How to get more Google reviews for your dental practice
The short answer: start with a paced invitation campaign for eligible past patients who have not already reviewed. Then continue with new completed visits, using an agreed process for receiving visit details. Keep the ask neutral, offer nothing in return, and never select patients based on expected sentiment. Then reply to what comes in, because 80% of people prefer a business that responds to its reviews.
The five moves, in order
- 01
Mine the goldmine you are sitting on
Start with eligible past patients who have not already reviewed. Check real service history, usable contact details and consent, then agree the wording, campaign pace and follow-up. With Foundry Reviews, an appropriate patient export can support this first campaign.
- 02
Make the ask part of the agreed process
For ongoing requests, agree how new completed-visit details reach the person handling them. Eligible patients can then receive a neutral invitation with a direct review link. Foundry Reviews uses the method agreed at setup; direct software connections are scoped and quoted separately.
- 03
Keep the wording neutral
Ask patients to share their experience. Do not prompt for outcomes, results or anything clinical, because soliciting clinical praise is where health advertising rules get involved. A neutral ask is also simply a better ask: it reads as confidence, not fishing.
- 04
Never incentivise, never gate
No discounts, gifts or prize draws for reviews, and no routing unhappy patients to a private form while happy ones go to Google. Both breach Google's review policy, and the ACCC treats undisclosed incentivised reviews as misleading. The shortcut is not worth your profile.
- 05
Reply to everything
A short, warm reply to every review, positive or negative, is a trust signal patients actively look for. It also signals to Google that the profile is managed. Careful with privacy: never confirm clinical details in a reply.
Consumer statistics: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, a US consumer panel (n=1,002). Compliance detail: see our plain-English AHPRA and Google reviews guide.
Do it yourself, or hand it off?
Everything above is doable in-house, and if your practice manager has the bandwidth to own it permanently, you do not need us. The honest failure mode is not starting, it is stopping: most practices run an enthusiastic month, then the follow-ups quietly stop when the practice gets busy, and the review count goes static again.
What we sell is the system running without anyone at the practice having to remember each invitation: a first campaign for eligible past patients, ongoing requests using agreed completed-visit details, reply support and a monthly summary. There is no dashboard to log into. Here is how the service works.
Common questions
Why does my practice have so few reviews when patients love us?
Because nobody asks. Leaving a review takes effort, and even delighted patients rarely think of it on their own. Practices with hundreds of reviews are not providing better care than you. They ask, consistently, and they make it effortless. The gap between your care and your review count is an asking gap, not a quality gap.
When is the best moment to ask a patient for a review?
Soon after a completed visit, while the experience is fresh, using an agreed channel and timing. Eligibility is based on real service history, usable contact details, consent and not already having reviewed, never expected sentiment. Keep the invitation neutral and the review link easy to use.
How many reviews per month should a dental practice aim for?
For most suburban practices, a steady 4 to 6 new reviews a month changes the picture completely. It keeps your most recent review inside the 3-month window that 74% of consumers say they require, and it compounds: two years of that rhythm puts you past 100 reviews, which is more than most competitors in a typical suburb.
Can we just ask our happiest patients?
No. Selecting patients based on expected sentiment is review gating. Every eligible patient gets the same neutral invitation. Eligibility is based on real service history, usable contact details, consent and not already having reviewed. Patients decide whether to review and what rating to give.
Do QR codes and tap-to-review cards at reception work?
They can supplement your process. A card at checkout makes the review link available in the moment. An agreed follow-up process can also invite eligible patients after their visits, rather than relying on the front desk to remember each time.
See where your practice stands first.
We prepare a free one-page snapshot: your real Google numbers next to the practices around you. It is useful whether you do this yourself or hand it to us.
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