What the National Law actually requires
Advertising by dental practices in Australia is regulated under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, specifically section 133. This legislation applies across all states and territories and covers every form of advertising: the practice website, Google Business Profile, Google Ads, social media, printed material and any other medium used to promote a regulated health service.
Section 133 prohibits advertising of a regulated health service that is false, misleading or deceptive; creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment; uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service; offers gifts, discounts or other inducements without stating the terms and conditions; or encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of health services. AHPRA publishes guidelines for advertising a regulated health service that explain how each of these prohibitions applies in practice, including the expectation that claims about treatment are backed by acceptable evidence.
Section 133 prohibitions at a glance
- False, misleading or deceptiveIncludes exaggerated claims and omissions that create a false impression.
- Unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatmentImplies a specific clinical outcome is guaranteed or highly likely.
- Testimonials or purported testimonialsAny patient statement about clinical aspects of treatment, including Google reviews used in advertising.
- Gifts or inducements without stated termsDiscounts and offers are permitted only if full terms are clearly and accessibly stated.
- Encourages indiscriminate or unnecessary useAdvertising that promotes treatment beyond what a patient genuinely needs.
The obligations apply equally to the practice owner, the dentist named in the advertising, and any marketing agency acting on the practice's behalf. If a campaign you run breaches the rules, the practice is responsible. This is one reason it matters who manages your dental marketing and how carefully that work is reviewed before it goes live.
AHPRA publishes an advertising hub that brings together the legislation, guidelines and tools for checking compliance. It is the primary reference point for any question about whether a particular piece of advertising is permitted. Practices should read the current guidelines and seek their own professional advice when they are unsure.
Testimonials: the rule most practices get wrong
The prohibition on testimonials is one of the most widely misunderstood advertising rules for dental practices. Advertising a regulated health service using testimonials is prohibited under the National Law. A testimonial in this context is any statement that includes information about the clinical aspects of the service: the symptom a patient presented with, a diagnosis they received, a treatment they underwent, or an outcome they experienced.
A Google review that says 'Dr Smith fixed my cracked tooth and I finally feel comfortable smiling again' is a testimonial about a clinical outcome. If that review appears on your practice website or in your advertising, it breaches the National Law regardless of whether the review is genuine or was written voluntarily. The same applies to patient stories on a practice website, before-and-after testimonials in Google Ads copy, and social media posts that quote a patient about their treatment experience.
What is allowed
Not every patient review is a prohibited testimonial. Reviews about non-clinical aspects of the practice are generally not testimonials under the National Law. A review commenting on waiting times, car parking, the friendliness of reception staff, or the cleanliness of the practice does not describe a clinical aspect of the service. Practices can acknowledge and respond to these reviews without advertising a clinical outcome.
AHPRA provides a testimonials tool that helps advertisers check whether a specific review or statement meets the requirements. It is worth using before deciding whether to feature any patient comment in advertising.
Google reviews and third-party platforms
Reviews left on Google or other platforms the practice does not control raise a specific challenge. You may not be able to remove a review that contains clinical content. AHPRA's guidance notes that practices may be able to disable the reviews function on platforms that allow it. Disabling all reviews has consequences for how your Google Business Profile appears in search results, and local SEO for dentists depends heavily on that profile. Practices in this situation should seek their own advice on how to manage it appropriately.
Gifts, discounts and promotional offers
Dental practices can offer gifts, discounts and other promotional incentives in their advertising. The National Law does not prohibit them. What it requires is that any advertisement offering a gift, discount or similar inducement clearly states the terms and conditions of that offer.
An offer such as 'free whitening with your first check-up' must include the terms and conditions: who is eligible, whether it is limited to new patients, any expiry date and any other conditions that apply. The terms must be easy to find. A practice cannot state an offer in the advertisement and bury the conditions in a place that requires the patient to search for them.
Where an advertisement does not have space for the full terms, for example a Google Ads headline, the advertisement must direct the patient to a specific location where those terms are accessible, such as a dedicated page on the practice website. The terms need to be genuinely accessible, not hidden behind multiple navigation steps.
Advertising for treatments with a strong financial incentive angle also needs to avoid creating unreasonable expectations of benefit. Implying that a specific clinical outcome is guaranteed is separately prohibited under the false or misleading provisions, regardless of how an offer is framed. Price-led Google Ads for dentists can be effective, but the copy needs to be checked carefully before a campaign goes live.
Protected titles, specialist claims and before-and-after images
Protected specialist titles
Dental specialist titles are protected under the National Law. Only dentists who hold specialist registration with the Dental Board of Australia may use protected specialist titles in their advertising. Recognised dental specialties with protected titles include orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery and paediatric dentistry, among others. The current list of recognised specialties is maintained by the Dental Board of Australia.
