For dental practices in South Africa · one practice per area

A toothache search at 10pm should not end on a voicemail.

Patients choose a dentist from the map, the reviews and whoever answers first, often after your practice has closed. BTR Consult runs all nine of those channels for one practice per area, and shows you the numbers every month.

Show me my BTR Signal Score Check if your area is open

Free, no card needed. See what a customer sees when they search for you.

Where patients slip away

Here is where a practice loses the booking.

Fourth on the map

Search "dentist near me" and Google shows three practices on the map first. The fourth is a scroll away, and many patients never scroll.

Reviews that look old or thin

Patients read the stars, then how many reviews there are and how recent they are. A handful from two years ago reads as more risk than steady ones from this month.

The message that arrives after hours

The WhatsApp about a broken filling comes in at 9pm and gets read at 8am. By then the patient may have booked with a practice that answered.

What we run

What does BTR Consult run for a dental practice?

The same nine channels as every Growth Engine, set up for how a dental practice is found and chosen. INBOUND runs all nine. Where INBOUND+ adds more, the table says so.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

The nine channels BTR Consult runs, and what we need from you
Channel What we do What we need from you
Google Search One page for each treatment you offer, from implants and aligners to emergencies, built around the words patients actually type. Your treatment list and the practitioners who provide each one.
Google Maps and Business Profile Correct categories, hours, photos, services and questions, kept current every month. Manager access. You stay the owner.
AI answers Structured facts about your practice that ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude can read. INBOUND+ adds earned mentions on the sites they quote. The questions patients ask before they book.
Your website A clear path from landing on the page to sending an enquiry, with practitioner names visible. Access to your website.
Reviews Replies in your voice to Google and Facebook reviews within 24 hours. INBOUND+ adds one WhatsApp review request per patient. Approval of replies to negative reviews.
Social profiles Facebook and Instagram profiles kept accurate and current. We do not post content. Partner access to Meta Business.
Directories Your name, address and hours correct everywhere they appear. A listings address on your own domain.
WhatsApp An assistant that answers in your practice's name. Testing and approving it before it goes live.
Competitor tracking What the practices near you changed, reported every month. Who you lose patients to, if you know.

The WhatsApp assistant

What will the assistant say to my patients, and what will it never say?

It answers the questions your front desk answers all day, in your practice's name, on your own WhatsApp number: hours, location, treatments offered, how to book and what to expect at a first visit. Anything clinical goes to your team with the conversation so far, so nobody starts from scratch. You test it before any patient sees it, and it goes live only when you approve it.

It will

  • Answer practice information you have given us
  • Take the details for a booking and hand over to your team

It will never

  • Give clinical advice or say whether a treatment suits someone
  • Promise an outcome
  • Call your practice "the best"
  • Quote fees where your market's rules or your own policy say not to

Reviews

How do you handle reviews without breaking Google's rules?

Google does not allow review gating: asking only happy patients for a review, or filtering who gets the link. Every Google and Facebook review your practice gets receives a reply in your voice within 24 hours, and replies to negative reviews go live only once you approve them. On INBOUND+, every patient who has agreed to hear from you gets the same single WhatsApp review request after their visit, with no screening, no reminders and no incentives.

Advertising rules

Which advertising rules does a dental practice work under?

We set up your pages, profile and assistant around these rules. You stay responsible for your practice's compliance, and we flag anything we see that looks off.

South Africa

  • You may advertise, provided the advertisement is not unprofessional, untruthful, deceptive or misleading, and does not cause unwarranted anxiety that someone may have a health condition.

    HPCSA Ethical and Professional Rules, Booklet 2, Rule 3(1)

  • You may not canvass or tout for patients, or allow anyone to do it on your behalf.

    HPCSA Booklet 2, Rule 3(2)

  • The same rules apply on social media. Posting patient reviews that call you "the best" is given as an example of canvassing.

    HPCSA Ethical Guidelines on Social Media, Booklet 16 (March 2025), paragraphs 10.2 and 10.4

  • Marketing messages by email, SMS or WhatsApp need consent, unless the person is an existing patient, you are offering similar services, and every message lets them opt out.

    POPIA, section 69

This is a summary to show how we work, not legal advice. Your regulator's current published rules always apply.

Read next

The monthly report

What does the monthly report show a dental practice?

  • New reviews, and how fast each one got a reply
  • Enquiries received and how fast they were answered
  • Where you appear on the map for your main treatment searches
  • Whether AI answers name your practice
  • What the practices near you changed

Named metrics and named actions. When a number moves the wrong way, the report says what we are changing. The first report arrives 30 days after go-live, then by the 5th of each month.

