Top 5 Highest-Performing PPC Campaigns for Dentists

And How to Make Them Work for You

Proven campaign strategies to fill your schedule and drive sustainable revenue growth.

Competition for new patients is at an all-time high, making it more important than ever for dental practices to deploy targeted, well-structured paid ads campaigns that prioritize both intent and high-quality conversions. Below, we’ve outlined five of the most effective PPC campaign types we use to help practices consistently acquire 30+ more new patients per month.

Each campaign breakdown includes why it works, how to implement it effectively, and strategic insights to help your practice rise above the noise. Whether you're scaling an established office or launching in a competitive area, these real-world strategies are designed to guide better decision-making and stronger ROI.

1. Location + “Dentist Near Me” Campaigns

This is your bread-and-butter campaign for everyday searchers, focused on capturing “unattached” patients looking for dental care in your target geographic markets. By combining local keywords, like city, neighborhood or zip code, with phrases such as “top rated dentist in [location],” these campaigns position your practice directly in front of potential patients at the exact moment they’re ready to book, and this alignment with real-time patient behavior allows Google to prioritize local, and highly relevant results. Ensure you note that you’re accepting new patients and adhere to mostly exact match keywords over phrase match to maintain a high ROI.    

Ad Copy: “Trusted Family Dentist in [City]” “Now Accepting New Patients” “Book Today” “15+ years serving [City]” “Over _#___ 5 Star Reviews Online”

Pair this with a strong, branded landing page that is personable, straight-forward, and features above-the-fold callouts for your most common services, such as cleanings, exams & x-rays. It’s a great idea to showcase Google reviews and in-office/team photos here; ensuring that prospective patients get a sense for the atmosphere of the practice and the care ethos you provide. These searches are overwhelmingly conducted on phones, so mobile-first design is critical to success and don’t forget to clearly state whether you accept insurance and/or offer financing.   

Pro Tip: Layer your primary campaign with secondary campaigns offering radial targeting + zip codes of high-value neighborhoods expanding outward from your practice. This is especially important for highly saturated metropolitan areas with population densities greater than 60k. 

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2. Cosmetic Dentistry Campaigns

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These campaigns are excellent because they offer a strong return on your ad spend and produce incredibly happy and satisfied patients. They target high-intent patients looking for aesthetic dental improvements that typically produce high case values with higher margins and cash-payment terms. These patients know what they want and are ready to make a decision, so the success of these campaigns is predicated on using precise high-intent keywords for the specific services being sought after. By finding patients ready to invest in their smiles, this campaign is one of the most effective ways to grow your high-value case load.          

Ad Copy: “Cosmetic Dentist Near Me” “Teeth Whitening Specials” “Smile Makeovers” “Porcelain Veneers” “Bonding” “5-Star Rated Cosmetic Dentist in [City]” “Trusted by 500+ Local Patients”   

A highly converting landing page will focus on aesthetic motivations, emotional outcomes and instilling the trust patients need in order to move forward with treatment. It’s also important to encourage action by highlighting free cosmetic consultations, while not being pushy. Before and after transformative imagery is key to motivating action.  

Pro Tip: Use income bracket filters to target the top 10-30% of income earners and exclude the lower 50% of income earners to improve the quality and readiness of your converted leads, as well as 18-35 age groups and affluent neighborhoods by Zip Code.   

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3. Dental Emergency Campaigns

Dental emergencies, such as severe tooth pain, broken teeth or lost fillings, can’t wait and that’s why this is such an incredibly effective type of campaign. These searches are inherently high-intent and their immediacy means minimal shopping around as they are seeking the fastest solution. They also have low price sensitivity as their current need generally outweighs their concerns about cost and insurance coverage. These campaigns are also great entry points for long-term patients, as once trust is built during an emergency session, that patient is likely to return for cleanings, exams and additional cosmetic treatments.    

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Ad Copy: “Same-day appointments available!” “Have a Dental Emergency?” No Appointment? No Problem - Walk-In Dentist Open Now.” “Chipped, Cracked or Broken Teeth?” “Urgent Dental Care [City].”

The landing page needs to prioritize instant scheduling and a prominent click-to-call call now button, while also clearly articulating your ability to deliver fast relief with urgent and clear headlines. It’s also vital that you clearly identify your ability to treat the specific problem the prospective patient is inquiring about, such as a broken or chipped tooth, pain relief, lost fillings and crowns and extractions. Further, embed easily digestible trust signals such as a doctor photo with a reassuring quote or message or by mentioning your years in practice.    

Pro Tip: Target keywords like “toothache help near me,” “emergency dentist open now,” “chipped or cracked tooth” and negative keywords for “Medicaid” and “Medicaid” and state and government sponsored insurance plans. 

4. All-on-X and Dental Implant Campaigns

All-on-X and dental implant campaigns are among the most powerful and profitable paid search strategies in dentistry. These campaigns target patients seeking life-changing restorative solutions; they are informed, motivated and have already explored their options. They are actively comparing providers, so it’s critical to incorporate high-intent, service-specific keywords, such as “dental implants near me,” “full arch implants,” “permanent teeth in a day,” and “All-on-4 specialist” into your build. This patient group can tend towards a longer buying cycle and are higher income, which makes strategic follow-up essential to overall campaign success.

