Orthodontic Marketing: Turn Consults Into Starts

Orthodontic marketing is the work of bringing families and adults to a consult and helping them decide, with good information, whether to start treatment. Most practices already get people through the door. The harder part comes after: the parent who says "we'll think about it," the seven-year-old who isn't ready yet, the adult who is also looking at an aligner kit online.

This guide covers that part. It walks through the path from first contact to a start, how to reply to new inquiries, how to run a consult families can say yes to, how to follow up without pressure, how to keep an observation list for children who need monitoring, how to keep general dentists referring, how to post on social media and run Meta ads with consent and privacy in mind, how to answer at-home aligner companies honestly and how to budget and measure by starts.

It's written for orthodontic practice owners, treatment coordinators and office managers. It isn't legal advice. Advertising rules vary by state, and privacy obligations depend on how your practice operates, so check the details with your state dental board and a qualified advisor.

What orthodontic marketing covers

Orthodontic marketing covers every way a practice earns a consult and every step that helps a family decide to start. Search is one part of it. Referrals, the first reply, the consult itself, follow-up, recall, social media and paid ads are the rest.

Starts are the number that matters

A consult request is a good sign. A start is the outcome. Between the two sit several places where a practice can lose people: the voicemail nobody returned, the consult that ended without a clear plan, the family who wanted to talk it over at home and never heard from you again.

Marketing for orthodontists that only counts inquiries can look healthy while starts stay flat. So this guide treats the consult as the middle of the marketing plan, not the end of it, and judges every channel by the same question: did it bring consults that turned into starts?

Where search fits

Search still matters. Families look up treatments, early treatment and cost, and many check your Google Business Profile before they call. Our guide to SEO for orthodontists covers treatment pages, early treatment pages for parents, location pages, the referral page, the Business Profile, reviews and schema, so this guide doesn't repeat them. Here, search appears as one source of consults to count alongside the others.

The path from first contact to a start

Most starts follow the same six stages: first contact, first reply, booked consult, attended consult, decision and start. Children who aren't ready yet branch off to an observation list and come back for a recheck. Knowing the stages tells you where to look when starts slow down.

First contact. A call, a web form, a social media message, a walk-in or a referral from a dentist.
First reply. Someone from your office answers the question and offers a consult time.
Booked consult. The family has a date, a reminder and knows what the visit includes.
Attended consult. The exam happens and the doctor explains what they found and the options.
Decision. The family chooses to start, asks for time to think, or hears that treatment isn't needed yet.
Start. Treatment begins, or a start date is on the calendar.

A second path runs alongside those six. When the orthodontist recommends monitoring instead of treatment, the child moves to an observation list and returns for a recheck. That isn't a lost patient. It's a planned visit.

From first contact to a start

1First contacta call, form, message, walk-in or dentist referral
2First replya person answers and offers a consult time
3Booked consulta date, a reminder and what the visit includes
4Attended consultthe exam, the findings and the options
5Decisionstart, time to think, or not yet
6Starttreatment begins or a start date is booked

Observation list: children being monitored, each with a recheck date

Monitored children return for a recheck, then move through the stages again.

Illustrative stages only. Count your own inquiries, consults and starts, and keep patient details out of marketing tools.

Find the stage where people stop

Look back over the last few months and ask where people stopped moving. Plenty of first contacts but few booked consults points to the first reply. Booked consults with many missed visits points to reminders and to what families were told about the visit. Attended consults with few starts points to the consult itself or to the follow-up.

Fix the stage where the most people stop before you spend more money bringing new people in. A practice that loses families after the consult won't fix that with more ads.

Answer new inquiries the same day

Reply to every new inquiry on the same business day, from a person, with a consult time. A family that contacts you may be contacting other offices too, and a quick, useful reply gives them a reason to book with you.

That includes after-hours forms and social media messages. Decide who checks each inbox, when, and who covers for them on days off. A message that sits in a social media inbox over a long weekend is a first contact with no first reply.

