Dental website design: the four pages that decide whether someone books

None of these are design problems in the visual sense. They are all content and flow decisions, which is why a redesign that only changes how the site looks tends not to change how many people book.

If the only path from search result to appointment is a phone call during business hours, anyone searching after hours is lost until the office opens, if they wait at all.

Online booking that shows genuine availability beats a contact form, and a contact form beats a phone number alone. The gap between those three is larger than the gap between a good-looking site and an average one.

Patients want to know before they call whether their plan is accepted and whether you bill directly. In our experience it is one of the most common questions before booking, and few practice sites answer it clearly.

A page listing the plans you work with and explaining how direct billing works removes a real barrier and answers a question many practice sites leave open. It costs one page.

Someone researching a crown, an implant or whitening is comparing options and providers at the same time. The page that wins is the one that answers what it involves, what it costs, what recovery is like and what else they could do instead.

Being honest about cost ranges is uncomfortable and it works, because the alternative is that they call three practices to find out and only one of those calls is yours.

Dental anxiety keeps some people from booking at all. A practice that says plainly what it does for nervous patients, in specific terms rather than reassuring adjectives, speaks to a group actively looking for exactly that and finding nothing.

We build these as custom sites rather than templates, and the ranking side is covered in SEO for dentists, which explains why reviews and booking beat content for this vertical.

A practice website is advertising, and in Alberta that brings in the College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta (CDSA). Its advertising page settles the question practices ask most: “Advertising dental fees remains the choice of an individual dentist, as does the manner in which a dentist advertises their practice.” Posting prices is allowed. The cost advice above is not a compliance risk as long as the numbers are accurate.

The CDSA Advertising Statement sets the test every page has to pass, quoting section 102 of the Health Professions Act: no advertising “that is untruthful, inaccurate or otherwise capable of misleading or misinforming the public.” It also says who is on the hook. Owner, responsible and associate dentists must make sure their advertising complies, “including managing their dental office staff and third-party organizations who may be assisting with advertising and promotions.” Your web designer is a third-party organization. Their copy is your responsibility.

On titles, the CDSA’s June 2026 Protected Titles and Representations Statement lists nine recognized specialties and says “General dentists must not practise in an office that uses a trade name that incorporates or implies a recognized dental specialty unless general dentistry services are clearly identified.” SEO for dentists covers what that means for keywords.

Not legal advice. This summarizes public CDSA documents as published on September 30, 2026. Check your own copy against the current versions or with the CDSA.

The CDSA documents we read have no rule written specifically for before and after photos. Two general rules cover them. The CDSA Code of Ethics says patient information “must be kept in strict confidence except as required by the Health Information Act or as authorized by the patient.” A photo of a patient’s mouth is patient information. And the misleading standard from section 102 applies to images as much as words: a retouched after shot, or a best-ever case shown as typical, is capable of misleading.

In our view, a gallery that holds up has written consent that names website and social media use, the same lighting and angle before and after, no retouching of the teeth, and a caption with the treatment and the time between photos.

Injectables are a separate problem. The Advertising Statement cites federal Food and Drug Regulation C.01.044: a person advertising a prescription drug to the public “shall not make any representation other than with respect to the brand name, the proper name, the common name and the price and quantity of the drug.” Health Canada uses Botox as its example, says “No direct or indirect reference can be made to its therapeutic use and/or benefits”, and lists before and after pictures, procedure videos and benefit testimonials as common problems. Health Canada also says the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations do not apply to advertising of services, so a page about a service is not the same as a page promoting a named drug. If the practice offers facial esthetic therapies, get that page checked before it goes live. The same statement cites a federal rule that “No person shall advertise a Class II, III or IV medical device for the purpose of sale”, which is worth knowing before you build a page around a named device brand.

The insurance question now has a federal piece. For the Canadian Dental Care Plan, the Government of Canada says providers can take part by “signing up formally through Sun Life” or by “submitting claims directly to Sun Life for payment, on a claim-by-claim basis.” A patient cannot tell from outside which one a practice does, or whether it does either, so they phone to ask.

If you see CDCP patients, say so on the insurance page, say how billing works, and say whether the patient pays anything at the visit. If you do not, say that too. A clear no on the website is one less call for the front desk, and a clear yes is a booking from someone who was about to call the next practice on the list.

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What makes a good dental website?

It removes the four things that stop a booking: not being able to book without phoning, not knowing whether their insurance is accepted, not knowing what a procedure costs, and anxiety about the visit itself. A site that answers all four converts better than one that looks nicer.

Should a dental website have online booking?

Yes, and it is usually the highest-return single change. Some searching happens outside office hours, and a site whose only conversion path is a phone call to a closed office loses that traffic entirely.

How much detail should procedure pages include?

Enough to answer what it involves, what it realistically costs, what recovery looks like and what the alternatives are. Patients researching a procedure are comparing, and the practice that answers the comparison honestly is usually the one they call.

Do dental websites need before and after photos?

For cosmetic work they do more than any copy can. They need real consent and should be genuine patients rather than stock, because stock imagery in this context is both obvious and corrosive to trust.

What about anxiety?

Dental anxiety is a real reason some people delay booking, and in our experience few practice sites address it. Saying plainly what you do for nervous patients captures a group of people actively searching for exactly that.

How fast does a dental website need to be?

Fast enough on a phone, because a patient checking you between other things is usually on one. Practical benchmarks matter more than scores: a page that shows content quickly on a mid-range phone on mobile data is the target.

Can dentists in Alberta put prices on their website?

Yes. The College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta says advertising dental fees is the choice of the individual dentist. The prices have to be accurate, because the Health Professions Act bars advertising that is untruthful, inaccurate or capable of misleading the public.

Can a dental website advertise Botox?

Only within tight federal limits. Health Canada says advertising a prescription drug like Botox to the public is limited to name, price and quantity, with no direct or indirect reference to its therapeutic use or benefits, and it lists before and after pictures and benefit testimonials as common problems. Get that page reviewed before publishing.

Do I need patient consent to post before and after photos?

Yes. The CDSA Code of Ethics requires patient information to be kept in strict confidence unless the patient authorizes release or the Health Information Act requires it, and a clinical photo is patient information. In our view, get written consent that names website and social media use before anything is posted.