Orthodontists
Orthodontic marketing that turns consults into case starts
Parents searching for a child, adults weighing aligners and former patients who lost a retainer each search differently. We plan search ads, your Google profile, social ads and email around the consult slots you need to fill and the starts you want, for Charlotte-area practices and orthodontists nationwide.
- 4,400"orthodontist near me" searches in the Charlotte area in January, February and September 2026
- $5.97 to $37.91estimated cost of one click on "orthodontist near me" in Charlotte
- 1,600"invisalign near me" searches in September 2026, against 210 in November 2025
- 880"retainers" searches a month in the Charlotte area, many of them past patients
The short answer
What makes orthodontic marketing different from general dental marketing?
Orthodontic marketing sells a long treatment with one decision at the start, so it is measured in consults that become case starts, and it speaks to two buyers: the parent choosing for a child and the adult choosing for themselves.
A family dentist fills hygiene chairs every week; an orthodontist needs a steady flow of new consults that turn into treatment lasting a year or more. In the Charlotte data, searches for an orthodontist climb in January and February and again in September, and dip in November and through the summer. Aligner searches add a second fight: "invisalign" is a trademark in ad text and draws product shoppers and mail-order brands, and ads for any treatment must stay inside Google’s healthcare policy and Meta’s rule against ads that imply a person’s health. We plan orthodontic advertising, the Google Business Profile, social ads, orthodontic SEO and consult follow-up email as one system, and we judge every channel by the starts it produces.
What orthodontic practices need their marketing to solve.
These are the pressures we see in single-doctor and multi-office orthodontic accounts. They are why an ortho plan is built differently from a family dental plan.
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Two buyers, two messages
A parent wants a gentle first visit, payment plans and school-friendly hours. An adult wants discreet treatment and a clear answer on aligners or braces. One ad cannot speak to both well.
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Two peaks in the year
Charlotte-area orthodontist searches rise in January and February, when benefit years reset, and again in September, when school starts. Budgets that stay flat miss both.
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Consults that become starts
A free consult is easy to book and easy to skip. What matters is the share of consults that show up and the share that accept treatment.
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Aligner brands in the same results
Mail-order aligner companies and big dental chains bid on the same searches. A local orthodontist wins on in-person care, the doctor and a clear path from consult to start.
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Referring dentists kept close
Most practices still live on referrals from general dentists. Direct marketing has to add patients without making those offices feel bypassed.
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Long decisions at home
Families compare two or three practices and talk it over for weeks. Follow-up after the consult decides who starts, and it costs nothing per click.
What people search when they look for an orthodontist, and when.
Monthly searches and estimated click costs for the searches an orthodontic practice competes for. The yearly averages hide the curves, so the notes below the table read them month by month.
| Search | US / mo | Est. click cost, Charlotte |
|---|---|---|
| orthodontist near me | 246,000 | $5.97 to $37.91 |
| invisalign | 368,000 | $2.21 to $12.50 |
| braces | 201,000 | $2.46 to $14.31 |
| orthodontist charlotte nc | 2,400 | $5.54 to $35.37 |
| invisalign cost | 74,000 | $1.78 to $9.94 |
| retainers | 74,000 | $2.62 to $8.05 |
| invisalign near me | 60,500 | $5.89 to $50.90 |
| braces near me | 40,500 | $2.61 to $27.05 |
| palate expander | 40,500 | $1.48 to $14.93 |
| braces for adults | 14,800 | $3.72 to $19.35 |
- A winter peak as well as a fall one
- "Orthodontist near me" in the Charlotte area reached 4,400 searches in October 2025, January and February 2026 and September 2026, and fell to 2,900 in November, May, July and August. Most practices budget only for back to school; the January and February window is just as busy.
- Adults move in September too
- "Invisalign near me" jumped to 1,600 searches in September 2026, from 320 to 480 a month through the spring and summer and 210 in November 2025. "Braces for adults" had its own spike, 590 searches in June 2026 against 110 to 210 in other months.
- The biggest search is not the best one
- "Invisalign" draws 3,600 Charlotte searches a month at clicks from $2.21, but it mixes in people shopping for cleaning crystals and mail-order brands. "Orthodontist near me" costs nearly three times as much to start and is where consults come from.
