30 September 2026 · 6 min read · Oscar Markham
Check-ups and cosmetic work are two different businesses
Somebody looking for a check-up wants a practice near them with a free slot. Somebody considering implants or veneers is making a considered, expensive decision and will compare practices across a city. Those are different people with different questions on different timelines, and a single campaign speaking to both convinces neither.
The routine patient decides on practicalities
Where you are, when you are open, whether they can book without ringing, and whether you take their medical card or their PRSI entitlement.
That is the whole decision. Long copy about clinical philosophy is not read. The practice that answers those four things fastest gets the booking.
The cosmetic patient decides on the clinician
They want to know who will actually do the work, how often they do it, what the process involves, how long it takes and what it looks like afterwards on someone who started where they are.
That needs a proper page of its own: the clinician, the sequence of appointments, what recovery is like, and photographs of the practice's own completed work rather than stock imagery.
It also needs patience. These enquiries convert over weeks, and a practice that writes off anyone who has not booked within a fortnight is discarding most of what it paid for.
The searches are completely different
'Dentist near me' and 'dental implants [city]' should never share a landing page, and in most accounts the cosmetic terms cost several times more per click.
Running them together means the expensive clicks are judged by the cheap campaign's conversion rate, which usually gets the valuable half switched off.
Be careful how the claims are worded
Dentistry in Ireland is a regulated profession and the Dental Council has rules about how practices may advertise. Before-and-after imagery, testimonials and claims of superiority all need care.
This is not a reason to market timidly. It is a reason to have someone check the wording, and to compete on clarity and evidence rather than on superlatives — which is better marketing in any case.
Measure them separately or not at all
Cost per booked check-up and cost per booked consultation are different numbers with different acceptable ranges.
Averaged together they produce a figure that describes neither and leads to the wrong decision about where the next euro goes.
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.