Dental practices
Dentist review reply templates (6 real examples)
Dentistry sits inside YMYL — Google's 'Your Money or Your Life' quality bracket — and its reply guidelines are stricter than any other local industry. This page is written with those constraints in mind and reviewed by a UK-registered dentist.
What dental practices get reviewed on
- Waiting-room delays
- Cost surprises
- Anxiety around procedures
- Front-desk phone manner
Tone notes
Warm but never clinical in public. Never confirm a patient relationship, never reference a specific treatment in the reply.
6 templates
1. 5-star, gentle care
Review
"Been terrified of dentists my whole life, first time I didn't cry."
Reply
"Hi — that's the review we most want to read. Nervous patients are what our team trained specifically for. Thank you for trusting us. — Dr Ellie, principal"
2. Waiting-room delay
Review
"40-minute wait after a specific appointment time."
Reply
"Hi — a 40-minute wait after a booked slot isn't the practice we want to run. We've added a 15-minute buffer between complex appointments from this month. Sorry for the delay."
3. Cost surprise
Review
"Ended up paying nearly double what I thought."
Reply
"Hi — a cost surprise is a communication failure on our side. From this month every plan over £150 is quoted in writing before treatment starts. If you'd like to review your bill, please email reception@ourpractice.com and we'll look at it personally."
4. Anxious patient, mixed
Review
"Kind team but felt rushed through consent."
Reply
"Hi — consent is the part we should never rush. We've extended new-patient consultations to 40 minutes as standard from this month. Please email us directly if you'd like to talk it through."
5. Front-desk phone manner
Review
"Reception was short with me on the phone."
Reply
"Hi — the phone is often the first impression and it should be the warmest one. I'll cover this with the front-desk team this week; thank you for telling us. — Dr Ellie"
6. Negative, unspecific
Review
"Would not recommend."
Reply
"Hi — we take feedback seriously and would like to understand what happened. Please email reception@ourpractice.com and we will look into it personally."
FAQ
- Can I mention that someone is my patient in a Google reply?
- No. Both HIPAA (US) and GDPR/DPA (UK/EU) treat any acknowledgement of a treatment relationship as protected health information. Keep replies general even when the reviewer named themselves.
- Can I dispute a factually wrong dental review?
- Not with clinical facts in public. Invite the reviewer to a direct channel and address the facts privately; flag to Google if the review names another patient or breaches medical privacy.
- Should we ask for reviews after appointments?
- Yes, but never in exchange for a discount or gift, and never for a specific rating. Google explicitly forbids incentivised reviews and can remove them, along with the underlying rating.
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