Orthodontic marketing for more starts, not more leads.

What is orthodontic marketing, and what does an agency run for a practice?

Orthodontic marketing is the work of bringing the right consults to a practice, from the parent or guardian of a child or teen, the adult comparing clear aligners to a mail-order quiz, and the general dentist who refers, and then counting what matters: consults kept and cases started, not forms filled. A practice sells a start that runs a year or two and a relationship that outlasts it, so every piece below is measured against the start. Here is what we run and where it sits in a plan:

Who is the buyer: the parent, the adult or the referring dentist?

All three, and each one needs a different message, a different channel and a different landing page. The pages we read talk about "patients" and "leads"; what a practice needs to know is who decides and what turns a consult into a start.

The lever after the click is the treatment coordinator. A consult that does not start is the most expensive lead a practice has, so we report consults and starts separately, and we ask for your consult-to-start rate before we suggest a budget. Of the 14 pages we read, one names the treatment coordinator at all.

One more thing the adult buyer knows: SmileDirectClub, a mail-order aligner company, closed. Its former site now says SmileDirectClub ceased operations in 2023. and the AAO's president said at the time, as reported by Dental Products Report, The best thing SmileDirectClub patients can do at this point is to book an in-person exam with a licensed orthodontist in their area. That is the frame an adult aligner page can use: an exam, an x-ray and a doctor who monitors every step.

Who may advertise as an orthodontist or a specialist?

Under the ADA code, a dentist who meets the specialty's educational requirements, in a specialty the ADA's National Commission recognizes; orthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery are both on that list. The Commission says Currently there are 12 dental specialties recognized by the National Commission. and defines orthodontics as Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics is the dental specialty that includes the diagnosis, prevention, interception, and correction of malocclusion, as well as neuromuscular and skeletal abnormalities of the developing or mature orofacial structures.

The ADA's code (its 2026 edition, with advisory opinions revised to October 2025) says Dentists who choose to announce specialization should use "specialist in", and for a general dentist who offers braces or aligners: General dentists who wish to announce the services available in their practices are permitted to announce the availability of those services so long as they avoid any communications that express or imply specialization. It adds that the general dentist is also to state that a general dentist provides them. The AAO says the same from the patient's side: Even if your dentist can put appliances such as aligners or braces on teeth, that does not make them an orthodontist. and Only appropriately trained orthodontists are members of the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO).

So we write the bio line doctor by doctor: "specialist in orthodontics" for the orthodontist, "braces and clear aligners, provided by a general dentist" for the general dentist, and we check each line against the ADA code and your state's dental practice act before it goes on a page or into an ad. The code binds ADA members; the state sets the law, and we read your state's rule before the first ad.

One word never goes in: "painless". In its August 2024 letter to Align, the AAO wrote: Many states' Dental Practice Acts strictly prohibit dentists and orthodontists from advertising techniques as "painless" or "less painful." The ADA's marketing guide says obvious puffery such as "Your smile will be irresistible." typically does not count against an ad, but context can turn it into a factual claim, a factual claim must be true, and your state board may read it more strictly; it adds that a "free" offer tied to a purchase must carry the regular price of the thing bought. We keep fellowships from voluntary associations out of ads, because the ADA code says their use may be misleading (5.F.3).

What do Google and Meta allow for braces and aligner ads?

Google has no orthodontic ad rule, but it treats surgical procedures as sensitive health content and bars personalized ads to anyone under 18; Meta puts cosmetic procedures at 18 and older and bans copy that implies something about the reader. Each line below is quoted or summarized from the platform's own page, with the date we read it:

Platforms change these without notice, so we re-read each rule on its own page the week a campaign launches, never from memory. The two open questions, whether Google classes a non-surgical orthodontic ad as an invasive procedure and whether Meta treats adult aligner ads as cosmetic procedures, are settled by the platform's own review of a real ad, and until then we run both the strict way. This is how we route the work, not legal advice; your counsel has the last word.

Can we use the Invisalign name in our ads?

Only if your practice is licensed to use it, and we write "clear aligners" as the category everywhere else. Align Technology's own page says the Invisalign brand name is at times inappropriately used as a generic term, and that we believe it is essential that trained orthodontists and/or dentists are directly involved in every step of treatment. The terms that say which practices may use the brand and its assets are not public; the trade press reports that the license turns on a qualifying case count each quarter, which is why a practice can lose the right to the name between one quarter and the next.

Our rule: no PELORA ad, page, URL, alt text or video carries the Invisalign name or assets for a client until the client confirms in writing that it meets Align's current terms for its practice type, and we re-check each quarter. Reviews that mention the brand stay as written. Align's co-marketing campaigns for adults, such as the one it launched in September 2026 with local creative assets for its trained doctors, are used the same way: only for a confirmed provider, and inside the platform rules above. The AAO's own aligner page uses the generic noun throughout: Clear aligners are nearly invisible plastic shells that snap over your teeth.

Can an ad say "braces from $99 a month"?

