01Reviews and referrals come first
A new patient chooses a dentist on nerves as much as on price, and the first thing they check is what other patients wrote. Google's contribution policy sets the limits: you may ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience, but you may not offer discounts or free services in return, and you may not ask only the patients you expect to be happy. The practical version is to ask every patient, the same way, at the same moment, usually right after the visit. Referrals run on the same trust. Tell existing patients that you take new ones, and check with the college before offering anything in return for a recommendation.
- Ask every patient for a review, not only the ones who smiled on the way out
- No discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews: Google's policy forbids it
- Reply to every review, the bad ones included, calmly and without any patient details
- Tell existing patients you accept new ones, so they know they can recommend you
02Video of the real dentist beats any stock photo
Most people who need a crown or an implant have never had one, and what they want before booking is to understand what will happen in the chair. A two-minute clip of the dentist explaining the steps, how long it takes and what recovery looks like answers that better than a page of adjectives. It has to be the real person, because the patient is deciding whether to trust this particular dentist, and stock footage works against you. Turn the same explanations into treatment pages on the website, one page per treatment, and describe the procedure rather than promise an outcome. We looked at where AI-generated video fits in Do AI video ads actually work?
- One clip per common treatment: what happens, how long it takes, what recovery is like
- Film the dentists who will actually treat the patient
- One website page per treatment, describing the procedure, not promising a result
- Plain language instead of jargon, with the medical accuracy checked by the dentist
03Ads work best built around one treatment
A campaign that advertises the whole practice says nothing to anybody. A campaign built around one treatment, implants, aligners or an emergency appointment, sends the person searching for it to the page that explains it. Search ads suit urgent, high-intent needs, such as a toothache on a Saturday; social ads suit treatments people think about for months before acting, such as straightening their teeth. We compared the two platforms in Meta ads or Google ads: where should a small business spend first? Both platforms have their own health advertising policies, so copy that promises a result, or before and after images, needs checking against those policies and the college's guide before anything runs.
- One campaign per treatment, each landing on its own treatment page
- Search ads for urgent needs, social ads for treatments people consider for months
- Spend and bookings tracked per treatment, so the budget follows what actually books
- No promised outcomes in ad copy; check before and after images against the rules first
04Recall reminders are the cheapest marketing a practice has
The patient who already trusts you is the easiest one to bring back, and the check-up or cleaning due every few months is a natural reason to write. A recall reminder is a short, scheduled email: the patient's name, that a check-up is due, and a link to book. Keep treatment details out of it, because patient information counts as health data under GDPR and a reminder does not need it. Check whether your practice management software already sends recalls; if it does, switch that on before paying anyone. PROOF48's AUTOMATE plan covers booking automation, a CRM and email auto-responders at 2,997 EUR a month, which only makes sense for a practice with much more than recalls to automate.
- Send the reminder when the check-up is due, with a direct booking link
- Name, date and link only: no treatment details in the message
- Check your existing practice software before buying a new tool
- AUTOMATE does not cover WhatsApp or phone; those are custom builds
05What the dental college's rules change
Romanian dentists advertise under the code of ethics of the Colegiul Medicilor Stomatologi din România. In June 2026, Agerpres reported that the college signed a cooperation protocol with ANPC, the consumer protection authority, and that its good-practice guide on advertising targets unrealistic promises, results presented as guaranteed and information that can mislead patients. For marketing, that rules out the lazy shortcuts: no guaranteed results and no promise of a perfect smile. It does not rule out being useful. Explaining a procedure honestly, showing who works there and answering common questions is the kind of correct, verifiable information the rules point toward. Read the current guide, or ask the college, before a campaign goes live.
- No guaranteed results and no unrealistic promises, in any channel
- Describe the procedure; the dentist decides what to say about outcomes
- Correct, verifiable information is what the college's guide asks for
- Read the current guide before a campaign runs; this article is not legal advice
Writing for a category where one sentence can be illegal
Korean Cosmetics is not a dental practice, but it had the same problem. It sells a Korean derma-cosmetics line in Romania, in a category where the wrong sentence is illegal. Every product claim was rewritten across all 12 languages of the store to satisfy EU cosmetics regulation, and one product was pulled from sale entirely for exceeding an EU ingredient limit. A dental practice's copy needs the same discipline: say what the treatment is, and leave out what it cannot promise.
See the build: Korean CosmeticsQuestions, answered
Can PROOF48 guarantee new patients for my practice?
No. Nobody honest can, and in dentistry a promised result is exactly what the college's advertising guide targets. PROOF48 builds the pages, content and ads, and reports what they do.
Does PROOF48 send patient reminders by WhatsApp or phone?
Not as part of a plan. AUTOMATE covers website chat, DM and email auto-responders, booking automation and a CRM. WhatsApp or phone reminders would be a custom build, priced on request.
When is PROOF48 the wrong choice for a dental practice?
When what you need is someone filming in the clinic every week, a local videographer fits better. When your practice software already handles bookings and recalls, use it instead of paying for the same thing twice.
Where PROOF48 fits
Dental marketing that works rests on trust a patient can check: genuine reviews, the real dentist on video, one ad per treatment and reminders that bring patients back, all written inside the college's rules. PROOF48 builds the content, pages and ads for that, and says so when the software you already have does the job.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.