30 September 2026 · 6 min read · Oscar Markham
Where a dental practice's Google Ads budget goes
Dental clicks are among the most expensive in Irish healthcare and the keyword surface is unusually wide, because the same words are used by people looking for treatment, people looking for symptoms, people looking for a job and people looking for a course. On a default campaign you pay the same for all of them.
Symptom and self-diagnosis searches
'Toothache remedy', 'why does my tooth hurt', 'abscess symptoms', 'mouth ulcer'. Very high volume, very high click rate, and most of these people are trying not to visit a dentist.
Some will convert. Not enough to justify the click price on a normal budget, and they crowd out people already looking for a practice.
- remedy, home remedy, relief, painkiller, symptoms, causes, why does
- nhs, hse, free, emergency number, out of hours (unless you provide it)
Jobs, courses and training
'Dental nurse jobs', 'dental hygienist course', 'dentistry points', 'dental nursing qualification'. Steady volume and no value whatsoever.
The university and CAO-adjacent terms are the ones most often missed.
- jobs, vacancy, hiring, nurse job, receptionist, salary, wage
- course, cao, points, degree, training, qualification, college, student
DIY and retail
'Whitening strips', 'best electric toothbrush', 'teeth whitening kit', 'denture repair kit'. Somebody is buying a product, not booking treatment.
Whitening in particular attracts a great deal of retail traffic that looks relevant and is not.
- kit, strips, at home, diy, toothbrush, amazon, boots, chemist, pen
The wrong treatment and the wrong place
If you do not do implants, orthodontics or sedation, block them — they are the dearest clicks in the category and a wasted one costs a lot.
Set locations to presence rather than presence-or-interest, and keep them to the catchment patients will genuinely travel from. For routine work that is small; for cosmetic work it is much wider, which is another reason to run them separately.
What is actually worth bidding on
Terms with a treatment and a place, or clear intent to register. 'Dentist [town]', 'emergency dentist [town]', 'dental implants [city]', 'new patients [town]', 'dentist accepting medical card [town]'.
Then read the search terms report weekly for the first month. In this sector it is always more revealing than people expect, because of how much symptom traffic finds its way in.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.