Source: OVERTOP Search Intelligence, 12-month averages for the United States and the Charlotte, NC media market, pulled October 2026. Estimated click cost is the typical range advertisers pay for a top-of-page click.
Our approach: it depends, and the data decides.
A one-doctor office in a growing suburb and a multi-office group with its own aligner program need different plans. Four things decide where an orthodontic plan starts.
- Your goals More teen starts, more adult aligner cases, a new office filled, or less reliance on two or three referring dentists. Each starts with a different keyword group and message.
- Your timeline Search and map ads book consults within weeks. Orthodontic SEO, doctor and treatment pages and referral programs build over a year or more.
- Your budget Consult searches start near $6 a click in Charlotte. A smaller budget goes to the two peak windows and the few miles families will drive for monthly visits.
- Your competition Large ortho groups, general dentists offering aligners and mail-order brands share the results. The plan depends on who bids around your offices.
Data sets the budget by consult slots, ties each consult and start to the search, listing, referral or email that began it without treatment details, and shows when to move money between parents and adults.
Single-doctor practice
Be the orthodontist families choose nearby
The Google profile, doctor and treatment pages, a tight search campaign around the office and follow-up that turns consults into starts.
Practice growing adult cases
More aligner and adult starts
A separate adult campaign and landing page on discreet treatment and financing, timed to the September lift, with social ads introducing the doctor.
Multi-office group
Fill each office’s consult calendar
Office-level campaigns and listings, reporting by office and doctor, and referral tracking so every referring dentist sees their patients counted.
If an orthodontic practice came to us, here is how we would start.
This is the pitch we would give a real client, built for a fictional Charlotte orthodontic practice with real search data. The business, its phone number and its website are invented. Sample data shows the kind of results a campaign like this tracks; it is not a client result and not a promise.
Brindlewick Orthodontics
- Braces for children and teens
- Clear aligners and braces for adults
- Early treatment and retainers
How our specialists segment search demand by buyer intent
We would split the account by who is searching, because parents, adults and past patients each have their own click cost, curve and landing page. Budget then moves between groups with the season instead of sitting in one pot.
Orthodontist near me
People choosing a practice. The core of the account, funded hardest in January, February and September, with bids tied to open consult slots.
| Search | Charlotte area / mo | Est. click cost |
|---|---|---|
| orthodontist near me | 3,600 | $5.97 to $37.91 |
| orthodontist charlotte nc | 1,600 | $5.54 to $35.37 |
| orthodontics | 590 | $7.33 to $36.43 |
| braces orthodontist | 590 | $5.80 to $24.80 |
Braces for children and teens
Written to the parent, never the child. Sent to a page about the first visit, payment plans and after-school appointments.
| Search | Charlotte area / mo | Est. click cost |
|---|---|---|
| braces | 2,400 | $2.46 to $14.31 |
| braces near me | 590 | $2.61 to $27.05 |
| palate expander | 480 | $1.48 to $14.93 |
| braces for kids | 110 | $1.53 to $10.94 |
| pediatric orthodontist near me | 110 | $6.43 to $29.27 |
Aligners and adult treatment
Adults choosing for themselves, with a September lift. The brand name appears in ad text only where the practice is an authorized provider.
| Search | Charlotte area / mo | Est. click cost |
|---|---|---|
| invisalign | 3,600 | $2.21 to $12.50 |
| invisalign near me | 590 | $5.89 to $50.90 |
| clear braces | 260 | $3.45 to $16.47 |
| braces for adults | 210 | $3.72 to $19.35 |
| clear aligners | 170 | $3.39 to $15.75 |
Retainers
Past patients, often from another practice, whose teeth have shifted. Cheap clicks and a natural route back to a consult.
| Search | Charlotte area / mo | Est. click cost |
|---|---|---|
| retainers | 880 | $2.62 to $8.05 |
| permanent retainer | 390 | $3.49 to $39.54 |
How our negative keyword governance protects the budget
- Retainer cases, cleaners and tablets
- Mail-order aligner brand names
- Braces colors and photo searches
- Orthodontic jobs, assistants and school
- Do-it-yourself and at-home kits
- Insurance plans the practice does not take
Orthodontic searches pull in product shoppers, people picking braces colors, job seekers and fans of mail-order kits. Our specialists load these exclusions before launch and review the search terms every week, so the budget reaches families ready to book a consult.