What the first reply should say

A good first reply is short and does five things:

answers the question the person asked, if you can answer it without an exam
offers two or three consult times, including one outside school hours if you have it
says what the consult includes, how long it usually takes and whether there's a charge
says who they'll meet, by role or by name
gives a direct number for questions

Parents of younger children often ask whether their child is too young. The AAO recommends that children have their first check-up with an orthodontist when an orthodontic problem is first recognized and no later than age 7. A reply that says so, and adds that a check-up isn't the same as starting treatment, answers the real worry behind the question.

Keep the first form short

A first-contact form only needs what your team needs to reply: a name, a phone number or email, the preferred way to reach them and, if you like, whether the visit is for a child or an adult. Leave out insurance details, medical history, symptoms and photos of teeth.

Those details belong in the intake process after you've spoken, through whatever secure system your practice uses. A short form is easier to finish, and it keeps sensitive information from moving through your website, inbox and any tools connected to them.

Make the consult easy to say yes to

Families decide more easily when they know what to expect before the visit, hear a plain explanation during it and leave with a written plan, the cost and a next step. None of that needs a sales script.

Before the consult

The days before a consult decide whether the family shows up ready to listen.

Confirm the visit by the method the family chose, with the date, time, address, parking and who should come.
Say whether a second parent or another decision-maker can join by phone or video.
Say what the visit includes, such as an exam and records if your office takes them that day.
Point to your cost and payment page, so the first money conversation isn't a surprise.

The AAO lists the questions generally covered at a child's first orthodontic exam, including what the problem is, the treatment options, how long treatment is expected to take and how much it will cost. If families know those questions will be answered, they arrive expecting a conversation rather than a pitch.

During the consult

The doctor explains the findings and the options. The treatment coordinator turns that into a plan the family can repeat at home: what's recommended, why now or why later, what the options are, roughly how long treatment is expected to take and what each option costs. Write it down as you go, in the family's words where you can.

Two habits help. Ask early who else helps make the decision, and offer to walk that person through the plan by phone. And before you talk about dates, ask what questions are left. A family with an open question isn't ready to pick a start date, and pushing for one tends to end the conversation.

What families should take home

Every family should leave the consult with four things, in print or by secure message:

the written plan in plain words, with the options you discussed
the cost of each option, what it includes and the payment choices you offer
the name and direct number of the person they met
a next step on the calendar: a start date, a day you'll call or, for a child being monitored, a recheck date

Free consults and offers

Many orthodontic offices offer a free first consult. If you do, say exactly what's included and whether records, X-rays or a second visit cost anything. The ADA's guide to advertising rules points dentists to the FTC's guide on use of the word "free" and notes that many states restrict how fees and discounts are advertised. Check your state's rules before you publish a price, a discount or a limited-time offer, and keep any published figure current.

Leave out promises about results. The ADA Code lists statements likely to create an unjustified expectation about results among its examples of false or misleading advertising, and it calls for reasonable substantiation before an ad claims services are superior to other dentists'. "Straight teeth in six months," "guaranteed results" and "the best orthodontist in town" are the kind of claims that guidance is aimed at.

Follow up after the consult without pressure

Plan the follow-up before the family leaves. A short thank-you the same day, a call later that week to answer questions and one more check-in before the family moves to a pending list you review each month is enough for most practices. Every message comes from someone the family met and offers help, not a deadline.

A follow-up plan for undecided families

The same day. A short thank-you from the treatment coordinator by the method the family chose, with a direct number. Send texts only to people who agreed to receive them.
Later that week. A call to ask what came up at home and to answer it. If the family is ready, book the start on that call.
A second check-in. One more offer of help, and a question about whether they'd like you to hold a start date.
The pending list. Families who haven't decided move to a list someone reviews each month, with a note of what they were waiting on.

