How to get dental practices as clients: the list, the office manager and the pitch

To get dental practices as clients, list every dental practice in the area you serve, separate general dentists from orthodontists and other specialists, and remove the group locations whose buying is done at head office. Then reach the office manager, not the dentist, with one specific observation about their practice and a small next step. Dentists are easy to find, since nearly every practice has a Google Maps listing with a website, hours and reviews, and the practices that fit your offer are visible in those columns before you ever call.

What do dental practices buy, and who decides?#

A dental practice buys marketing, software, supplies, lab work and services, and the person who decides depends on what it is. At an independent practice the owner dentist signs off on anything clinical or costly; the office manager runs most other vendors.

Most of the market is still small. The Census Bureau counted 135,665 offices of dentists with paid employees in 2023, and the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute counts about 205,000 professionally active dentists. Dental service organizations, which run many locations under one company, are growing and usually buy centrally. That's why the first job in any dental list is separating independents from groups.

Specialists are their own market. An orthodontist buys differently from a general dentist (aligner labs, treatment-coordinator software, referral marketing), so give them their own list. See the orthodontist lead list.

How do I build a list of dental practices?#

Search Google Maps for every dental search term in the area you serve, combine the results into one list, and remove duplicates. One term is never enough: "dentist", "dental clinic" and "cosmetic dentist" return overlapping but different practices.

1. Pick the area. A city, a county, a set of ZIP codes, or a shape you draw around the region you can serve. If you visit offices in person, draw the area around your drive time.
2. Search several terms. Start with "dentist", "dental office", "dental clinic", "family dentist", "cosmetic dentist", "pediatric dentist" and "emergency dentist". For specialists add "orthodontist", "endodontist", "periodontist", "oral surgeon" and "prosthodontist".
3. Search in pieces. One Google Maps search shows about 120 results, and a metro has far more practices than that. Split by neighborhood or ZIP code. See why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
4. Check the category. The Google Maps categories that matter are Dentist, Dental clinic, Cosmetic dentist, Pediatric dentist, Orthodontist, Endodontist, Periodontist, Oral surgeon, Prosthodontist and Emergency dental service. Dental labs and supply stores show up in dental searches too; drop them unless you sell to them.
5. Mark the groups. Sort by business name and by website domain. A name or domain that repeats across many locations is usually a DSO or a multi-location group.
6. Find a contact. Practices often publish one office email (info@, office@, frontdesk@). Larger ones list a separate address for the office manager or billing.

The dentist lead list page shows the full set of search terms and the columns you get for each practice.

How do I segment dentists by the columns in the list?#

Use the columns as filters that match your offer. The point is to send each practice a message that only makes sense for practices like it.

Reviews and rating are a size and reputation signal, not a revenue number. A practice with 900 reviews sees more patients than one with 30, which matters if you sell by volume. Low-review practices are the obvious audience for a review tool. For more on that angle, see finding businesses with low Google reviews.

What should I pitch a dental practice?#

Pitch one outcome the office manager or owner already measures: new patients, no-shows, phone time, days to get paid. Dental offices get a lot of vendor email, so a vague "grow your practice" message is easy to delete.

• Agencies: show something specific about their own practice. Where they rank for "dentist near me" in their town, whether their site loads on a phone, how their review count compares with the three nearest practices. One observation is enough for the first email.
• Software: lead with front-desk time. Office managers think in calls answered, confirmations sent and chairs left empty. Be ready to say how you handle patient data and whether you sign a business associate agreement, because that question often decides the deal.
• Supplies and labs: lead with price per case or turnaround, and offer a sample order or a price sheet against what they buy now.
• Services (IT, billing, cleaning): lead with reliability and after-hours work, so patient hours aren't disrupted.

For agencies, the full outbound playbook is in how to get leads for a marketing agency and how to get local SEO clients.

When is the best time to reach a dental office?#

Email any time; for calls, try early morning before the first patient, or mid-afternoon Tuesday through Thursday. The front desk is busiest when patients check in and out, around lunch, and on Monday mornings when the weekend's messages pile up.

These windows are common practice, not measured results. Check each practice's hours column: some close one weekday or run evening and Saturday hours, and that changes the window.

The gatekeeper is the front desk. Their job is protecting the schedule. Be brief, ask who handles your area ("Who looks after your marketing?" or "Who orders your supplies?"), and ask for the best time or email for that person. Don't pretend to be a patient.

