Short answer: Marketing an NHS to private conversion happens in three stages, in this order. First, keep the patients you have: tell them clearly and early, with one consistent message. Second, update how you appear: your website, Google Business Profile and practice materials must show that you are now private or mixed, and must follow GDC and ASA rules. Third, attract new private patients with local SEO, reviews and targeted ads for the treatments that make the private model work. Most failed conversions get the order wrong and start advertising before the existing patients understand what is changing.
This guide covers the marketing side only. The decision to convert, your NHS contract obligations and the financial model should be settled with your accountant, your plan provider and, where needed, your local commissioning body before any of the steps below.
Before You Market Anything: Four Decisions
Your messaging depends on decisions that are not marketing decisions. Write them down before you design a single letter:
| Decision | Why marketing needs it |
|---|---|
| Fully private or mixed? | The GDC requires your publicity to say whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private. Every page and listing must match. |
| Membership plan, pay-as-you-go, or both? | Decides what you are asking patients to do: join a plan, or simply book privately. |
| Prices and plan tiers | Patients will ask on the first call. Reception, letters and the website must give the same numbers. |
| Your retention target | How many existing patients you need to keep for the practice to stay viable. This becomes the main thing you measure. |
Plan providers often calculate the retention target as part of a viability review. Treat their figures as a starting point and check them against your own patient list.
Stage 1: Tell Your Existing Patients
Your existing patients are the most valuable part of the conversion. They already trust the team, and keeping them costs far less than finding new ones. They are also the people most likely to be upset if they hear the news from someone else first.
What every patient message should cover
- What is changing and when. The date NHS treatment ends at the practice, in plain words.
- Why. One honest sentence, such as longer appointments or the care you want to provide, without criticising the NHS or other practices.
- Their options. Joining a plan, paying per visit, and where they can look for NHS care if they prefer it. Telling patients how to find NHS care builds trust rather than losing it.
- Prices. Plan prices and the main treatment fees, or a link to the full list.
- What happens to current treatment. Courses of treatment already started are a common worry. Answer it directly.
- How to ask questions. A named contact, a phone line and a website page.
Channels, in a sensible order
- Team briefing first. Reception and nurses answer most of the questions. Give them a written script and a one-page FAQ so every patient hears the same thing.
- Letter or email to every active patient. Send it to every active patient at once, so no group finds out second-hand.
- A conversion page on your website. One page, linked from the homepage, that repeats the letter, lists the prices and answers the FAQs. Put the link in the letter.
- Chairside conversations. Clinicians explain what private care means for that patient’s own treatment. This is where most plan sign-ups usually happen.
- Follow-up with patients who have not responded, before the change date.
Track sign-ups against your retention target every week. If they are behind, the problem is usually clarity (patients don’t understand what they are being offered) rather than price.
Stage 2: Update Your Website, Google Profile and Materials
Patients will check your website and Google listing after reading the letter, and new patients will find you there. Both need updating before the letters go out.
Website changes
- Show private or mixed status clearly, including in the homepage text and footer. The GDC guidance on advertising requires publicity to make this clear.
- Check the information the GDC expects on practice websites: practice name and geographic address, phone and email, the GDC’s contact details or a link to the GDC website, your complaints procedure, and the date the site was last updated. Clinicians named on the site should show their qualification, the country it comes from and their GDC number.
- Remove leftover NHS wording: NHS bands, “accepting NHS patients” banners, old fee tables and outdated FAQs.
- Add a fees and plans page. “From–to” ranges are acceptable for treatments whose cost varies.
- Write treatment pages for the services that matter most to the private model, such as implants, Invisalign, hygiene and check-ups. Explain who each treatment suits, what happens and what it costs. Patients researching private care compare practices on these pages.
- Use the GDC’s wording on titles: only dentists on a GDC specialist list may be called specialists. Others may use phrases such as “special interest in”.
If the site is old or built around NHS messaging, a redesign may be simpler than editing it page by page. Our dental website redesign guide covers how to decide.
Google Business Profile
- Update the business description, services list and photos so they describe the private practice.
- Check that the name, phone number and opening hours match your website exactly.
- Reply to reviews that mention the change calmly and factually. Some former NHS patients will be unhappy, and the way you reply is read by future patients.
- Keep phone numbers out of Google posts. Google may remove posts with unverified contact details. See our roundup of recent Google Business Profile changes.
The full checklist is in our Google Business Profile playbook for dentists.