Keep follow-up messages free of treatment details unless you're sure who will read them. A text that mentions a child's braces plan can show up on a shared tablet or a lock screen. "Thanks for coming in today. Here's my direct number if anything comes up" does the job without that risk.

Rules on calling and texting patients, and on automated messages, can be detailed. Check consent requirements with your advisor before you automate any follow-up.

When to stop following up

Stop when the family says no, asks you to stop or tells you they've chosen another office. Note the reason if they give one, thank them and leave the door open.

Read those reasons together every few months. If many families mention cost, look at your payment options and how you present them. If many mention timing, look at how far out your start appointments are booked. If many say they're still thinking months later, the plan they took home may not have answered their questions.

Keep an observation list for children who aren't ready

When the orthodontist recommends monitoring instead of treatment, put the child on an observation list with a recheck date, tell the parent in plain words why you're waiting and when you'll see the child again, and send the reminder yourself. Done well, it's good care, and it keeps a family who already chose your office from drifting away.

The AAO tells parents that in some cases the best approach is simply to monitor the child's growth and wait, and that Phase 1 treatment is not necessary for every child. That means many children seen early won't start right away. Those families have already trusted you with a first look. The observation list is how you keep that relationship without pushing treatment a child doesn't need.

Who belongs on the list

children the orthodontist wants to see again as their teeth and jaws develop
children who may need treatment later, with the reason recorded in the clinical notes
children whose families chose to wait after hearing the options

Keep the list in your practice management system or another secure record your office controls. A spreadsheet passed around by email, or a marketing tool, is the wrong place for it.

What to tell parents and when

At the end of the visit, tell the parent what you saw, what you'll check next time and roughly when. Book the recheck before they leave if your schedule allows it. If it doesn't, tell them when you'll contact them, and then do it.

Send a reminder before the recheck is due, and call if the reminder gets no answer. A missed recheck is easy to lose track of, and a family who hears nothing may assume the problem went away.

HIPAA's definition of marketing excludes a provider's communications for the treatment of an individual, unless the provider receives payment from someone else in exchange for sending them. A recheck reminder to your own patient's parent fits that description. A message promoting a new service to the whole list is a different decision, so check it with your privacy advisor first.

For a child, the parent or guardian who has authority under state law to make health care decisions is generally treated as the child's personal representative under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, with some exceptions. Send reminders to the parent or guardian on file.

Keep the family's dentist informed

Send the child's dentist a short note after the visit: you saw the child, you're monitoring rather than treating, and when you plan to see them again. HIPAA permits a covered entity to disclose protected health information for the treatment activities of a health care provider, so a note like this is routine care coordination. Use your office's secure method for sending it.

The note also does marketing work without trying to. The dentist knows the child was seen, knows your plan and has a reason to send the next family your way.

Keep general dentists referring

General and pediatric dentists keep referring when referring is easy, when their patients come back happy and when they hear what happened. A short report after every consult and one easy way to refer usually do more than gifts.

The AAO tells parents they don't need to wait for a dentist referral before their child sees an orthodontist, so referrals aren't the only way in. They are still a strong one, because the family hears your name from a dentist they already know.

What referring offices want from you

one simple way to refer, such as a phone line, a secure form or a referral pad, whichever that office prefers
a quick confirmation that the family booked, or a note if they didn't
a short report after the consult: findings, the plan or monitoring, and the next visit
a note when treatment starts and when it ends, so their records stay current
one named person at your office they can call with a question

Your referral page tells referring offices how to send a patient. The relationship is what makes them use it. Visit the offices that send you families, ask what would make referring easier, and act on what they say.

Visits, lunches and the rules on paying for referrals

Many practices visit referring offices, host study clubs or bring lunch. Those can be fine, but anything of value tied to referrals needs care. The ADA Code says dentists shall not accept or tender rebates or split fees. The ADA's guide also notes that many states have regulations that prohibit referral gifts and fee splitting between a dentist and a third party.

