Social media for dentists: a practical guide for dental practices

Most people choose a dentist close to home or work, and many are nervous before they ever call. Your social profiles do two jobs: help nearby people find you, and show them a friendly, calm practice before they walk in.

Start with Google Business Profile and one social channel you can keep up every week. Google's guidelines name dentists as individual practitioners: a public-facing dentist who can be contacted at the verified location during stated hours can have a profile, while support staff should not. Where several practitioners work at one site, the practice should have its own profile for the location as well.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google, checked 15 October 2026

Two to four posts a week is plenty for most practices. Batch the filming on a quiet afternoon and have a dentist check anything that gives clinical information before it goes out.

• Monday: a practical post. Opening hours, emergency appointments, how to book, parking.
• Tuesday: one common question answered plainly, such as how often to see the hygienist.
• Wednesday: a team member, their role and something human about them.
• Thursday: what happens at an appointment, filmed in an empty surgery.
• Friday: something light. A children's tip, a team moment, a local event you support.

The best dental content lowers anxiety. Show the waiting room, the chair, the instruments and the faces before the patient has to see them for real. Answer the questions your receptionists hear every day, and keep the tone calm rather than salesy.

Keep education general. Explain what a scale and polish involves, or what to do about a knocked-out tooth while you call the practice. Do not diagnose anyone in comments or messages; ask them to call or book.

• "Your first visit" carousel: the door, reception, the surgery, the dentist's face.
• Short videos explaining one instrument or one step, filmed without a patient in the chair.
• Myth or fact posts, checked by a dentist, for example about whitening or bleeding gums.
• Children's content for parents: first visits, brushing routines, what to say to a nervous child.
• Team posts: qualifications, training days, new equipment, anniversaries.
• Fee transparency: link to your fee list rather than putting prices in a post that will go out of date.

UK: the General Dental Council's advertising guidance says information about dental services should be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and asks you to avoid claims likely to create an unjustified expectation about results. Anything that names you should include your GDC registration number. Dentists not on a GDC specialist list must not use titles that imply specialist status, such as Orthodontist, and must not say they are 'specialising in' a treatment, though they may say 'special interest in' or 'practice limited to'. When promoting treatment on sites such as Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn, you must make clear it may not be appropriate for every patient and depends on an assessment.

The GDC's social media guidance quotes standard 4.2.3: you must not post information or comments about patients on social networking sites. It says you must not publish anything that could identify a patient without their explicit consent, and when you ask for consent you should explain exactly how the information will be used, for what purpose and where it will appear. It also warns that several small details together can identify someone.

US: the ADA Code of Ethics allows advertising that is not false or misleading in any material respect. Its advisory opinion 5.F.2 lists statements to avoid, including ones likely to create an unjustified expectation about results and claims of superiority without reasonable substantiation. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, HHS says that with limited exceptions a provider needs a patient's written authorisation before using their protected health information for marketing, which includes testimonials and identifiable before and after photos.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your regulator, defence organisation, state board or a lawyer before posting about a patient or a treatment result.

• Put your GDC number (UK) or licence details where your rules require them, including your profile bio.
• Use "special interest in" rather than "specialist" unless you are on the relevant specialist list.
• Get signed consent for every patient photo or story, saying where it will appear, and keep it on file.
• Check backgrounds for screens, X-rays, charts and diaries before you take any photo in the practice.

Sources: General Dental Council: Guidance on advertising, checked 15 October 2026; General Dental Council: Guidance on using social media (PDF), checked 15 October 2026; American Dental Association: Code of Ethics, Principle of Veracity (5.F advertising), checked 15 October 2026; HHS: HIPAA Privacy Rule guidance on marketing, checked 15 October 2026

Replying to reviews is where dental practices most often get into trouble. In the US, HHS's Office for Civil Rights settled with a California dental practice, which paid $23,000, over disclosing patient information when responding to online reviews; HHS calls that practice illegal under HIPAA. A Dallas dental practice paid $10,000 to settle social media disclosures of patients' information. In the UK, the same GDC duty of confidentiality applies to anything you write in public.

Ask every patient for a review the same way, for example with a link or QR code at reception. Google prohibits offering anything in return for a review, discouraging negative reviews or asking only your happiest patients. In the US, the FTC's rule bans buying reviews of a particular sentiment and suppressing negative ones with threats.

1. Thank the reviewer without confirming they are a patient. "Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback" works for every review.
2. Never mention a treatment, an appointment date or anything from their records, even if they did first.
3. For complaints, say you take feedback seriously and invite them to call the practice manager directly.
4. Keep the reply short. Google advises short, polite replies and never revealing a reviewer's private information.
5. Answer questions in comments with general information and a prompt to call or book.

Sources: HHS OCR: settlement with New Vision Dental over disclosures in response to online reviews, checked 15 October 2026; HHS OCR: Dental practice pays $10,000 to settle social media disclosures of patients' information, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews, checked 15 October 2026; Google Maps user-generated content policy: fake engagement, checked 15 October 2026; FTC final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (August 2024), checked 15 October 2026

Use four pillars: reassurance, education, the team and practical updates. One awareness day a month is plenty; pick ones that match a real service.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain lets you list words the team must never use, such as "specialist" or "painless", and topics that are off-limits, like named patients. Zolyp does not check posts against GDC, ADA or privacy rules, so have a dentist approve each week. Plans start at $29/mo.

1. Week 1: check Google hours and holiday hours, and list the month's most common patient questions.
2. Week 2: film three or four short explainers in one sitting, in an empty surgery.
3. Week 3: introduce one team member and post a practical update.
4. Week 4: reply to any outstanding reviews and note which posts led to calls or bookings.