Dental Ad Copy Rules: What You Can and Can't Write in Google and Meta Ads

• Google and Meta decide whether your ad can run and who it can be shown to.
• The ASA and the CAP Code decide whether your claims are allowed in UK advertising.
• The GDC decides what dental professionals can say about themselves and their services.

An ad can pass one and fail another. Platform approval does not mean the claim is acceptable to the ASA or the GDC, and the reverse is also true.

Google treats health as a sensitive category in personalised advertising. Its list includes physical health conditions, products or services for managing chronic conditions, and invasive medical procedures, including cosmetic surgery and injections (Google Ads policy: health in personalised advertising).

• What decides it: Google looks at your ad and your landing page. Pages about implants, oral surgery or gum disease treatment may fall into this category.
• What is restricted: advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments cannot be used for these ads.
• What still works: location targeting and Google's own predefined audiences remain available, and search campaigns can still target the keywords people type.
• What happens: the ad is flagged under the personalised advertising policy. You can remove the restricted audiences, edit the ad or landing page, or appeal if you believe the policy does not apply.

For most practices the fix is simple: run treatment campaigns on keywords and locations, and do not upload patient lists to target them. Our Google Ads setup guide for dentists shows how.

Meta's advertising standards say ads must not assert or imply personal attributes, including physical or mental health and medical conditions, and should focus on the benefits of the product or service instead. Meta's own examples of ads that break the rule include "Do you have diabetes?" (Meta Advertising Standards: personal attributes).

In dental ads, the problem is usually a question or statement aimed at the reader's teeth:

• Avoid: "Embarrassed by your crooked teeth?" Use: "Thinking about straighter teeth? Book a free aligner consultation."
• Avoid: "Missing teeth ruining your confidence?" Use: "Dental implants in Bath: what happens at the first consultation."
• Avoid: "Your gums are bleeding? Don't ignore it." Use: "Hygiene appointments available this week."
• Avoid: "Tired of hiding your yellow teeth?" Use: "Professional teeth whitening, from a dentist-led team."

The difference is between describing your service and describing the person reading the ad. Our Facebook Ads Manager guide for dentists covers targeting and lead forms under the same rules.

The ASA judges claims by how consumers are likely to read them. "Best" can be treated as harmless puffery when it is obviously an opinion, but if people are likely to read it as a measurable claim, it becomes objective and needs documentary evidence, usually a comparison with competitors. Consumer perception data and awards alone are not enough (ASA: "best" claims).

"Best dentist in Bath" or "best implant results" will usually be read as a factual claim about you compared with other practices, and you are unlikely to be able to prove it. GDC guidance also expects dental advertising to be accurate and not misleading (GDC guidance on advertising). We go deeper in why "best dentist" and "guaranteed results" can put dental ads at risk.

In the Google and Meta policies we reviewed, a plain booking call to action such as "Book your appointment", "Book a consultation" or "Call now" is not restricted. Problems come from what surrounds it:

• Health wording in the same ad or on the landing page, which can move the ad into Google's sensitive health category or break Meta's personal attributes rule.
• Pressure on clinical decisions: "Only 3 implant slots left", "Book today or lose your discount".
• Promises the practice cannot keep: "Same-day appointment guaranteed", "24/7" when nobody answers at night.

Keep the call to action, and make sure the words around it describe your service, not the reader.

• Not "Best dentist in town". Write "Rated 4.9 on Google by 230 patients", only if true and current.
• Not "Pain-free implants guaranteed". Write "What to expect at your implant consultation".
• Not "Specialist orthodontist" unless the dentist is on the GDC specialist list. Write "Dentist with a special interest in orthodontics".
• Not "Fix your smile in 6 weeks". Write "Treatment time depends on your assessment".
• Not "Struggling with dental anxiety?". Write "Calm, unhurried appointments with extra time to talk".
• Not "Cheapest implants in the UK". Write "Implant consultations from £95, with a written treatment plan", only if true.
• Not before-and-after photos without consent. Use genuine, unedited, consented cases that show typical results.

Google reviews the landing page as well as the ad, and the ASA and GDC treat your website as advertising too. Check that the page:

• Repeats the same honest claims as the ad, with no "best", "guaranteed" or "pain-free".
• Shows prices or how prices are worked out, and what is included.
• Shows the information GDC guidance expects, such as the professionals' GDC numbers and the complaints procedure.
• Explains that treatment depends on a clinical assessment.

• Read the exact policy named in the notice. On Google it appears next to the ad; on Meta, in Account Quality.
• Fix the cause: change the wording, the landing page or the targeting. On Google, a restriction under health in personalised advertising is often fixed by removing advertiser-curated audiences.
• Appeal or request a review only when you are confident the rule does not apply.
• Do not create near-identical copies of rejected ads. Repeated violations can put the whole account at risk.

• No question or statement about the reader's teeth, health or appearance.
• No "best", "guaranteed", "pain-free" or "permanent" unless you can prove it.
• "Specialist" only for GDC-registered specialists.
• No countdown pressure on clinical treatment.
• Booking call to action is clear, and the promise behind it is true.
• No patient lists or lookalike audiences for treatment campaigns.
• Landing page matches the ad and shows GDC information.

Want us to check your current ads before they get flagged? Book a free 30-minute audit call.