Playbook · Dental practice
New patient growth plan for a dental practice
Seven moves for a practice that wants more new patients without a marketing agency retainer.
- 7 ranked plays
- 30-day sequence
- Costs and tools included
New patient growth plan for a dental practice: what should you actually do?
Seven moves for a practice that wants more new patients without a marketing agency retainer. There are 7 ranked plays here, starting with reactivate patients who haven't booked in 12–18 months, sequenced over 4 weeks, each with the tools it needs, the hours it takes and what it costs. Written for 2026 and free to read in full.
Last updated 3 August 2026
| Play | Effort | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Reactivate patients who haven't booked in 12–18 months | Half a day to build the list, then automate | £0–£50 for SMS credits |
| Complete and actively maintain your Google Business Profile | 2 hours to set up, 20 minutes a month | £0 |
| Ask for a Google review after every positive visit | 1 hour to set up | £0 |
| A specific referral scheme for existing patients | Half a day to set up | Cost of the reward, typically £20–£40 per referral |
| Partner with local employers for a workplace check-up scheme | Half a day | £0 |
| Publish clear, reassuring content for the anxious patient | 1 day | £0 |
| Make online booking genuinely one click, not a phone-only process | Half a day to set up | £0–£30 a month |
Most dental practices already have a bigger opportunity sitting in their own patient list than in any new-patient campaign: lapsed patients who haven't booked a check-up in over a year. Reactivating them is cheaper and faster than acquiring someone new, and it should happen alongside, not instead of, local search work.
This plan assumes an established practice with a patient management system (Dentally, Software of Excellence, or similar), a receptionist or practice manager able to make calls, and a genuine focus on private or mixed NHS/private work where new patient value matters. It's built around local search, reviews and reactivation — the three channels that consistently work for single-site practices.
- — An established practice with an existing patient database
- — A patient management system that can filter by last visit date
- — Reception or admin capacity for follow-up calls
- — A Google Business Profile that's at least partially set up
If you're at NHS capacity with a long waiting list and no room for more patients, this plan isn't for you — focus instead on retention and clinical quality, since new patient acquisition adds pressure you don't need.
The moves
Ranked, highest return first.
Work down the list. Each one names the first step so there's nothing to plan.
- 01
Reactivate patients who haven't booked in 12–18 months
These patients already know and trust the practice; a well-timed reminder converts far more easily and cheaply than any new-patient campaign.
First step: Run a report for patients with no appointment in 12–18 months. Send a personal letter or SMS (not a generic newsletter blast) reminding them a check-up is due, with an easy booking link.
- Tools
- Your practice management software's reporting, SMS via the same system
- Effort
- Half a day to build the list, then automate
- Cost
- £0–£50 for SMS credits
- 02
Complete and actively maintain your Google Business Profile
Almost all new dental patients search 'dentist near me' on Google Maps first; an incomplete profile with few recent photos loses to a competitor with a fuller one before a phone call ever happens.
First step: Fill in every field including services offered, add current photos of the practice and team (not stock images), and post a monthly update.
- Tools
- Google Business Profile (free)
- Effort
- 2 hours to set up, 20 minutes a month
- Cost
- £0
- 03
Ask for a Google review after every positive visit
Reviews are one of the strongest trust signals for a decision as personal as choosing a dentist, and recent, detailed reviews also help local search ranking.
First step: Train front desk to ask satisfied patients for a review at checkout, with a printed card showing a QR code that links straight to the review form.
- Tools
- A QR code generator (free)
- Effort
- 1 hour to set up
- Cost
- £0
- 04
A specific referral scheme for existing patients
Word of mouth already drives most dental new-patient growth informally; making it explicit with a small, real reward increases how often patients actually mention you.
First step: Offer existing patients a specific reward (a free hygienist visit, a discount voucher) for a successful referral, and mention it at the end of a positive appointment.
- Tools
- A simple referral card at reception
- Effort
- Half a day to set up
- Cost
- Cost of the reward, typically £20–£40 per referral
- 05
Partner with local employers for a workplace check-up scheme
Local businesses often want a simple wellness perk to offer staff, and a dental check-up scheme is an easy, low-cost benefit for them to provide, bringing you a batch of new patients at once.
First step: Approach three local employers with 20+ staff and offer a discounted check-up scheme with an on-site information session.
- Tools
- A one-page proposal
- Effort
- Half a day
- Cost
- £0
- 06
Publish clear, reassuring content for the anxious patient
Dental anxiety is one of the biggest reasons people delay booking; content that specifically addresses it (what a first visit looks like, sedation options, pricing transparency) removes the biggest objection before the phone call.
First step: Write or film one page or short video specifically for nervous patients: what to expect at a first appointment, in plain language, with no scare tactics.
- Tools
- Your website, a phone camera
- Effort
- 1 day
- Cost
- £0
- 07
Make online booking genuinely one click, not a phone-only process
A meaningful share of prospective patients researching dentists in the evening will not call the next day if calling is the only option — an online booking widget captures them at the moment of intent.
First step: Add an online booking widget to the homepage and Google Business Profile, even if it only handles simple check-up bookings and routes complex cases to a call.
- Tools
- Your practice management system's booking widget, or a simple Calendly-style tool
- Effort
- Half a day to set up
- Cost
- £0–£30 a month
Sequence
What to do first, week by week.
Reactivate and reach
Build and message the lapsed patient list, and complete the Google Business Profile fully.
Fix the trust signals
Set up the review QR code process at checkout, and publish the anxious-patient content.
Reach new patients
Launch the referral scheme and pitch two local employer partnerships.
Remove friction
Add the online booking widget and review response rates from the reactivation campaign, adjusting the message if response is low.
Avoid
Where this usually goes wrong.
Ignoring lapsed patients while chasing new ones
A practice with thousands of dormant patients on file and no reactivation process is spending money to find new patients when the cheapest opportunity is already sitting in the database.
Making booking phone-only
People researching dentists in the evening won't always remember to call the next day. A simple online booking option captures intent at the moment it happens.
Underestimating dental anxiety as a marketing problem
For a large share of non-attenders, fear of the dentist — not price or convenience — is the real barrier. Content that addresses it directly removes an objection most practices never mention.
Questions
Common questions.
How effective is reactivating lapsed patients compared to new patient ads?
Reactivation typically costs a fraction of paid new-patient acquisition per booking, since it's reaching people who already trust the practice — it should usually be the first channel tried, not the last.
How many Google reviews does a dental practice need?
There's no fixed threshold, but recency matters as much as volume — a steady trickle of reviews each month outperforms a large batch collected once and never repeated.
Is it worth running Google Ads for a dental practice?
It can work well for high-value treatments like implants or Invisalign where the customer lifetime value justifies the cost per click, but it's rarely the best first move before local search and reactivation basics are in place.
What referral reward works well for dental practices?
A free hygienist appointment or a £20–£40 discount voucher is common and proportionate — avoid rewards so large they feel like they're compensating for a service issue.
How do we address dental anxiety in marketing without sounding clinical?
Use plain language, describe exactly what happens step by step, and consider a short video from a friendly team member rather than a formal written policy page — specificity reduces fear more than reassurance alone.
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