Orthodontic PPC (pay-per-click advertising, here meaning Google search ads) is worth running when two things are true: people near you are searching for braces or aligners, and your practice can turn those clicks into consults and starts. This guide uses real click costs to show what to bid on, which searches to block, how the Invisalign trademark affects your ads, and how to set a budget you can judge on started cases.
It's written for orthodontists deciding whether to start, and for those checking an account an agency already runs.
What orthodontic searches cost and what they signal
| Search (US, monthly) | Searches | Avg. CPC | Intent |
|---|---|---|---|
| orthodontist near me | 246,000 | $19.80 | Choosing a local office |
| invisalign cost | 74,000 | $10.03 | Adult, researching price |
| invisalign near me | 60,500 | $26.29 | Adult, choosing a provider |
| braces near me | 40,500 | $20.60 | Mostly parents, choosing locally |
| how much are braces | 27,100 | $8.73 | Researching price |
| clear aligners | 18,100 | $13.57 | Comparing aligner options |
| braces cost | 14,800 | $12.91 | Researching price |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026. Bids for "orthodontist near me" range from $4.95 to $35.81 a click.
Read the table by intent, not volume. "Near me" searches are the ones most likely to become consult requests this week, and they cost the most. Cost searches are cheaper and earlier in the decision; they are often better won with a strong cost page than with ads. Most orthodontic PPC budgets belong on the "near me" rows first.
What drives orthodontic PPC costs
- Who else bids locally: orthodontists, general dentists offering aligners and group practices.
- Match types: broad matching spends on loosely related searches unless you block them.
- Radius and schedule: clicks from far away or at hours nobody can answer rarely turn into consults.
- Landing page experience: one of the three components of Google's Quality Score (opens in a new tab) diagnostic, meaning how relevant and useful the page is to people who click.
Campaign structure: braces, clear aligners, kids and adults
A clean account mirrors your two audiences and your two appliances.
| Campaign | Ad groups | Landing page |
|---|---|---|
| Braces (parents) | "braces near me," "orthodontist for kids," "braces for teens" | Braces page or early treatment page |
| Clear aligners (adults) | "clear aligners near me," "invisalign near me," "adult orthodontist" | Clear aligner page |
| Cost | "braces cost," "invisalign cost" | Matching cost page |
| Brand | Your practice and doctor names | Homepage or consult page |
Why separate campaigns: you can set separate budgets, so adult aligner campaigns don't starve parent campaigns in back-to-school season, and you can see consults by audience. For parent ads, the AAO's recommendation of a first orthodontic check-up by age 7 (opens in a new tab) gives you an accurate, useful message.
Plan around intent, not retargeting. Google's personalized advertising policy (opens in a new tab) treats health as a sensitive interest category, and remarketing lists built from your site visitors ("your data segments") aren't supported when promoting in sensitive categories. For general account setup, see our guide to Google Ads for medical practices.
Using 'Invisalign' in ads: trademark rules
Invisalign is Align Technology's trademark; its annual report (opens in a new tab) lists it among the company's marks, and Align's website terms (opens in a new tab) state that no license to its trademarks is granted except as expressly stated.
Google's trademark policy (opens in a new tab) separates two uses:
- Keywords: Google doesn't restrict trademarks used as keywords. Bidding on "invisalign near me" is a keyword use.
- Ad text: after a trademark owner files a complaint, Google may restrict the term in ad text. Exceptions include landing pages primarily dedicated to selling the trademarked product, with clear purchase information, and informational sites.
Align also sets its own rules for how providers use its name and logo. We couldn't find a current version on a public Align page, so get it from Align before putting "Invisalign" in headlines. Writing "clear aligners" in ad text avoids the question, and you can still bid on the brand searches. Never imply you are Align or hold a provider status you don't currently have. Our guide to Invisalign marketing covers brand use beyond ads.
Claims in ad text also fall under the AAO's ethics code (opens in a new tab), which asks members to avoid superiority claims the public can't verify and to back claims with scientifically reliable evidence. "Top-rated orthodontist" is risky; "Specialist in orthodontics, evening consults available" is safer.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm how it applies to your practice with a qualified advisor.
Negative keywords that save an orthodontic budget
Orthodontic searches attract a lot of traffic that will never book. Block it with negative keywords, grouped by theme. Our guide to negative keyword lists covers match types and maintenance.
| Theme | Example negatives |
|---|---|
| Jobs and training | assistant, jobs, salary, school, residency, careers |
| Do-it-yourself | at home, diy, mail order, kit |
| Product care and parts | wax, cleaner, case, retainer cleaning, colors |
| Pain and problems | hurt, pain, broken bracket (unless you want emergency visits) |
| Free and charity | free braces, grants, charity (unless you run such a program) |
| Investors and corporate | stock, earnings, lawsuit |
| Payers you don't take | medicaid, chip (only if you don't accept them) |
Review the search terms report weekly. Every account develops its own waste: a nearby dental school, a mall kiosk, a city with the same street name.
