How to Market a New Dental Practice Before and After Opening

The biggest mistake in new dental practice marketing is starting too late. If you begin when the doors open, you'll spend your first few months with an empty schedule while Google figures out you exist. The work that fills your first chairs happens three to six months before opening day.

This guide is a timeline. It covers what to do before you open, during launch week and through your first year. Dates are approximate, so adjust them to your build-out schedule, which will almost certainly slip at least once.

Why new dental practice marketing is different

An established practice has reviews, a patient base, referrals and years of search history. A new practice has none of that. You're starting with:

No reviews. Many patients won't consider a dentist with no reviews.
No search history. Google has little reason to rank a brand-new profile.
No patient list. There's nobody to send a recall reminder to.
No word of mouth. Referrals take time to build.

So your marketing has a different job. Before opening, it's about being findable and building a list of people who want to hear when you open. After opening, it's about turning every early patient into a review and a referral.

6 months before opening: decide who you're for

Before you build anything, make a few decisions that shape everything else.

Who's your ideal patient? Young families, working professionals, retirees, a specific community or language group?
What's your insurance strategy? Which PPOs will you join, and will you offer a membership plan for uninsured patients? This affects your messaging and who you can attract. If you're weighing this, read about marketing for in-network vs. fee-for-service practices.
What makes you different? Be specific and honest. "Evening and Saturday hours" or "we speak Spanish and Portuguese" is useful. "Quality care in a comfortable environment" isn't, because everyone says it.
What's your name and brand? Check that the domain name and social handles are available before you commit. Choose a name that's easy to say on the phone and spell in a search bar.
What's your marketing budget for the first year? New practices usually need to spend more upfront. See how much a dental practice should spend on marketing.

4–5 months before opening: get findable

Claim your online presence

Register your domain and set up a professional email address.
Claim your Google Business Profile as soon as you have a physical address and can receive mail there for verification. Read Google's guidelines for businesses that aren't open yet, since the rules for pre-opening listings can change.
Reserve social media handles on the platforms you'll actually use, even if you won't post much yet.

Build the website

Your website should go live well before opening. A simple "coming soon" page isn't enough for long. Aim for a real site with:

Your opening date (and a note that it may shift).
The dentist's bio and photo.
Services you'll offer.
Insurance plans you'll accept.
Location, parking and directions.
A way to join a pre-opening list or request an appointment.

Launching early gives Google time to discover and index your pages. For what to include, see the pages every dental website needs.

Set up the pre-opening list

The single most valuable pre-opening asset is a list of people who want to be notified when you open. Collect names, emails and phone numbers through a simple form on your website. Make it clear what they're signing up for, and get consent before you text them.

2–3 months before opening: build local awareness

Now you start telling people you're coming.

Signage. A "coming soon" sign on the building with your website address is one of the most effective things you'll do, especially if you're on a busy road.
Neighborhood outreach. Introduce yourself to nearby businesses, physicians, pharmacists, schools and daycares. Bring a short printed card with your opening date and website.
Specialist relationships. Meet the oral surgeons, periodontists, endodontists and orthodontists you'll refer to. They may send patients back to you.
Local community groups. Join the chamber of commerce or a local business association. Show up to an event or two.
Social media. Post behind-the-scenes updates on the build-out, introduce team members as you hire them, and share your opening date.
Direct mail, carefully. A postcard to households near your office announcing your opening can work, but it isn't cheap. Use a trackable URL or phone number so you know if it did anything.

1 month before opening: get the systems ready

This is when practices often realize the phones, website and PMS don't talk to each other. Fix that before patients start calling.

Pre-opening checklist:

[ ] Phones forward correctly, voicemail is set up, and someone will be answering from day one.
[ ] Online booking or appointment requests are connected to your schedule.
[ ] Your PMS is set up with appointment types and insurance plans.
[ ] Your review request process is ready to go from the first patient.
[ ] Google Analytics 4 is installed and you can see website visits.
[ ] Your team knows how to answer "Do you take my insurance?" and "How much is a cleaning?"
[ ] You've sent your pre-opening list a "booking now open" message.

Open your schedule for booking a few weeks before opening day. People on your pre-opening list are the warmest leads you have, and they should get first pick of appointment times.

Opening week

Opening week is less about marketing and more about making sure the first patients have a great experience. They're going to be your first reviewers and referrers.

Ask every patient for a review before they leave, and follow up by text with a direct link.
Ask how they heard about you, and write it down.
Post on social media and your Google Business Profile that you're open, with photos of the team.
Consider a simple open house for neighbors and local businesses. Keep it low-key and welcoming.

Be careful with "grand opening specials." Deep discounts can attract patients who leave when the discount ends, and some offers carry advertising or insurance contract considerations. If you run a new-patient offer, make it simple and clearly explained, and have it reviewed for compliance. This isn't legal advice.

The first 90 days: reviews, reviews, reviews

In the first three months, your top priorities are:

Reviews. Ask every satisfied patient. A brand-new profile with a handful of recent, detailed reviews looks much better than one with none. Use the methods in how to get more Google reviews.
Answering the phone. Every missed call is a lost patient, and you can't afford to lose many right now.
Booking the next visit. Schedule hygiene recall before patients leave.
Tracking sources. Know which channels are working so you can stop guessing.

Should a new practice run Google Ads?

Often, yes, at least at first. Organic search takes months to build, and paid ads can bring in patients while you wait. Keep the campaign focused on a few services and your immediate area, send traffic to a page that makes booking easy, and track which ads produce actual appointments. Once organic search and referrals pick up, you can reassess.

Months 4–12: build the long-term engine

After the first few months, shift from launch mode to steady growth.

Focus	What to do
Local SEO	Keep your Google Business Profile active, add service pages and build local citations
Reviews	Keep asking every day; respond to every review
Retention	Make sure recall is working; follow up on unscheduled treatment
Referrals	Start asking satisfied patients for referrals
Content	Add a helpful article or video each month
Ads	Keep what's producing patients; cut the rest

Review your numbers monthly: new patients by source, reviews, calls and booking requests. By the end of the first year, you should know which two or three channels bring in most of your patients. Put more into those and less into everything else.

Frequently asked questions

When should I start marketing a new dental practice?

Ideally four to six months before opening. That gives you time to launch a website, claim your Google Business Profile, put up signage and build a list of people who want to be notified when you open. Starting a month before opening usually means a slow first quarter.

How do new dental practices get patients?

Most early patients come from local search, Google Business Profile, signage, paid ads and the dentist's own network. A pre-opening email or text list is especially valuable because those people have already said they're interested. Reviews and referrals start building once you're open.

How much should I budget for new dental practice marketing?

New practices usually spend more in the first year than established practices do, because they're building everything at once. Budget for a website, signage, launch outreach and some paid ads. Get quotes from several providers early so the cost is in your business plan.

Can I get Google reviews before my practice opens?

No. Reviews should come from real patients after real visits, and Google's policies prohibit fake or incentivized reviews. Focus on asking every patient from your first day, and make it easy with a direct review link sent by text.

Do I need a website before my dental practice opens?

Yes. A website that's live a few months before opening gives Google time to find it and gives people a place to learn about you and join your pre-opening list. It doesn't need every feature on day one, but it should be more than a placeholder.