Who counts as a new patient?
A new patient is a person who has not had a clinical visit at your practice before. A recall, a hygiene return and a treatment-plan return are existing patients.
Count the returns too, because recall is worth doing. Keep them in a separate number, so the new-patient figure means one thing every month. A second person in the same family can be new, even if a relative is already on the books.
New patient is a working rule for this page. It is not an Ahpra definition and not a Google definition. Pick one rule, write it down, and use it every month.
| Visit | Counts as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First clinical visit at your practice | New patient | No earlier clinical record here |
| Hygiene or check-up return | Existing patient | A recall visit; count it as a return |
| Return for a treatment plan | Existing patient | Already on the books |
| A family member who has never attended | New patient | A first visit for that person |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
How do you check which channel booked?
Write the source on the patient record at booking, with the same short list every time, then compare it with your ad account and your Google profile.
- For every new patient you book over the next month, write the source in your practice software when you book them. Use one list: referred by a patient, Google Maps, Google search or the website, Google ad, Meta, health fund, walked in, other. If the person does not know, write “does not know”. Do not guess later from an ad report.
- Compare that list with your ad account and the Google Business Profile performance screen. Those screens count clicks, calls and direction requests. They do not count a person who attended. In Google’s own words, the advertiser chooses the action it counts: a website action, a call, or an offline action such as a later booking (Google Ads Help, read 12 October 2026).
- Give phone calls their own conversion action. Google separates calls from ads, calls from the website, and calls uploaded afterwards from your own records. A call is not yet a booking (Google Ads Help, read 12 October 2026).
- Judge each channel on booked new patients over a stated window, not on clicks.
Ask the patient what they typed, too. “Best dentist near me” and “dentist taking new patients in your town” can return different names (one practitioner’s post on X, 11 October 2026; one post, not a study).
| Source | Calls | Booked | Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referred by a patient | |||
| Google Maps | |||
| Website | |||
| Ad |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Asking “how did you hear about us?” is not advertising, and storing the answer in your practice software is not a clinical testimonial.
What should you fix before you buy more clicks?
Make sure the people who already call can book. Clicks sent to a phone nobody answers are the most expensive kind.
- The phone is answered, or a call is returned the same day. The number on the ad, the website and the Google profile should reach a person who can book.
- The Google Business Profile is claimed, and the hours and address are true.
- The website has a booking path that works on a phone.
- The health-fund find-a-dentist listing matches your name, address and phone, and does not say “accepting new patients” when the book is closed.
Patients can also choose their own dentist, as the Australian Dental Association tells the public. A stale fund listing is a channel that quietly sends the wrong message. Count your own missed calls and form fills that never became an appointment.
Which channels bring new patients, and what can each one prove?
Each channel can show you something different. Only the source field shows who attended.
| Channel | What it can do | How you check it | Rule that bites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone they know | The source owners name most often, when anyone asks | The source field. Ask at the chair, with a card or a text link ready | A gift or discount needs its terms in the advertisement. No clinical quote on the card |
| Google Business Profile | Shows the practice for “dentist near me” and the suburb | In the performance screen, separate calls, website clicks and direction requests. Then see how many appear as new patients with source “Google Maps” | The profile is advertising if it promotes the practice. Do not copy clinical review quotes onto your website |
| Health-fund listing | Patients who filter by fund | Record “fund list” as its own source. Correct the name, address, phone and whether you are taking patients | A listing that says you are taking new patients when the book is closed is a false claim |
| Your website, including suburb and service pages | Catches the search that did not click an ad | Source “website”, plus the landing page if the form records it | The same section 133 rules as an ad |
| Google search ads | People who typed a service and a place | Booked new patients from the source field, matched to the campaign, not to clicks. Why dental Google Ads don’t convert is the diagnostic | Ahpra rules on the ad text |
| Meta ads | Weaker for “I need a dentist today”. Used for cosmetic demand | Booked patients, not likes | Section 133, plus the cosmetic advertising guideline where it applies |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Recall of people already on your books fills the diary, but it does not meet the new-patient definition. Count returns separately. For more ways to bring people in, see dental marketing ideas. For what to put into each channel, see how much a dental practice should spend on marketing.
What will Ahpra not let you use to get those patients?
Section 133 of the National Law bars advertising a regulated health service that is false or misleading, offers a gift or discount without its terms, uses testimonials, creates an unreasonable expectation of benefit, or encourages unnecessary use.
- No clinical testimonial, including a review quoted on your website or a card.
- No clinical before-and-after photo. Ahpra’s guidelines say these risk misleading people; running none is our own rule.
- No “best”, “painless” or “guaranteed”.
- No discount or gift without its terms in the ad.
- No “specialist” without the matching registration.
- No ad aimed at under-18s for a higher-risk cosmetic procedure.
This is a plain summary of Ahpra’s pages (reviewed 2 September 2025), not legal advice. Read the Ahpra advertising rules for dental marketing before any ad or card goes out. Many US guides tell owners to post testimonials and before-and-after photos. Australian law bars testimonials about clinical care, and Ahpra’s guidelines warn that before-and-after images risk misleading people. We run no before-and-after images in our ads, which is our own policy.