What should the email say? A short script#

Keep the first email under 100 words, mention their town or a real detail, and ask for a small yes. These templates use Leadraft export columns as merge fields: {{business}}, {{city}}, {{rating}} and {{reviews}}.

Email 1: marketing agency#

Subject: new patients for {{business}}

Hi there,

I looked up "dentist near me" from a few spots in {{city}}.
{{business}} has {{reviews}} reviews at {{rating}} stars, but it
isn't in the top three on the map for most of them.

I made a one-page note on what's holding it back. Want me to
send it to you or your office manager?

[Name] · [Agency] · [Postal address]
Not interested? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Email 1: patient messaging software#

Subject: front-desk phone time at {{business}}

Hi there,

I work with dental offices around {{city}} on appointment
confirmations and recall. Most of the calls your front desk makes
to confirm tomorrow's patients can go out as two-way texts.

Is a 15-minute look worth it? We sign a business associate
agreement before anything touches patient data.

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address] · Reply "no" to opt out.

Only claim what you can show. If you say "the top three on the map", check it before you send.

How many times should I follow up?#

Three or four follow-ups over about three weeks, each shorter than the last and each adding one new thing. Stop when someone replies, asks you to stop, or bounces.

Treat these as a starting point and adjust from your own replies. The cold email checklist for agencies covers sending setup, warm-up and volume.

What rules apply to cold outreach to dentists?#

In the US, commercial email falls under CAN-SPAM: accurate sender information and subject lines, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. HIPAA protects patient information a practice holds; it doesn't stop you emailing the practice about your product. Calls to a practice's business line are mostly outside the National Do Not Call Registry, but the TCPA's consent rules still cover autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones, and many dentists list a cell. Google's Maps Platform terms restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content, a contract issue separate from these laws. See cold email laws and get legal advice for your situation.

Worked example: every dental practice in Texas#

The Census Bureau counted 11,902 offices of dentists with paid employees in Texas in 2023. A Google Maps list of Texas will not match that number exactly: it includes specialists, satellite offices and practices with no employees, and excludes any practice without a listing. Use the Census count as a rough size.

Assumptions, for illustration only: about 12,000 Texas practices in the list, and about half with a checked email.

On Growth, the whole state's list costs $49 in month one and $98 over two months, with the second month's allowance taking the last checked emails. If you only need a metro, the Starter plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 businesses and 1,000 checked emails. Catch-all and invalid grades don't use checked-email credits, and practices outside your area are never charged. Prices are on the pricing page.

If you'd rather not build dental lists by hand, Leadraft finds every dental practice of the types you choose inside the area you pick, with hours, reviews and checked emails. Try it on your city on the free plan (500 businesses and 50 checked emails, no card), or see the sample columns on the dentist lead list page.

FAQ#

How do I get dental practices as clients?#

List every dental practice in the area you serve, split general dentists from specialists like orthodontists and oral surgeons, and drop the group locations that buy centrally. Then email or call the office manager with one specific observation about their practice and a small next step, such as a short audit or a sample. Follow up three or four times over a few weeks.

Who makes buying decisions at a dental practice?#

At an independent practice, the owner dentist decides on anything clinical or expensive, and the office manager runs day-to-day vendors such as supplies, software, marketing and IT. At a dental service organization (DSO), many purchases are made centrally, so the local office may not be able to buy.

What is the best time to contact a dental office?#

Email any time. For calls, try early morning before the first patients, or mid-afternoon on Tuesday to Thursday, and avoid the lunch hour and Monday mornings. Check each practice's listed hours first, because some practices close one weekday or keep evening and Saturday hours.

How many dental practices are there in the US?#

The Census Bureau counted 135,665 offices of dentists with paid employees in 2023 (NAICS 621210). The largest states are California (22,757), Texas (11,902), Florida (9,039) and New York (8,001). Google Maps listings will not match these counts exactly, because Maps also lists specialists, satellite offices and practices without employees.

Does HIPAA stop me from cold emailing dentists?#

No. Emailing a practice's business address about your product is business-to-business marketing and doesn't involve patient information. CAN-SPAM governs the email itself. If your product will handle patient data, the practice will expect HIPAA safeguards and usually a business associate agreement. This isn't legal advice.

Sources#

1. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 621210, offices of dentists, by state).
2. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, Dentist workforce.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Business Associates under HIPAA.
4. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business.
5. Federal Communications Commission, Stop unwanted robocalls and texts (TCPA consent rules).
6. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.