The right channel depends on whether the patient is actively searching or needs the problem explained in a believable way.
Benchmarks are planning ranges and should be validated against each clinic's market, offer, follow-up speed, and treatment economics.
Google Ads reaches people actively searching for a dentist, treatment, cost, or local provider. That intent can be valuable, but clicks are often expensive and still need strong landing pages and qualification.
Meta ads can reach patients before they search by using stories, doctor explanations, patient concerns, and visual outcomes. The channel often needs more creative testing and stronger filtering to separate curiosity from serious intent.
Implants, full-arch treatment, veneers, emergency dentistry, and general services behave differently. Compare channels by downstream quality, not only cost per lead.
Send the practical clinic version: whether the issue is intent, creative, landing page proof, budget fit, or follow-up.
They can be colder, but strong creative, clear offers, and qualification can turn Meta into a profitable demand-creation channel.
Google often captures stronger active intent for implants, but Meta can support education, retargeting, and demand generation when the creative is strong.
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