What should you ignore?
Any number with no dataset behind it, and any tactic built for another country.
- A monthly new-patient target copied from a US page. Compare this month with your own last month, using the same definition.
- Google Local Services Ads, until Google’s own page shows them for Australian dental practices.
- A blog quota. Write a page when it answers a question a patient asks.
- A guaranteed number of patients from anyone. Section 133 does not allow an unreasonable expectation of benefit.
- A cost-per-patient range with no dataset behind it. Work out the cost of one booked patient from your own numbers.
Questions
What is the fastest way to get new dental patients?
Make sure the people who already call can book, then complete your Google profile, then run search ads for a service the book can take this week.
Recall is faster than ads, because those people already know you. It is not a new patient, so count it separately.
Ads can show this week. A new website’s organic rankings take months. One agency post (r/SlateDental, 20 September 2025) makes the same split, and another (Meaningful Agency, 15 September 2026) says to treat search ads and the website as one system. Both are opinions, not studies.
Do Google Ads or SEO come first?
Neither comes first by rule. Ads can show this week; a site’s organic rankings take months.
One agency post (r/SlateDental, 20 September 2025) makes the same split, and another (Meaningful Agency, 15 September 2026) says to treat search ads and the website as one system. Both are opinions, not studies.
Start with the basics in the section on what to fix first. Make sure the phone is answered before you pay for either, and use the source field to see which one books patients for your practice.
Are patient referrals allowed in Australia?
Yes. Asking a patient to refer a friend is allowed. Publishing the patient’s clinical result is not.
If you offer a gift or discount for a referral, the terms must be in the advertisement, clear and easy to find. The offer must not push treatment a person does not need. A line such as “10% off for you and your friend” with no terms does not meet that test.
Free treatment for the person who refers is an inducement. Leave it out.
Can we put Google reviews on our website?
Only the ones that are not about clinical care. A comment about parking or the front desk can be used.
A comment about pain, treatment or a result cannot be published by the practice. The reviews can stay on Google; the practice does not control that page in the same way as its own website.
Section 133 bars a testimonial about a clinical aspect of care, and your own website is the practice’s advertising (Ahpra pages, reviewed 2 September 2025). Read each review before you copy it across, and leave out any that mentions pain, treatment or a result. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does “dentist near me” volume mean we should buy that keyword?
Not on volume alone. Two public Australian extracts disagree on the number, and neither is Google’s official figure.
Run the keyword as a test, then judge it on booked new patients from your source field, not on the volume.
Your Google Business Profile already shows the practice for “dentist near me” and the suburb, and its performance screen separates calls, website clicks and direction requests. Ask new patients what they typed, too: “best dentist near me” and “dentist taking new patients in your town” can return different names (one practitioner’s post on X, 11 October 2026; one post, not a study).
What if the patient says they found us on Google, and the ad report shows nothing?
Write “Google” on the record, then ask what they typed or tapped.
Google Maps, the unpaid listing and an ad are three different sources. The patient’s words and the ad report measure different things, so neither one is wrong. This is why the source field is a short list the front desk fills in at booking.
In Google’s own words, the advertiser chooses the action it counts, and the ad and profile screens count clicks, calls and direction requests, not a person who attended (Google Ads Help, read 12 October 2026). Compare the source list with the ad account over a stated window, and treat a gap as a question for the front desk, not a fault in either report.
Will more new patients fill the book if the chairs are already full?
No. If the chairs are already full, more new patients is the wrong goal.
Look at what fills the time you have open, and at how the day is booked. Our chair occupancy rate guide shows how to work it out.
Recall of people already on your books fills the diary, but it does not meet the new-patient definition, so count returns separately. If recall and treatment returns already fill the book, a campaign adds enquiries the practice cannot take, and the money is better spent on the phone, the booking path and the source field.
Sources
How this page was made. Drafted with AI assistance from the sources below, each read on the date shown.
- AIHW: oral health and dental care in Australia, summaryUpdated 6 August 2026, data year 2024–25; read 12 October 2026
- Ahpra: advertising and the lawPage reviewed 2 September 2025; read 12 October 2026
- Ahpra: summary of the advertising requirementsPage reviewed 2 September 2025; read 12 October 2026
- Google Ads Help: different ways to track conversionsNo update date on the page; read 12 October 2026
- Google Ads Help: set up your phone call conversionsNo update date on the page; read 12 October 2026
- TGA: advertising health services that involve therapeutic goodsLast updated 18 June 2026; read 12 October 2026
- Meaningful Agency: marketing for dentists, the full 2026 growth guide15 September 2026; an agency’s view, not a study
- r/SlateDental: best way to get more new dental patients20 September 2025; an agency account’s post, not a study
- @jdellamora on X: ask the patient what they typed11 October 2026; one post, not a study
Related reading. More ways to bring people in are in dental marketing ideas. If clicks are not becoming bookings, read why dental Google Ads don’t convert. Check the advertising rules in the Ahpra advertising rules for dental marketing.
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