A general dentist who provides orthodontic treatment, dental implants or any other procedure associated with a recognised specialty may not describe themselves as an 'orthodontist', 'periodontist' or 'implant specialist', or use any other protected specialist title, unless they hold specialist registration in that area. The same constraint applies to advertising copy: using a protected specialist title in an ad, on a website page heading or in a Google Business Profile description when the practitioner does not hold specialist registration breaches the National Law.
AHPRA publishes guidance on titles in health advertising, including the common pitfall of using a descriptive term alongside a protected title in a way that implies specialist registration the practitioner does not hold. Practices should check the current guidance and verify practitioner registration status before finalising any advertising copy that references a specialty.
Before-and-after images
Before-and-after photographs are a common feature of cosmetic dentistry advertising. Their use is not automatically prohibited, but they require care. An image showing a clinical result can function as a visual testimonial if it implies an outcome a future patient should expect. Where before-and-after images are used, appropriate context should make clear that the images are examples and not a guarantee of results for any individual. Practices should read the current AHPRA guidelines before using clinical images in advertising and seek professional advice if they are unsure. The cosmetic dentistry marketing page covers this in more detail.
How these rules apply across all your channels
The advertising obligations under section 133 apply to any medium used to advertise a regulated health service. That is not limited to paid advertising. It includes the practice website, Google Business Profile, Google Ads, social media posts and profiles, email campaigns, printed brochures and signage on the practice premises.
Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is advertising under the National Law. The categories you select, the business description you write, the photos you upload, and the reviews that appear on your profile all form part of how your service is presented to the public. Patient reviews on Google that include clinical content are prohibited testimonials under the National Law even though you did not create them. Understanding how to handle this situation appropriately is worth doing before a review of concern appears.
Google Ads
Every headline, description and ad extension in a Google Ads campaign is advertising a regulated health service. Copy that implies a guaranteed clinical result, uses a protected specialist title without the underlying registration, makes claims not supported by acceptable evidence, or includes an offer without accessible terms can breach the National Law. Campaigns need to be written and reviewed with these obligations in mind before they go live.
Social media
Social media posts that promote a regulated health service are advertising under the National Law. This includes posts on the practice business page, paid ads on Meta platforms, and reels or stories that feature clinical content. Patient-generated content that you share or repost is subject to the testimonials rule if it includes information about a clinical aspect of the service.
Every page and ad we write for a dental practice is checked against AHPRA's advertising guidelines before it goes live. That covers the practice website, Google Ads copy, Google Business Profile descriptions and any social content we produce. We also flag existing content that may need review as part of the free practice audit that precedes every engagement.
Responding to reviews without stepping over the line
Responding to Google reviews is a standard part of managing a practice's online presence, and doing it consistently can reinforce the professionalism of the practice in the eyes of prospective patients. However, responding to a review that contains clinical content raises a separate consideration: patient privacy.
A response that confirms the reviewer is or was a patient of the practice, or that confirms any detail of the treatment they received, may raise privacy concerns under Australian privacy law. AHPRA's guidance in this area is that a practitioner responding to a review should not confirm that the reviewer is a patient. Even a response such as 'Thank you, we are glad the procedure went smoothly' is a confirmation of patient status and a clinical outcome. Practices should seek their own advice on how to manage this appropriately.
A compliant response to a review containing clinical content acknowledges the feedback without confirming any detail of the reviewer's care. For example: 'Thank you for leaving a review. If you would like to discuss your experience further, please contact us directly.' This approach is professional, avoids engaging with clinical detail in a public forum and does not confirm patient status.
Negative reviews that allege a clinical error or an adverse outcome require particular care. Responding to those in a public forum raises additional considerations beyond advertising obligations. Practices in that situation should seek legal advice before responding publicly.
What compliant dental search marketing looks like
Compliant advertising is not restricted advertising. The rules do not prevent a dental practice from running effective dental SEO, Google Ads or social media campaigns. They set a standard for how claims must be made, not a ceiling on which services can be promoted or how prominently.
A practice website can describe the full range of treatments it offers, explain procedures clearly, highlight the qualifications and experience of its practitioners, show the practice environment and communicate its approach to patient care, all without testimonials, unsubstantiated claims or misleading comparisons. A Google Ads campaign can promote specific treatments, target the right suburbs and drive qualified enquiries without guaranteed-result language or claims the practice cannot support.
The self-assessment tool on the AHPRA website walks through the main advertising obligations question by question and explains how to bring existing advertising into compliance. It is worth working through for any practice that has not reviewed its advertising against the current requirements recently.
AHPRA also publishes guidance on acceptable evidence for health advertising claims. This is relevant whenever a practice wants to make a factual claim about the effectiveness of a treatment. The standard is higher than general consumer advertising, and a claim that sounds reasonable in plain language may not meet it. Practices should read the current guidance and seek professional advice when they are unsure.