If you run a dental practice in Australia, your marketing has to follow the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Ahpra’s guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. A lot of marketing advice online is written for US practices, and following it can land you in trouble here. This guide covers the Ahpra advertising guidelines for dentists in plain English. It’s a starting point, not legal advice, so check the current guidelines on the Ahpra website or speak to your indemnity provider before you launch anything.
The core rule: don’t mislead
Advertising must not be false, misleading or deceptive. It also must not create unreasonable expectations of benefit, encourage people to use services they don’t need, or offer gifts or discounts without stating the terms clearly.
Testimonials about clinical care
This is the rule that trips up the most practices. You can’t use testimonials about clinical aspects of care in your advertising. That includes your website, your social media pages and your ads. A review saying “my implant was painless and looks perfect” is a clinical testimonial. A review saying “the front desk team were lovely and parking was easy” is generally not.
Unsolicited reviews on third-party sites you don’t control, like Google, aren’t treated as your advertising. But if you copy them onto your website or into an ad, they become your advertising.
Before and after photos
Before and after photos aren’t banned outright, but they’re easy to get wrong. They need to be real, of the same patient, taken in similar conditions, and not edited to exaggerate results. Show realistic outcomes and include context about the treatment and that results vary.
Offers and discounts
Offers like a new patient check-up price are allowed, but the terms need to be clear and the offer can’t encourage unnecessary treatment. Time pressure like “book now before it’s too late” on a clinical service is a red flag.
Titles and claims
Only use “specialist” if the dentist holds specialist registration. Be careful with words like “best,” “painless,” “guaranteed” or “safe,” and back up any claim you make with acceptable evidence.
What you can do confidently
- Explain treatments in plain language, including risks and recovery
- Show your team, your clinic and the patient experience
- Share helpful content about oral health
- Promote non-clinical strengths like hours, location, parking and payment options
- Run clear, honest offers with stated terms
- Use Google and Facebook ads that send people to accurate service pages
A quick pre-launch checklist
- Is anything on this page or ad a clinical testimonial?
- Could any claim create an unreasonable expectation?
- Are offer terms clearly stated?
- Are titles and qualifications accurate?
- Are photos genuine and unedited?
The bottom line: Following the Ahpra advertising guidelines for dentists protects your registration and builds patient trust.
Further reading: Ahpra’s guidelines for advertising a regulated health service.
Want help following Ahpra advertising guidelines for dentists?
We build compliant dental marketing for Australian practices, from service pages to Google Ads. Get in touch and we’ll talk through what works here.