Ad Copy: “Implant Experts Near [City]” “New Teeth, New Confidence” “All-Inclusive Implants - Starting at $_____” “Struggling with Dentures? Discover All-on-4 Implants” “Permanent Smile Solutions - Book a Free Consultation” 

To achieve a top-converting landing page, your focus should be on rapid emotional engagement and then on instilling trust and relaying clinical expertise and confidence. It’s a great place to highlight patient testimonial videos and service overviews. Patient quotes and references to 5-star Google reviews are also incredibly powerful; as are smile transformation galleries. Ensure you list the types of dental implants you offer, from single-tooth to implant-supported bridges to full-arch cases and even minis.

Pro Tip: If you offer a special, all-inclusive, rate for implants, prominently displaying your discounted offerings and transparent pricing can be a great way to increase conversions and book these high-value patients.       

5. Invisalign and Clear Aligner Campaigns

These are great campaigns because they generate a high ROI with a relatively low treatment cost. Target patients are both solution-aware and emotionally motivated; being highly image-conscious and convenience motivated - looking for straighter teeth without the look or discomfort of traditional braces. There’s a significant amount of competition for these services, so it’s critical to focus on high-intent keywords, such as “Invisalign near me,” “clear aligners cost,” and “invisible braces [City].” And since it’s not a medically necessary intervention, be prepared for a longer runway than most new patient acquisition campaigns and ensure you make intake as simple as possible; for instance offering free consultations.  

Ad Copy: “Get the smile you’ve always wanted – Free consultation” “[City] Invisalign Experts” “Flexible Payment Options” “Boost Confidence w/ Invisalign” “Clear Braces, Real Results - Flexible Payment Options”

Your landing page for this campaign needs to focus on visual appeal and visual proof, so consider before/after photos, success stories and lifestyle-focused imagery that emphasizes confidence, discretion and transformation. These individuals have already decided they want to improve their smile; they’re just looking for the right provider. An educational section informing patients how clear aligners work, simple eligibility criteria and treatment timelines is necessary to spur action. It’s also important to be highly financing-forward, by prominently featuring flexible payment plans, monthly pricing, or “Invisalign for as low as $____/month” messaging to lower perceived barriers to care. Incentives like “same-day smile assessments” can be highly successful in driving conversions.   

Pro Tip: Use demographic targeted for the prime 18-35 age group of adults and young professionals looking for discreet orthodontic solutions, to achieve the best results. 

Optimizing for Performance: How to Make Every Click Count

The best PPC campaigns don’t just drive traffic; they drive results. To consistently acquire high-value patients and maximize return on ad spend, your campaigns must be carefully tracked, tested, and continuously refined. But even great ads can fail without a well-optimized conversion funnel or a front office trained to convert leads into appointments. From keyword strategy to landing page design to follow-up workflows, every touchpoint should be engineered to reduce friction and move prospective patients from click to chair.

A/B Testing Ad Copy & Creative: Effective campaigns are never static. A/B testing your ad creative allows you to compare variations of headlines, imagery, offers, and calls-to-action to see what resonates best with your audience. By continuously testing and optimizing these elements, you can improve click-through rates, reduce acquisition costs, and keep your messaging fresh and competitive. Even subtle changes, like a new headline or incentive, can unlock significantly better performance over time.

Keyword Targeting & Negative Keywords: Successful campaigns rely on smart keyword targeting and continual research and refinement to attract high-intent users who are actively searching for your specific dental services. This means focusing on service-specific phrases like “emergency dentist near me,” “Invisalign consultation [City],” or “dental implants cost,” which signal immediate patient needs and stronger booking potential. Equally important is the use of negative keywords, terms you specifically exclude to avoid showing ads to low-intent or irrelevant searchers. These include job seekers (“dental assistant jobs”), educational queries (“how to fix a cavity at home”), and low-value searches (“free dental work near me”). Together, high-intent targeting and strategic exclusions help maximize ROI by ensuring your ads reach the right patients, and only the right patients.

Sitelinks, Callout Extensions & Call Tracking: These are essential tools for maximizing the visibility and performance of your campaigns. Sitelinks allow you to showcase additional links directly within your ad, such as services, patient testimonials, financing options and booking pages, which spurs action and engagement. Callout extensions offer bite-sized trust builders like “Same-Day Appointments,” “PPO Insurance Accepted,” and “Call Now” click-to-call buttons in order to reinforce value and action at a glance. Just as important is call tracking, which assigns unique phone numbers to specific campaigns so you can accurately measure which ads are driving actual phone inquiries to your office. This data is invaluable, not only for calculating ROI but also for revealing gaps in your lead conversion process, particularly at the front desk. When combined, these elements ensure that every click has the greatest possible chance of turning into a booked appointment.

Conversion Funnel Optimization: Even the best ads will fail if the landing page isn’t built to convert. You work hard to get prospective patients to your site; don’t let them slip away. To turn clicks into scheduled patients, your page must load quickly, work flawlessly on mobile, and reinforce trust with doctor bios, reviews, and emotionally resonant messaging. Clear, benefit-driven headlines paired with direct CTAs like “Call Now” or “Book an Appointment” remove hesitation and guide action. Visual clarity, strong alignment with the ad, and minimal distractions all work together to keep attention focused and drive decisions. But landing page performance is just the first step; true success depends on the full funnel conversion process. That includes rapid front desk follow-up, automated nurture for unscheduled leads, and continual intake reviews to identify where processes break down and how to improve scheduling consistency and patient experience.