Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for Dentists: Which Performs Better?
The definitive comparison — based on real campaign data from UK dental practices. Which channel wins for which treatment and which situation.
By Carl Fox, Denmarketing · Updated June 2026
Part of the complete dental marketing guide for UK practices. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are the two dominant paid channels for UK dental patient acquisition. They are not interchangeable — they work differently, attract patients at different stages of their decision, and perform better for different treatments. This comparison explains which to use when.
The fundamental difference: intent vs interruption
Google Ads captures existing demand. When someone types 'dental implants Manchester' into Google, they have already decided they want implants and are looking for a provider. Your ad appears at the exact moment of peak intent. The patient is actively looking for you.
Facebook Ads create demand. When your ad appears in a patient's Facebook or Instagram feed, they were not looking for a dentist. You interrupted their scroll with something that — if your targeting and creative are right — catches their interest and makes them consider treatment they hadn't been actively searching for.
This is not a quality difference — it's a strategic difference. Both are valuable. The question is which is right for your goal at any given moment.
Head-to-head comparison
| Factor | Google Ads | Facebook/Instagram Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Patient intent | High — actively searching | Lower — passive browsing |
| Cost per click | Higher (£3–£18 for dental) | Lower (£0.50–£3 typically) |
| Conversion rate | Higher (high intent) | Lower (lower intent) |
| Best for | High-value treatments, emergency, local searches | Cosmetic treatments, retargeting, reactivation |
| Creative requirement | Text-based, keyword-matched | Visual — image or video essential |
| Minimum viable budget | £1,000–£1,500/month | £500–£800/month |
| Speed to results | Fast — enquiries within days | Moderate — 2–4 weeks to optimise |
Which to start with
Start with Google Ads if: you need patients now, you offer high-value treatments (implants, Invisalign, full-arch), or you're in a market where patients are actively searching for your specific treatments.
Start with Facebook/Instagram Ads if: you have good before/after content and offer cosmetic treatments with strong visual appeal, you want to retarget website visitors, or you want to reactivate your existing patient database at scale.
Run both when: you have a working Google Ads campaign and want to add scale and brand awareness. The two channels complement each other — Google captures existing demand, Meta builds future demand and re-engages warm prospects.
Where they work together
The most effective dental advertising strategies run both channels in coordination:
- Google Ads captures patients actively searching for treatment
- Meta retargeting catches patients who visited your website but didn't enquire
- Meta lookalike campaigns find new patients similar to those who converted via Google
- Meta brand awareness campaigns build recognition so patients recognise you when they start searching on Google
See full guides: Google Ads for dentists and Facebook Ads for dentists. For the organic alternative to both, see dental SEO vs PPC.
Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for dentists, answered
Which one should we start with?
Google, if you need patients quickly or your revenue comes from implants, Invisalign and full-arch work — those patients are actively searching and convert fast. Facebook and Instagram earn their place first if your strength is cosmetic treatment with strong before and after content, or if you want to reactivate your existing patient list at scale.
Facebook clicks are far cheaper. Isn't that the better deal?
Cheaper clicks are not cheaper patients. Meta clicks run roughly £0.50 to £3 against £3 to £18 on Google, but Google clicks come from someone who typed the treatment into a search box. Compare cost per booked patient, not cost per click. On high-value treatment Google is frequently cheaper on the measure that matters.
What's the minimum we'd need to spend?
Roughly £1,000 to £1,500 a month for Google Ads and £500 to £800 for Meta, before management. Below that, Google cannot gather enough data to optimise and Meta cannot exit the learning phase, so you pay for the expensive part of a campaign without reaching the part that works. Half a budget on both usually beats neither.
We tried Facebook Ads and got time-wasters. Why would it be different now?
Because the enquiry quality problem is usually the offer and the follow-up, not the platform. Meta reaches people who were not looking for a dentist, so a weak offer collects curious clickers. Tighten what you are advertising, then answer every enquiry within minutes — most Meta enquiries are lost to slow follow-up rather than to bad targeting.
How long before either channel settles down?
Google produces enquiries within days and is readable within a fortnight. Meta takes two to four weeks to optimise and needs creative changed regularly after that. Judging a Meta campaign in week one is how practices cancel something that was about to work; judging Google after a month of no enquiries is usually fair.
Can we run both, or is that spreading ourselves thin?
Both is the stronger position once one is working — but not on day one with a split budget. Get Google producing enquiries, then add Meta to retarget the website visitors who did not enquire and to find new patients resembling the ones who did. Starting both cold means neither gets enough spend to prove anything.
Do we have to commit to a long contract to test this?
No. Month to month, no lock-ins. We also start on your dormant patient list before either platform, because that produces bookings without ad spend, and the first 100 leads are free with you keeping every penny of the treatment value.
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