Don't pay per referral, don't tie a gift or an event invitation to the number of patients an office sends, and check your state's rules before you offer anything beyond ordinary professional courtesy. A fast, useful report is the thank-you most referring dentists value.

Post your team, your office, how treatment works and the community you're part of. Show a patient only with signed written permission, and for a child, permission from a parent or guardian. Keep reviews out of contests.

Orthodontic marketing ideas that don't need a patient in the photo

The easiest posts to keep honest and private don't show patients at all:

a team member showing how to clean around brackets, on a model
the orthodontist explaining what happens at a first visit
what an expander, an aligner or a retainer is, shown on a model or a scan without patient details
a tour of the office, the waiting area and the parking, filmed when no patients are present
one question families often ask at consults, answered in one short post
school-year scheduling, holiday hours and the community events you support

Have your orthodontist approve anything clinical before it goes up. If you'd like help planning and writing posts like these, our social media service covers it, with permission built into the process.

Getting written permission before a patient appears

The ADA's guide warns that a photo or video of a patient, even just sitting in the waiting area, may constitute protected health information, and that even revealing that someone is a patient may violate privacy laws. For a practice that is a HIPAA covered entity, HIPAA requires a written authorization before protected health information is used or disclosed for marketing, with narrow exceptions such as a face-to-face conversation.

A permission form worth using:

names exactly what will be shared, such as photos, video, a first name, the treatment type or a quote
names where it will appear: your website, which social accounts, ads or printed material
says how long you'll use it and how to withdraw permission
is signed before anything is recorded for that purpose, not after it's posted
is kept with the patient record

Ask the teenager too. Even when a parent signs, posting a teen who didn't want to be posted costs more trust than the post could earn.

Tagging patients, resharing their posts and replying to their comments can also reveal that someone is a patient. Decide who on your team can do those things and what they may say.

Contests, ambassadors and disclosure

Contests and patient ambassador programs are common in orthodontics, and two sets of rules apply to them.

The FTC's Endorsement Guides say that when an endorser has a connection to the business that the audience wouldn't expect, such as payment, free or discounted products or the chance to win a prize, the connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. A patient ambassador who gets anything from your office needs to say so when they post about you.

Reviews stay out of it. Google prohibits offering incentives in exchange for reviews, and the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials bars incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment. Never make a contest entry depend on posting a review.

Meta ads for orthodontic practices

Meta ads on Facebook and Instagram can reach parents and adults near your office before they search. Write ads about your service, aim them at adults, send each one to a matching page and judge them by the consults and starts your team records.

This is the part of orthodontic digital marketing where privacy mistakes are easiest to make, so the rules come first.

Write about your service, not the viewer

Meta's advertising standards don't allow ads that assert or imply personal attributes, including physical or mental health and medical conditions, or that imply the advertiser knows medical information about the viewer or their family. Meta's own examples allow an ad that describes a treatment and reject one that asks the viewer about their condition.

For an orthodontic office, that looks like this:

Fine: "Braces and clear aligners for teens and adults in [town]."
Fine: "Early orthodontic check-ups for children. Book a visit."
Avoid: "Is your child's bite off?"
Avoid: "Embarrassed by your crooked teeth?"

The ads to avoid also tend to be unkind, and they sit uneasily with the ADA Code's caution about creating unjustified expectations.

Reach parents, not teens

Many orthodontic patients are teens, but their parents usually decide and pay. Meta announced in January 2023 that advertisers would only be able to use age and location to reach teens, and that teens' activity on its apps, such as the posts and pages they've liked, would not inform which ads they see.

Write orthodontic ads for parents and for adults considering treatment for themselves, aim them at adults, and let parents bring the teen in.

Keep patient data out of ad tools

Uploading a patient list to build an audience, or passing details from your booking form to an ad platform, is a disclosure of patient information. For a HIPAA covered entity, using protected health information for marketing generally requires each patient's written authorization.