How we write and test the Google search ads
Each intent group gets message-matched ad copy engineered by our specialists to qualify buyers before the click and lift expected click-through rate.
www.brindlewickortho.com/ortho/charlotte Charlotte Orthodontist | Free First Consultation | Braces and Clear Aligners Braces and aligners for children, teens and adults, with monthly payment plans. Meet the orthodontist, see your options and get a written plan at your first visit. Book a free consultMeet the doctorPayment plansInsurance we take
www.brindlewickortho.com/aligners/charlotte Clear Aligners for Adults | Treatment Planned In Person | Evening Appointments Clear aligners and discreet braces, planned and checked by an orthodontist in person. Compare aligners and braces at a free consult, with monthly payment options. Aligners or bracesAdult treatmentPayment plansBook a free consult
The Google listing and the map
Parents check the map before they book, because they will drive there every few weeks for a year or more. The listing would show each treatment, the insurance the practice works with, after-school and evening hours, real photos of the office and a link straight to the consult form. Reviews from families who finished treatment carry the most weight; we ask at the end of treatment, never in exchange for anything, and reply to every review without confirming any detail of a patient’s care.
The Instagram ad
Social ads reach parents near each office before the two peak windows, by location and broad interests. Meta limits how ads reach anyone under 18, so we speak to parents, and the copy describes the treatment and the visit, never the viewer’s teeth, because Meta does not allow ads that assert or imply personal health traits.
The email
This goes only to families who came to a consult, from the practice’s own system. Families decide at home over weeks, so a short follow-up series turns more consults into starts at no click cost, and the message names the visit, never a diagnosis.
Thank you for visiting us.
Here is a copy of the options we talked through at your consultation, the monthly payment plans and how to reserve a start date. If you have questions before you decide, reply to this email or call and the treatment coordinator will help.
Choose a start dateThe landing page the ads send people to
Parents and adults compare two or three practices before booking. The page answers the first-visit and payment questions first, shows the doctor and real office photos, and keeps the consult form to a name, a phone number and who the visit is for.
Braces and aligners in Charlotte
A free consultation with the orthodontist, a written plan and clear payment options before you decide.
- Children, teens and adults, braces or clear aligners
- Monthly payment plans and insurance checked first
- After-school and evening appointments
- Free consultation
- Payment plans
- Evening hours
Other channels, only where they fit
Referral marketingReferring dentists kept informed
Regular updates to general dentists nearby, with every referral tracked to its consult and start, so direct ads add patients without crowding out referrals.
YouTubeThe doctor explains a first visit
A short video of the orthodontist walking through a consult, shown to parents and adults near each office.
What each piece turns into, and how they hand off
- Search catches the peak windows Parents in fall and winter, adults in September.
- The map shows the office Hours, location and finished-treatment reviews.
- Consults booked within days A free visit with the orthodontist.
- Follow-up turns consults into starts Options, payment plans and a start date.
How our team tracks calls, bookings and revenue
- Consult requests and callsForm requests and calls counted by channel as one event, with no treatment detail or form answer attached.
- Consults keptWho came to the consult, counted from the practice system and sent back to Google as a plain conversion where the practice’s privacy review allows it.
- Case starts by sourceStarts matched to the search, listing, referral or email that began them, so budget follows treatment, not form fills.
- A monthly report by officeSpend, consults, starts and cost per start for each office, parents and adults shown apart.
Sample monthly report: search ads
$5,000 sample monthly search budget
| Metric | Sample | Built from |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated cost per click | $3.99 | Low end of the Charlotte estimated click cost for the 16 keywords in the plan, weighted by searches (OVERTOP Search Intelligence) |
| Clicks | 1,254 | Budget divided by the estimated cost per click |
| Consult requests and calls | 134 | 10.67% of clicks, the published conversion rate for dentists and dental services (LocaliQ 2026 search benchmarks) |
| Cost per consult request | $37 | Budget divided by consult requests |
| Consults kept | 94 | Sample: assumes seven in ten requests come to the consult |
| Case starts | 38 | Sample: assumes four in ten kept consults start treatment |
Sample data: the kind of results a campaign like this tracks, built from Charlotte search data and a published benchmark. Not a client result and not a guarantee.
Orthodontic advertising and marketing services, and which come first.
