Two different jobs get lumped under "orthodontist PPC company." The first is running the ad account: keywords, budgets, ad copy, bid settings. The second is turning a person who clicked into a booked consult, which depends on how fast your office answers, what the landing page says, and whether anyone follows up. You searched for the first one, a company to run the ads. But the second decides whether the first pays off, and no outside company controls it for you.
What a PPC company does for a practice
A competent firm builds campaigns around the searches families make when they are weighing braces or aligners, writes the ads, sets the budget limits, and reports on results. It should also set up call and form tracking so you can see which ads produced a consult request. This is skilled work, and most practice owners are glad to hand it off.
What stays in your office
Someone on your team has to pick up the phone, quote next steps, and get the family on the schedule. Ad firms cannot fix a voicemail box that fills up at lunch or a web form that nobody checks until Monday. Before you pay for more clicks, find out who answers inquiries, how quickly, and what happens when no one is free.
A narrow market, so keep expectations modest
Search interest for this exact phrase is small: about 120 searches a month across four related wordings. That says something about the firms too. This is a specialized niche, and plenty of firms that claim orthodontic experience are really general dental or medical marketers. Your patients are also local, so your ad market is your service area, not the country. Be skeptical of pitches that talk big volume.
What to ask before you sign
| Question | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| How will you count a result? | Booked consults and calls, not clicks or impressions |
| Who owns the ad account? | You do, and you have admin access from day one |
| What is the contract length? | Short or month to month, with clear exit terms |
| Who will work on my account? | A named person, not a rotating queue |
| How do you handle call tracking? | Recorded or logged calls tied back to specific ads |
Reading a proposal without getting lost
Look for a plain split between what you pay the firm and what goes to Google as ad spend. Be wary of vague bundles that mix in social posts, website redesigns, and reputation tools you did not ask for. If you are weighing several firms, our guide to dental PPC agencies has questions that apply to orthodontics too.
Doing it yourself, or a small pilot first
Running a single local search campaign yourself is a legitimate path if you or a team member have time to review it weekly. The other option is a limited pilot with an outside specialist, with a set budget and a clear definition of a good consult booking. Either way, decide in advance what number would make you continue and what would make you stop.
Your next step this week
Write down how many new-patient inquiries you currently get and how many become consults. Test your office's response time. Make sure your Google Business Profile is accurate. Then request proposals from a small number of firms and compare them on the table above. If you want an outside look at an existing account or at tracking before committing, a tracking review is a low-pressure place to start.