HIPAA applies to covered entities and their business associates. Covered entities include health care providers who transmit health information electronically in connection with certain standard transactions, such as electronic insurance claims. Whether your practice is one depends on how it handles those transactions, so confirm your status with an advisor.

Website tracking needs the same care. Google says it makes no representations that Google Analytics satisfies HIPAA requirements and doesn't offer business associate agreements for it. Google's personalized advertising policy also restricts audience targeting for ads in sensitive interest categories, which include health. Keep ad pixels and analytics tags off forms, booking pages and patient portals unless your privacy advisor has reviewed exactly what they collect.

Where ad clicks should land

Send each ad to a page that matches it: an early check-up ad to your early treatment page, an adult aligner ad to your clear aligners page. Each page needs the same short consult request and a phone number people can tap.

Google Analytics lets any event you collect be marked as a key event. Before using it to count form submissions, have your privacy advisor review the page, data and applicable requirements. A form submission still isn't a consult. Ask every new family how they heard about you when they book, record the answer in your own system and judge each ad by the consults and starts it produced.

Our PPC guide for dentists covers Google search ads, landing pages and call tracking, and most of it applies to orthodontic offices. If you'd rather hand ads off, our paid ads service runs Google and Meta campaigns for practices.

Competing with at-home aligner companies

Don't attack at-home aligner companies. Explain what your consult and supervision include, show adults what treatment with you looks like, and be clear about cost, payment and visits. Adults comparing options want facts they can check.

What adults are comparing

An adult who sees an aligner kit advertised online is usually weighing price, convenience and how many visits they'll need. The AAO notes that being older does not prevent someone from getting orthodontic treatment, so adult pages and ads can say plainly that you treat adults.

Then answer the three questions directly: what treatment costs and how payment works, how many visits to expect and whether you offer early or evening appointments, and what your process includes that a kit doesn't.

Say what your consult and supervision include

The AAO says mail-order orthodontic treatment often doesn't require meeting a dentist or orthodontist in person, which means no X-rays or thorough examination, and it strongly discourages mail-order treatment because of the potential risks. You don't need to repeat that warning in an ad.

Describe what your process includes instead: an in-person exam, records, a treatment plan from an orthodontist, regular check-ins and what happens if treatment isn't going to plan. Let readers draw the comparison.

The AAO also says orthodontists invest an additional 24 to 36 months in education after dental school. That's a fair, checkable fact for a doctor bio or an adult treatment page.

Claims to leave out

"better than" any named brand, or any superiority claim you can't substantiate
a price compared with a competitor's unless it's based on their actual, current price
fear-based copy about kits or the people who chose them
before-and-after photos without signed written permission

If you offer a lower-cost aligner option, describe it plainly, with what's included and who it suits.

Budget and measure by starts

A percentage borrowed from another practice tells you little about yours. Set a monthly amount you can sustain, spend it on channels you can measure, and after a few months compare channels by cost per start using your own records.

Compare channels by what they produce

Each channel reaches different people, needs different work from your team and should be counted a different way:

Orthodontic marketing channels compared by what they need and what to count.
Channel	Who it usually reaches	What it needs from your team	What to count	Watch out for
General dentist referrals	Families sent by a dentist they know	Fast reports, one contact person, regular visits	Referrals received, consults and starts by referring office	Anything of value tied to referral numbers
Patient and family referrals	Siblings, friends and classmates of current patients	Good care and an easy way to share your details	Consults where the family names a current patient	Rewards that would need disclosure or break review rules
Search and your Business Profile	People looking for a treatment, a cost or an office nearby	Accurate pages and profile, covered in our SEO guide	Calls and consult requests by page and by office	Counting traffic instead of consults
Google search ads	People searching for a treatment right now	Matched landing pages, negative keywords, call tracking	Consults and starts from ad clicks and calls	Tracking tags on forms and booking pages
Meta ads	Parents and adults who haven't searched yet	Service-focused copy, matching pages, quick replies	Consults and starts recorded by your team	Copy that implies the viewer's health, patient data in audiences
Social media posts	Current families, their friends and your local community	Regular posts, written permission for any patient	Messages and consults that mention your posts	Patients shown or tagged without permission
The observation list	Children being monitored and their parents	Recheck dates, reminders and follow-up calls	Rechecks attended and later starts	Reminders that go to the wrong contact or never go out
Community and school events	Families near your office	Staff time and a simple way to book afterward	Consults that name the event	Collecting contact details without clear consent