In California, only if the fee is accurate and precise and the ad discloses the services the fee includes and any extra services the patient will be charged for, with their fees (16 CCR 1050); a discount must also name the full fee, the discount, how long it lasts and who qualifies (16 CCR 1051); and every claim must be capable of substantiation (16 CCR 1052). Other states have their own rule, read before the first ad. The California Dental Board's regulations, as republished by Cornell's Legal Information Institute and read October 31, 2026, say that fee advertising must be accurate and precise., that fees may be advertised provided the advertisement fully discloses all services customarily included by the dental profession as part of the advertised service and that The advertisement must also disclose any additional services not part of the procedure but for which the patient will be charged, together with the fees for such services. (16 CCR 1050), that An advertisement of a discount must: (a) List the dollar amount of the non-discounted fee for the service; and (b) List either the dollar amount of the discount fee or the percentage of the discount for the specific service; and (c) Inform the public of the length of time, if any, the discount will be honored; and (d) List verifiable fees pursuant to Section 651 of the Code; and (e) Identify specific groups who qualify for the discount or any other terms and conditions or restrictions for qualifying for the discount. (16 CCR 1051), and that Any advertisement must be capable of substantiation, particularly that the services offered are actually delivered and at the fees advertised. (16 CCR 1052).

The ADA's marketing guide carries the federal side: a "former" price in a price-reduction claim must be a price actually offered on a regular basis, and a "free" offer tied to a purchase must use the regular price of the purchased item. Our own rule: a monthly-payment line also names the total fee and the financing terms, a discount carries the five items California lists, and "free consult" stays free. The California statute those regulations cite, Business and Professions Code 651, is read by a person before a California client's first price ad; we do not quote it here.

Can we use patient photos, before-and-after and reviews?

With the patient's written authorization, inside your state's rule on what a photo may show, and never as a claim that everyone gets the same result. A patient's smile photo in an ad is protected health information used for marketing, and the federal rule says a covered entity must obtain an authorization for any use or disclosure of protected health information for marketing (45 CFR 164.508(a)(3), read at Cornell October 31, 2026). Of the 14 pages we read, five recommend patient photos or testimonials and one mentions authorization.

The FTC's Endorsement Guides treat a consumer's experience in an ad as a claim about what consumers will generally achieve, which "results not typical" does not cure (16 CFR 255.2, paragraph (b) and its examples, read at Cornell October 31, 2026), and the ADA's code adds that a dental influencer must disclose a paid partnership. California's 16 CCR 1052 allows only the visuals Section 651 permits and gives examples: the dentist, the staff or the facility, and other people or appliances only if the image is not used to claim superiority, illustrate a dental condition or show recovery from one. On its face that reaches a before-and-after smile photo, so none runs in a California ad until your counsel has read Section 651 with it. Reviews: your team asks every patient the same way from your own system, we draft replies that never confirm anyone is a patient, and no one is ever paid or rewarded for a review. Our dental creator page has the creator rules in full.

How do oral surgeons get more referrals without buying them?

By making the referring dentist's job easier and being findable when a patient searches on their own, because the ADA code is plain on the alternative: A dentist is allowed to pay for any advertising permitted by the Code, but is generally not permitted to make payments to another person or entity for the referral of a patient for professional services. Six of the 14 pages we read name general-dentist referrals as the channel; none quotes that line.

What we run for an oral surgery practice: a referral page written in the dentist's words (what you take, how fast a case is seen, what the dentist gets back), printed and digital materials the dentist can hand a patient, search ads for the searches a patient types on their own (wisdom teeth, extractions, jaw surgery), review replies on your Business Profile (other profile work quoted in writing), and provider bios that announce the specialty as the ADA code allows. Dental implants and full-arch cases have their own page: dental implant marketing. Surgical ads run under Google's sensitive-health audience rule above, with no remarketing list.

How does PELORA run orthodontic marketing?

One buyer and one channel first, then more once consults turn into starts.

1. The consult path before ads

   We check the next open consult, who answers the phone, the online booking path and who presents the fee, because an ad that ends in a three-week wait or an unanswered call wastes the click.

2. Demand before budget

   We never guess a cost per consult. Before we suggest a budget, we pull your town's braces and aligner searches from Keyword Planner and your own consult and start counts; try our ad spend calculator first.

3. Accounts in your name

   Ad accounts and every creative are yours, billed to you by the platforms and never marked up. Tracking is set up with your counsel, and no patient list goes into any platform.

4. A written check before anything goes live

   Every ad, page and creator post gets a written check against the ADA code, your state board's rule and the platform's rule. A line that fails is cut or rewritten. We never try to slip a rejected ad past review.

5. Count consults and starts, then a day 60 checkpoint

   Consults kept and cases started, by campaign, every month, from your own numbers. Day 60 is a checkpoint in every plan: what to keep, cut or grow.

Example. A two-doctor orthodontic practice with a strong teen book and few adult starts. We run one Google Search campaign for the town's aligner searches to adults 18 and older, five new ads a month written to the adult who is comparing an exam to a quiz, a consult page that says what the exam finds, and we report consults and starts separately so the treatment coordinator's close rate is visible. This is an example, not a client and not a result.

How does PELORA compare with the pages that come up for orthodontic marketing?

Counted from the 14 pages (ten orthodontic, four oral surgery; ten agencies and four software vendors; two publishers supply two pages each) we opened from a web search index's results for "orthodontic marketing agency", "orthodontist marketing", "orthodontic practice marketing" and "oral surgery marketing agency", every page read October 31, 2026. The counts describe those 14 pages, not a ranking.