Stage 3: Attract New Private Patients
An NHS practice rarely needs to market itself, because demand comes to it. A private practice does need to, because private patients compare options before they book. Focus on channels where people are already looking for a dentist or a specific treatment.
| Channel | What it does for a newly private practice | Typical first step |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO and Google Maps | Appears when people search “private dentist near me” or “dentist in [town]” | Complete profile, treatment pages, steady reviews. See local SEO for dentists |
| Google Ads | Puts you in front of high-intent treatment searches straight away | A few treatment campaigns (implants, Invisalign, private check-ups) with matching landing pages. See Google Ads for dentists |
| Treatment content | Answers the questions private patients ask before booking | One strong page per key treatment, with prices and FAQs |
| Reviews | Builds trust after the change | Ask satisfied patients steadily. Avoid asking many on the same day, which spam filters can flag |
| Facebook and Instagram | Keeps the local community aware of the practice and the team | Team, practice and education posts. Ads for consultations. See Facebook ads for dentists |
| Referrals | Existing plan members recommend the practice | Ask at the end of good appointments. Follow your plan provider’s rules on incentives |
For aligner treatment specifically, our Invisalign marketing guide covers the campaign and landing-page setup in more detail.
Compliance Checklist for UK Dental Marketing
- Be accurate and not misleading. The GDC says advertising must be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and claims must be backed by facts.
- No comparisons with other professionals’ skills. The GDC tells practices not to display information comparing their skills or qualifications with other dental professionals.
- Before-and-after photos. The ASA treats them like testimonials: they must be genuine and representative, and you should hold signed, dated proof.
- No advertising of prescription-only medicines. According to the ASA guidance for dentists, Botox is prescription-only and cannot be advertised to the public. This includes renamed versions and before-and-after images.
- Treatment claims need evidence. The ASA warns against exaggerated whitening results and expects robust evidence for claims about braces.
- Social media posts about treatments should say that the treatment may not suit every patient and depends on an assessment, as the GDC guidance asks.
This is a marketing checklist, not legal advice. For anything unusual, check with your indemnity provider or the GDC.
What to Measure in the First Six Months
- Plan sign-ups or private bookings vs your retention target, week by week until the change date, then monthly.
- New-patient enquiries by source: phone, website form, Google profile, ads, referrals. Ask every new patient how they found you.
- Cost per new private patient for paid channels, not just cost per click.
- Review rating and volume before and after the change.
- Treatment acceptance for the services you are promoting.
Common Mistakes
- Advertising for new patients before existing patients have been told.
- Different prices on the letter, the website and the phone.
- Leaving NHS wording on the website, so the GDC-required status information is wrong.
- Using words like “specialist” or “best” that the regulator’s guidance warns against.
- Expecting SEO to replace lost NHS demand within weeks. Local SEO builds over months, so paid search usually fills the gap at the start.
Planning a conversion?
We can work remotely with UK practices on websites, local SEO and Google Ads. See our dental marketing services for UK practices, then contact us or message us on WhatsApp with your website link.
Sources
- General Dental Council: Guidance on advertising
- ASA / CAP: Dental: general (advice online)
- ASA / CAP: Before and after photos
- Dentistry: Converting from NHS to private dentistry? The changes you need to make (July 2026, sponsored by Practice Plan)
Frequently Asked Questions
When should a practice start marketing an NHS to private conversion?
After the financial and contract decisions are made, not before. You need to know your model (fully private or mixed), your fees or plan prices, and how many patients you must keep. Patient communication then starts first, followed by website and Google profile changes, and only then campaigns for new private patients.
How should we tell existing NHS patients that we are going private?
Tell them directly, in writing, before they hear it elsewhere, and repeat the same message on the phone, at reception and on your website. Explain why the practice is changing, what their options are (including private plans and where to find NHS care), the prices, and the date. Give the whole team the same script and a short FAQ.
Do we have to show prices on a private dental website?
The GDC standards require a simple price list to be displayed in the practice, and “from–to” ranges are allowed for treatments that vary. Showing the same price list or plan prices on your website is not something we have found as an explicit GDC website rule, but it is what private patients look for, and it reduces calls from people who would not proceed.
Can a converting practice use before-and-after photos and reviews?
Yes, within the rules. The ASA treats before-and-after photos like testimonials: they must be genuine and representative, and you should hold signed, dated proof. Prescription-only treatments such as Botox cannot be advertised to the public, so before-and-after images of them are not allowed.
Should we run Google Ads for new private patients?
Usually yes, for high-value treatments where people search with clear intent, such as implants, Invisalign or private check-ups in your area. Start with a small budget on a few treatment searches, send each ad to a matching page, and track enquiries rather than clicks.