None of these channels has a fixed cost per start. Yours depends on your market, your team and your follow-up, which is why the counts in the last column matter more than any benchmark.

Set a budget you can judge

Pick a monthly amount you could keep spending for several months without strain.
Put most of it where you can already count starts, and test one new channel at a time.
Give each test long enough to produce consults and starts, since starts can come well after the first contact.
Count staff time. Follow-up calls, referral visits and social posts cost hours even when they cost no ad money.
Review every quarter, and move money away from channels that bring inquiries but few starts.

Cost per start, without borrowed numbers

Cost per start for a channel is what you spent on it over a period, including fees and the staff time you can fairly assign, divided by the starts that came from it. Compare channels over the same months.

Because many families start weeks or months after their first contact, credit each start to the month and the source of that first contact. Otherwise a channel can look weak in the month it's working and strong in the month it isn't.

Orthodontic Marketing: How Practices Turn Consults Into Starts

A consult-to-start worksheet

Fill this in once a month from your own records. It shows where families stop and which sources bring starts, and no patient details need to leave your office to complete it.

Consult-to-start worksheet. Counts only, no patient details.
What to count	This month	Last month	Where to find it
New inquiries			Phone log, forms, social messages and referral slips
Inquiries answered the same business day			Your inquiry log or practice management system
Consults booked			Your schedule
Consults attended			Your schedule
Starts			Your practice management system
Families on the pending list			Your pending list
Children added to the observation list			Your observation list
Observation rechecks attended			Your schedule
Starts by source of first contact			The how-did-you-hear answer recorded at booking

Then ask four questions:

Which stage lost the most people this month?
Which source brought the most starts, not the most inquiries?
Did every pending family get the follow-up you planned?
Are observation rechecks happening when they should?

Keep this sheet as counts only. Before sharing it outside your practice, review whether small counts or other details could identify anyone.

A 12-point orthodontic marketing checklist

Every new inquiry gets a reply from a person on the same business day.
Our first-contact form asks only for what we need to reply.
Families know before the consult what it includes, who they'll meet and whether there's a charge.
Every family leaves the consult with a written plan, the cost, a direct number and a date.
Undecided families get a planned follow-up from someone they met, then a monthly pending review.
Children being monitored are on an observation list with a recheck date, and we send the reminder.
Referring dentists get a report after every consult and a note when treatment starts and ends.
Nothing of value we give a referring office is tied to the number of referrals.
No patient appears in a post, ad or gallery without signed written permission, from a parent or guardian for a child.
Our ads describe our services and never imply anything about the viewer's health.
No patient list, form detail or booking-page tag reaches an ad platform without a privacy review.
We count consults and starts by source every month, in our own records.

This checklist is a planning aid, not a legal, privacy or advertising compliance review.

Hiring an orthodontic marketing company

Hire help when nobody on your team has time to run follow-up, ads and posts consistently, or when you want ads managed by someone who does it every day. Choose a company that reports starts by source, keeps every account in your name and doesn't promise results.

Orthodontist marketing is a crowded field, and most orthodontic marketing companies sell some mix of websites, SEO, ads and social media. How they work matters more than the list of services.