The four core services carry most orthodontic plans. The others join as the practice grows; a single office and a multi-office group rarely need the same mix.
- Core service Google Ads Orthodontist PPC by parents, adults and past patients from an orthodontist PPC company, timed to the two peak windows. Learn more ›
- Core service Web development Doctor, treatment and payment pages built by an orthodontic marketing agency that load fast and keep the consult form short. Learn more ›
- Core service Social media ads Instagram and Facebook ads that reach parents and adults without implying anything about the viewer. Learn more ›
- Core service SEO Orthodontic SEO and orthodontic SEO services from an orthodontist SEO company for treatment, cost and office pages that rank for SEO orthodontics searches through both peaks. Learn more ›
- Google Business Profile Treatments, hours, photos and finished-treatment reviews that win the map. Learn more ›
- Email and SMS marketing Consult follow-up, start reminders and retainer check-ins. Learn more ›
- Analytics and tracking Consults and case starts counted by source, with treatment details kept out. Learn more ›
- YouTube Ads Short doctor videos that make the first consult feel easy. Learn more ›
- Microsoft Ads The orthodontic search plan extended to Bing at a lower cost per click. Learn more ›
What has worked for orthodontic and dental businesses.
Results the email and CRM platforms published for an orthodontic group and a dental software company. They are those companies’ published results, not ours; each story shows what we would take from it.
Orthodontic marketing in Charlotte, office by office.
We are based in Charlotte, where families choose an orthodontist they can reach after school every few weeks for a year or more. We plan each office its own radius, budget and listing, tighter for parents than for adults choosing aligners, and we time the budget to the January and September peaks in the local data. We also work with orthodontic practices nationwide; the searches, the competition and the season change by market, and the plan changes with them.
Six growth leaks we fix in orthodontic ad accounts.
When we take over orthodontic accounts, these are the places we most often find consults and starts leaking, and what we change first.
One budget for parents and adults
A parent and an adult search different words, at different costs, in different months. We split them so each gets its own ads, page and budget, and money moves to whichever is in its peak.
Paying for aligner product shoppers
"Invisalign" looks cheap, but it brings people buying cleaning crystals and comparing mail-order kits. We separate consult searches from product searches and exclude the shoppers.
Spending evenly all year
Charlotte orthodontist searches peak in January, February and September and dip in November and summer. We raise budgets into the peaks and protect consult slots in the quiet months.
Counting consults, not starts
A free consult is easy to book. We follow each consult to a start in the practice system, so bidding learns which searches bring treatment.
No follow-up after the consult
Families decide at home over weeks. We add a short follow-up series with the options and payment plans, which turns more consults into starts at no click cost.
Ignoring past patients
About 880 Charlotte-area searches a month are for retainers, often from people whose teeth have shifted. We give them their own small campaign and a page that leads back to a consult.
Questions orthodontic practice owners ask us.
How much should an orthodontist spend on advertising?
It depends on how many consult slots you have, how many starts you want and who bids around your offices. Consult searches in Charlotte start near $6 a click, so we set the budget from your capacity and the two peak windows, and adjust it as start data shows what each channel returns.
When should an orthodontic practice spend the most?
In the Charlotte data, searches for an orthodontist peak in January and February and again in September. We raise budgets into both windows and keep a lighter, steady presence in November and the summer months.
Can we use the Invisalign name in our ads?
It is a trademark, so Google can restrict it in ad text. We use it where the practice is an authorized provider, and we write the rest of the aligner campaign around clear aligners and the in-person care a mail-order kit cannot offer.
Will direct ads upset our referring dentists?
They do not have to. We keep the messaging about the orthodontist and the treatment, track referrals apart from ads, and give referring offices updates on the patients they sent.
Do you work with orthodontists outside Charlotte?
Yes. We are based in Charlotte and work with orthodontic practices across the US. The method is the same; the click costs, the season and the competition change by market.
What do you measure besides leads?
Consult requests and calls, consults kept, case starts and cost per start, by office and with parents and adults shown apart. A lead count alone cannot tell a product shopper from a new patient.
Get a free audit for your orthodontic practice.
Tell us where your offices are, how many consults you can see and which treatments you want more of. We will look at your search demand, your ads, your Google profile, your tracking and your consult follow-up, and show you where the next starts are.