Landing pages and consult requests
Each ad group should land on a page about exactly what was searched:
- "Braces near me" goes to a braces page with location, types offered and a consult form.
- "Invisalign near me" and "clear aligners near me" go to an aligner page.
- Cost searches go to a cost page that explains what drives the fee and your payment plans.
- Every page has one short HIPAA-compliant form and a tap-to-call number.
Keep tracking off anything that captures health information. Ad and analytics tags on a form that asks about the patient's bite, age or treatment history can send health information to an ad platform. Count a conversion when the request is submitted, without passing form contents, and keep patient-level outcomes such as "started treatment" out of ad platforms. Our guide to conversion tracking without PHI shows setups that work.
Budget, tracking and what to judge results on
Hypothetical arithmetic
Hypothetical arithmetic: a practice sets $2,000 a month and splits it 60/40 between adult aligner and parent braces campaigns. At the average CPCs above, $1,200 on "invisalign near me" ($26.29) buys about 46 clicks, and $800 on "braces near me" ($20.60) buys about 39. What those clicks are worth depends on your own conversion rates, which you can only learn by measuring.
What to judge on
Clicks and click-through rate tell you whether ads are relevant. They don't tell you whether the account is working. Judge monthly, per campaign, on consult requests, consults held and starts, with consults held and starts entered from your practice software. If one campaign produces starts at a far lower cost, move budget to it.
Evaluation checklist for an existing account
- Are braces, aligner, cost and brand searches in separate campaigns?
- Does each ad group land on a matching page?
- Has the search terms report been reviewed in the past week?
- Are ad tags kept off forms that collect health information?
- Is ad spend billed directly to your card by Google?
- Can you see consults and starts per campaign?
Red flags
- Most spend going to broad keywords with no negatives.
- All ads pointing to the homepage.
- "Invisalign" in ad text with no check of Align's rules.
- Remarketing audiences built from site visitors.
- Reports that end at clicks and conversions with no link to starts.
Where Medfy fits
Medfy is AI marketing for independent practices, built HIPAA-compliant by design. The $349/month base plan includes your website rebuilt and hosted on your own domain; automated SEO with articles drafted every week from MedlinePlus and PubMed, approved by you or auto-published; AI visibility tracking that checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews every week to see whether they name your practice and who they name instead; first-party analytics including calls, forms, bookings and visits from AI assistants; an AI CMO dashboard with a weekly brief; and a patient CRM and inbox.
The Google Ads management add-on ($199/month) reviews search terms and adds negative keywords daily, paces budget within a monthly ceiling you control, suggests ad copy checked against healthcare policy, and logs every change so it can be reversed. You choose suggest-only or auto-apply for safe changes; budget increases wait for your approval, and daily changes are capped. Other add-ons are Meta ads + AI creatives ($199/month) and a HIPAA AI chat widget ($49/month, covered by your BAA). Ad spend is paid directly to Google and Meta, never marked up. Billing is monthly and you can cancel anytime. Medfy doesn't answer phones, send email or SMS marketing, run review requests or post to social media.
See Google Ads add-on pricing, compare channels in our orthodontic advertising guide, or start with a free marketing audit, which flags privacy risks such as pixels on patient forms. The orthodontic marketing guide covers every channel.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Google Ads cost for orthodontists?
You pay per click, and orthodontic clicks vary widely: "invisalign near me" averages $26.29, "braces near me" $20.60 and "orthodontist near me" $19.80 (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026). Your total is the budget you set. Start with the "near me" searches, measure consults and starts, then adjust monthly.
Can orthodontists use 'Invisalign' in Google Ads?
As a keyword, generally yes: Google doesn't restrict trademarks used as keywords. In ad text, Google may restrict the term after Align files a complaint, with some exceptions. Align also sets its own rules for provider use of its name, which you should get from Align. Writing "clear aligners" in headlines while bidding on Invisalign searches avoids most problems.
What negative keywords should orthodontists use?
Block searches that will never book: job and training terms (assistant, salary, school), do-it-yourself and mail-order terms, product care (wax, cleaner, colors), investor terms (stock, earnings) and payers you don't accept. Add pain or broken-bracket terms only if you don't want emergency visits. Review the search terms report weekly, because every local market produces its own waste.
Should orthodontists run their own Google Ads?
You can, if someone has time each week to review search terms, add negatives, check budgets and connect results to starts. If that work keeps losing out to patient care, hand it to someone with the time. Whoever runs it, keep the account and billing in your practice's name, keep ad tags off health forms, and judge results on started cases.