Google Ads for Dental Specialists: Orthodontists, Periodontists and Paediatric Practices

• Smaller search demand: fewer people search for a periodontist than for a dentist, so budgets and keyword lists are smaller.
• Higher value per patient: treatment plans are often long, so a single new patient can justify a higher cost per enquiry.
• Referrals still matter: many patients come from their general dentist, so ads usually target people who look for treatment themselves.
• People travel further: patients often accept a longer journey for specialist care than for a check-up, so the right radius may be wider.
• Longer decisions: consultations, second opinions and finance discussions mean results take longer to show in reports.

The GDC states that dentists do not have to be on a specialist list to practise a specialty, but they can only use the title "specialist" if they are on that list (GDC: specialist lists).

• Check every clinician named in your ads and landing pages on the GDC register before you write "specialist".
• If the clinician is on the list, "Specialist Orthodontist" or "Specialist in Periodontics" can be a strong, honest headline.
• If not, describe the work instead: "Dentist with a special interest in orthodontics" or "Gum health clinic".
• Apply the same rule to the practice name, sitelinks, callouts and the Google Business Profile, not just headlines.

We cover other risky words in dental ad copy rules.

Start with a short list of high-intent searches for each specialty and your town, then grow it from the search terms report.

• Orthodontics: "orthodontist [town]", "adult braces [town]", "private orthodontist near me", "clear aligners [town]". Brand names such as Invisalign follow your provider agreement, see Invisalign marketing.
• Periodontics: "periodontist [town]", "gum specialist near me", "gum treatment [town]".
• Paediatric dentistry: "children's dentist [town]", "kids dentist near me", "paediatric dentist [town]". The person searching is usually a parent, so write the ad for them.
• Implants and oral surgery: "implant surgeon [town]", "wisdom tooth removal private [town]".
• Negative keywords from day one: "NHS" if you only see private patients and that matches how you work, plus "jobs", "training", "course", "salary" and "DIY".

Google treats health as a sensitive category in personalised advertising. Ads and landing pages about physical health conditions or invasive procedures cannot use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match, your data segments or lookalike segments (Google Ads policy: health in personalised advertising).

• Gum disease, oral surgery and implant pages are likely to fall into this category.
• Keyword and location targeting still work, so build specialist campaigns on search terms, not on uploaded patient lists.
• Keep ad text about your service, not about the reader's condition: "Gum health assessment with a periodontist", not "Bleeding gums?".

• Start with a radius that matches where your current patients actually come from. Check postcodes in your patient records before guessing.
• Use the "Presence" location option so ads show to people in or regularly in your area.
• Run ads when someone can answer the phone or the online booking works.
• Give each specialty its own campaign and budget, so a busy orthodontic campaign does not starve the periodontal one.
• Set a budget from patient value, not from what general practices spend. Our guide to how much Google Ads cost for dentists shows the method.

• One page per specialty, linked from the matching ad group, never the homepage.
• Name the clinician, their GDC number and, if they are on a specialist list, which one.
• Explain whether patients need a referral, how self-referral works and what the first consultation costs.
• For paediatric pages, speak to parents: what happens at the first visit, how long it takes, how you help nervous children.
• Add a short section for referring dentists with a referral form or email, so the same page supports referrals too.

Count the outcomes that matter for long treatments, not just form fills.

• Calls and forms from ads, as conversions in Google Ads.
• Consultations booked and attended, recorded against the campaign.
• Treatment plans accepted and their value.
• Cost per attended consultation and cost per accepted treatment plan, by specialty.

Our LTV calculator helps you set the most you can afford per attended consultation.

In our own campaign for a dental clinic in Larnaca, €250 of spend produced 12 patients who attended in 14 days, about €20.8 per attended patient (case study). One campaign is not a benchmark for specialist work, but it shows why we judge campaigns by attended patients. Want us to look at your account? Book a free 30-minute audit call.