to Contact

Call every lead within 5 minutes. Dental leads go cold fast — after 30 minutes, your chance of booking drops by 80%. Set up:

• Instant email/SMS notifications for form submissions
• Call tracking that rings your front desk immediately
• After-hours auto-text: "Thanks for reaching out! We'll call you first thing tomorrow at 8am. Reply ASAP if it's an emergency."

Online Booking

Let patients book directly from your ads. Many patients prefer self-service scheduling, especially after hours. Integrate your booking system with your landing pages so a patient can go from Google search to confirmed appointment in under 2 minutes.

Confirmation and Reminder Sequence

No-shows kill the ROI of your ad campaigns. Reduce them with:

• Immediate: Appointment confirmation email/text with date, time, address, and what to bring
• 48 hours before: Reminder text with easy reschedule/cancel link
• 24 hours before: Final reminder
• 2 hours before: "See you soon!" text with directions

Practices that implement this sequence reduce no-shows by 30–50%.

Budget Allocation and Expectations

Starting Budget

Small practice (1–2 dentists): $2,000–$4,000/month

• Focus: Google Ads only, targeting 2–3 high-value procedure categories
• Expected results: 20–40 qualified leads/month

Medium practice (3–5 dentists): $4,000–$8,000/month

• Focus: Google Ads + Facebook Ads, full procedure coverage
• Expected results: 50–100 qualified leads/month

Large/multi-location: $8,000–$20,000+/month

• Focus: Full-channel strategy with dedicated budgets per location
• Expected results: 100–300+ qualified leads/month

Expected Cost Per Lead by Procedure

ROI Calculation

A new patient is worth $800–$1,500 in year-one revenue and $5,000–$10,000 over their lifetime. An implant patient is worth $3,000–$30,000+. Even at a $100 cost per lead and 25% booking rate, you're paying $400 per new patient — a 2–4x return in year one alone.

Seasonal Strategies to Fill Specific Gaps

January–March

• Push "new year, new smile" cosmetic campaigns
• Target people spending FSA/HSA funds
• Insurance resets mean new benefits to use

April–June

• Wedding season: whitening and veneers campaigns
• School's out soon: pediatric and teen ortho campaigns
• Summer schedule means more availability for elective procedures

July–September

• "Use your benefits before year-end" campaigns
• Back-to-school checkups
• Summer slowdown: increase ad spend to fill gaps

October–December

• Holiday smile campaigns
• Year-end insurance benefit reminders (strongest angle of the year)
• "Don't lose your $1,500 in unused dental benefits"

Need a system that fills your chairs predictably? We specialize in PPC for dentists and have helped practices across the country build reliable patient pipelines with paid advertising. Book your free strategy call →