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Guide · Practice growth
NHS, private, or both, and why marketing differs.
The three models have almost nothing in common commercially. An NHS practice with a full list has a capacity problem. A private practice has an acquisition problem. A mixed practice has both, plus a communication problem.
NHS practices rarely need patient acquisition marketing because demand exceeds capacity; their marketing job is efficient communication, recall and converting existing patients to private treatment where clinically appropriate. Fully private practices need genuine acquisition marketing, because nobody arrives by default. Mixed practices, which make up the majority of UK dentistry, need both and must present the two clearly so NHS patients can self serve while private enquiries reach the right place. Roughly seven in ten UK practices offer both, and the growth in the market is overwhelmingly on the private side.
- Most common model
- Mixed NHS and private
- NHS practices need
- Capacity and communication, not acquisition
- Private practices need
- Acquisition and conversion
- Growth is
- Almost entirely private
The NHS practice, and why advertising is usually wasted
If your NHS list is full and there is a waiting list, spending money to generate more NHS enquiries makes the practice worse, not better. It adds calls your team cannot service and disappointment your reputation carries. The useful work is different: making it obvious online who you can and cannot accept, so people stop ringing to ask, and reducing the administrative burden on reception. Where there is a marketing job, it is on the private side, hygiene, whitening, aligners and cosmetic work offered to patients already on the list.
The private practice, and why nothing arrives by default
A fully private practice has no default source of patients. Every new patient is acquired, which makes cost per patient a real operating metric rather than a marketing curiosity. The economics also differ: higher case values justify higher acquisition costs, which is why implant and aligner campaigns can support advertising that would be uneconomic for a check up.
The mixed practice, and the communication problem
Most UK practices are mixed, and most of them present it badly. The website says the practice offers NHS and private without making clear who can register, what is available, or what private treatment costs. The result is reception fielding calls that a clear page would have answered. Getting this right reduces call volume and simultaneously makes the private side more visible to the people already looking at it.
Converting NHS patients to private treatment
This is where most mixed practices have the largest untapped opportunity and the most nervousness. The workable version is not conversion of the list wholesale. It is offering specific treatments, hygiene, whitening, aligners, cosmetic work, to patients who would benefit and can afford them, at the point where it is clinically relevant. It has to be handled with care, both professionally and reputationally, and it should never read as pressure. Done well, it is the cheapest private growth a mixed practice will find.
The market context
Private pay dentistry reached around 69 per cent of UK high street dentistry market value in 2023/24 according to LaingBuisson, its highest recorded share, largely because of difficulty accessing NHS care. The practical consequence is a growing group of patients who are open to paying but did not plan to, and who therefore need clear pricing and finance information more than they need persuading about quality.
Going fully private
A significant decision with contractual and reputational implications, and not a marketing decision. If you are considering it, the marketing questions are what proportion of your list would follow, how you communicate the change, and how you replace the patients who do not. All of them need answering before notice is given, not after.
What to say on the website
Be explicit. Whether you are accepting NHS patients right now, and if not, say so plainly rather than leaving people to ring and find out. What NHS treatment is available and at which band charges. What private treatment costs, with monthly figures. And a clear separation so a private enquiry does not land in the same queue as an NHS registration question.
Where it usually goes wrong
The mistakes we see most often, in roughly the order they cost the most.
- Advertising for NHS patients when the list is already full
- A website that says NHS and private without explaining who can register
- Reception answering the same registration question forty times a week
- Treating NHS to private conversion as a sales campaign rather than clinical relevance
- Assuming private patients are less price sensitive than NHS patients
- Going fully private without planning the patient communication first
Questions and answers
Common questions.
Should an NHS dental practice advertise?
Rarely for NHS patients, if the list is full. The useful work is clear online information so people stop ringing to ask, and marketing of private treatment to patients already on the list.
How is marketing different for a private dental practice?
Every patient has to be acquired, so cost per patient becomes an operating metric. Higher case values also support higher acquisition costs, which is why implant and aligner advertising can work where check up advertising cannot.
How do we grow the private side of a mixed practice?
Start with the patients already on your list. Offer specific treatments where clinically relevant, with clear pricing and monthly figures. It is far cheaper than acquisition and it is the largest untapped opportunity in most mixed practices.
Should we tell patients we are not accepting NHS registrations?
Yes, plainly and prominently. It saves your team a large volume of calls and it is better than patients discovering it after ringing. Clarity is not bad news, ambiguity is.
Is private dentistry growing in the UK?
Yes. Private pay reached around 69 per cent of UK high street dentistry market value in 2023/24 according to LaingBuisson, largely driven by difficulty accessing NHS care.
Should we go fully private?
That is a business and contractual decision rather than a marketing one, and it needs proper advice. The marketing questions are how many patients follow you, how you communicate it, and how you replace those who do not.
Related
Where this connects.
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