Where the Growth Engine runs today

The Growth Engine already runs inside the businesses we work with, and BTR Consult runs on the same engine. The system is the same. The set-up for dentistry is what changes: your treatments, your regulator and how your patients search.

Who this is not for

Groups with their own in-house marketing team. Practices that mainly want paid ads or social media content run for them: neither is part of our plans. Practices that are not ready to give account access, or to act on the report when it is their turn. And any practice in an area where a competitor already works with us.

Our local market study · 14 September 2026

What do patients see when they search for a dentist in Sandton?

10 practices with almost identical star ratings, very different review counts and slow mobile websites. On 14 September 2026 BTR Consult recorded the first 10 Google Maps results for "dentist Sandton", leaving out ads.

The 10 averaged 4.8 stars, so ratings barely separate them. Review volume does: the median practice had 149 Google reviews, and the most reviewed had 474. 4 of the 10 websites had a WhatsApp link a patient could tap. None was open after 6pm on the Monday we checked, so a patient who messages after work is writing to a closed practice.

None of the 10 websites we could test scored 90 or more for mobile speed on Google's Lighthouse test, and the median score was 34 out of 100. When we asked ChatGPT and Perplexity which practices in Sandton they would recommend, 6 of the 10 were named by at least one of them, and the two engines agreed on only one.

Google reviews for the median practice
149
websites with a WhatsApp link
4 of 10
open after 6pm on a Monday
0 of 10
named by both ChatGPT and Perplexity
1 of 10
Local market study results, 14 September 2026
First 10 Google Maps results "dentist Sandton"
Average Google rating 4.8 stars
Reviews, median practice 149
Reviews, most reviewed practice 474
Website with a WhatsApp link 4 of 10
Open after 6pm (Monday) 0 of 10
Registration, licence or trade number on the website 0 of 10
Mobile speed, median Lighthouse score 34 / 100 (10 tested)
Named by ChatGPT or Perplexity 6 of 10
Named by both 1 of 10

BTR Consult study, 14 September 2026. We recorded the first 10 Google Maps results that were not ads for "dentist Sandton", searching from a browser in South Africa. Website checks covered each homepage and up to three about, team or contact pages. Mobile speed is the Google Lighthouse performance score. AI answers were checked once, on 14 September 2026, by asking ChatGPT, with web search on, and Perplexity which businesses in Sandton they would recommend. AI answers can change between runs. Aggregates only. No business is named.

What it costs

Two costs, and one practice per area.

A once-off Foundation Fee covers building what does not exist yet. A fixed monthly fee covers running and improving it, with up to 500 WhatsApp chats a month included.

Once-off

Foundation Fee

R15,000 to R45,000

Your Foundation Fee covers 2-4 weeks of build work, depending on what needs building. Quoted after your BTR Signal Score.

Fixed monthly

INBOUND or INBOUND+

R12,500/mo or R17,500/mo

3-month minimum from go-live, then 30 days written notice. If after 3 months you're not seeing the progress, you can end the agreement and keep everything we built.

See full pricing

Questions practice owners ask

Before you start.

Can you help me advertise my fees?

We build your pages and profile around the HPCSA ethical rules, which say advertising must not be untruthful, deceptive or misleading. Whether you publish fees is your decision as the practitioner. We set up whatever you decide, and we flag anything that looks off.

Will the WhatsApp assistant give my patients medical advice?

No. It answers practice information and takes booking details. Anything clinical goes to your team with the conversation so far.

Do you run Google Ads or my Instagram content?

Not as part of a plan. We run the nine channels, including your Facebook and Instagram profiles, but content and paid ads are not included. If you want either, we quote it separately.

Who owns the reviews, the profile and the WhatsApp number?

You do. Google, Meta, WhatsApp, your website, your content and your data. On exit, full handover within 14 days.

How long until it is up and running?

Foundation Fee build: 2-4 weeks. First report: 30 days after go-live, then by the 5th of each month. If after 3 months you're not seeing the progress, you can end the agreement on 30 days notice and keep everything we built.

Do I pay WhatsApp messaging fees?

Your monthly fee includes up to 500 customer chats a month and the WhatsApp messaging fees for them. If a busy month goes over, we add blocks of 100 chats at R349 and tell you on WhatsApp first, at 80% and at 100%.

Also read how the Growth Engine works, step by step, or see our pages for aesthetic clinics, home services and distribution.

See how your practice shows up before a patient does.

The full BTR Signal Score report shows how your practice gets found, chosen and contacted, and sets it next to the three businesses customers see first.

Show me my BTR Signal Score

Free, no card needed. The full report with a 30-day plan is R799.

Or check if your area is open

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