What to ask an orthodontic marketing company

Will you report consults and starts by source from our records, or only clicks, leads and rankings?
How is your fee set? The ADA Code's advisory opinion says that paying for advertising or marketing services by sharing a portion of the professional fees collected from patients is fee splitting.
Who writes ad and post copy, and will our orthodontist approve every clinical statement?
How will you keep patient information out of ad platforms, pixels and audiences?
How do you handle patient photos and permission forms?
Will the ad accounts, social accounts and website stay in the practice's name, with our admin access?

A company that guarantees a number of starts is a risk at any price, and copy built around a guarantee can put your own ads at odds with the rules on results claims. Clients own their sites, accounts and content when they work with Driftlss.

Orthodontic marketing: common questions

What is orthodontic marketing?

Orthodontic marketing is everything a practice does to earn consults and help families decide whether to start treatment. It includes search and your Business Profile, general dentist referrals, the first reply to an inquiry, the consult itself, follow-up, an observation list for children being monitored, social media, paid ads and counting starts by source.

What are good orthodontic marketing ideas for a small practice?

Start with ideas that cost staff time rather than ad money: reply to every inquiry the same day, send every family home with a written plan and a date, follow up with undecided families, keep an observation list with recheck reminders and send referring dentists a short report after each consult. Then add social posts that don't need a patient in them.

How much should an orthodontist spend on marketing?

There isn't one right percentage. Set a monthly amount you can sustain for several months, spend most of it where you can already count starts, test one new channel at a time and compare channels by cost per start from your own records. Count staff time for follow-up calls and referral visits as part of the cost.

How do orthodontists get more referrals from general dentists?

Make referring easy, confirm when the family books and send a short report after every consult, including when you're monitoring rather than treating. Give each referring office one person to call. Don't pay per referral or tie gifts to referral numbers. The ADA Code prohibits rebates and split fees, and many states restrict referral gifts.

Only with signed written permission that names what will be shared, where and for how long. For a HIPAA covered entity, using protected health information for marketing generally requires a written authorization, and for a child the parent or guardian usually signs. Ask the teen too. Without permission, post your team, your office and models instead.

Do Facebook and Instagram ads work for orthodontists?

They can reach parents and adults near your office before they search, but judge them by the consults and starts your team records, not by clicks. Write ads about your services, not the viewer's teeth, because Meta's standards don't allow ads that imply a viewer's health or medical condition. Aim ads at adults. Meta announced in 2023 that advertisers could reach teens only by age and location.

How can an orthodontist compete with at-home aligner companies?

Explain what your process includes, such as an in-person exam, records, a plan from an orthodontist and regular check-ins, and be clear about cost, payment and how many visits to expect. Don't attack competitors or claim superiority you can't substantiate. The AAO strongly discourages mail-order treatment, and families who ask can read its guidance for themselves.

How do I improve my orthodontic consult-to-start rate?

First find the stage where families stop. Then make sure families know what the consult includes, leave with a written plan, the cost, a direct number and a date, and get a planned follow-up from someone they met. Ask who else helps decide and offer to explain the plan to them. Credit each start to the month and source of first contact.

What's the difference between orthodontic marketing and orthodontic SEO?

Orthodontic SEO is the search part: treatment and location pages, your Business Profile, reviews and schema, so people can find you. Orthodontic marketing is the whole path from first contact to a start, including referrals, follow-up, the observation list, social media, ads and measurement. Our guide to SEO for orthodontists covers the search part in detail.

What should I ask an orthodontic marketing company before hiring?

Ask whether they'll report consults and starts by source, how their fee is set, who writes and approves clinical copy, how they keep patient data out of ad platforms, how they handle photo permission and whether accounts stay in your name. Be wary of guaranteed results, and of fees based on a share of patient fees, which the ADA Code treats as fee splitting.

Sources we checked

Want help turning more consults into starts?

Bring your last few months of inquiries, consults and starts, as counts only. We can look at where families stop, which channels bring starts and what to fix first. Tell us about your practice when you're ready.

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