Reviews
Why Dental Practices Can't Afford to Ignore Reviews
By Mohamed Eltoukhy, founder of EVOGENCY ·
Choosing a dentist involves more research and more hesitation than most local purchase decisions. Reviews are often the deciding factor between two practices that look equally qualified on paper.
Patients can't easily judge clinical skill. What they can judge is what other patients say about how they were treated: whether the staff was kind, whether the dentist explained things, whether it hurt, and whether billing was fair.
Consistency over quantity
A steady trickle of new reviews over time reads as more trustworthy than a single large batch collected once and never repeated. Patients notice when reviews stop coming in.
Build asking into your checkout routine. A text after the appointment with a direct link to your Google review page is easy for patients and easy for staff.
HIPAA and privacy awareness
When responding to reviews, a dental practice needs to be careful never to confirm someone was a patient or share any details, even in a well intentioned response, since that can create real privacy problems.
A safe response thanks the reviewer for their feedback in general terms and invites them to call the office. For example: "Thank you for taking the time to share this. We'd welcome the chance to talk, please call our office manager." Avoid mentioning treatment, appointments, or anything that confirms a patient relationship.
Handling negative reviews
Negative reviews about wait times, billing, or pain happen to every practice. Respond calmly, keep it general, and move the conversation offline. Future patients read your reply to see how you handle problems.
If a review looks fake or violates Google's policies, you can flag it through your Business Profile, but don't expect every flag to succeed.
Stay within the rules
Don't offer discounts or gifts for reviews, and don't selectively ask only patients you think are happy. Both go against Google's policies. Ask every patient, and let the reviews reflect your real care.
Use feedback to improve
Reviews are free patient satisfaction data. If several mention long waits or confusing bills, fix the process. Improving the experience is the most reliable way to improve the reviews.
Train the whole team
The front desk, hygienists, and assistants shape most of what patients write about. Make sure everyone knows the review routine, the privacy rules for responses, and who handles replies. A short script for the front desk ("We'd really appreciate a review, we'll text you the link") keeps the ask natural.
Start today
Add a review request to your checkout routine, set up privacy safe response templates, and check new reviews weekly. That's all it takes to build a strong reputation over time.
If you'd like help running it, our reviews service handles the asking and monitoring for you.