Every piece of material about your practice, from your website and Google listing to a flyer your agency designed, counts as advertising under the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) rules, and you are responsible for all of it. A structured annual audit against the RCDSO's Professional Advertising practice advisory catches the common problems: superlatives, testimonials, incentives, unclear fees and missing general-practitioner or specialist disclosures. This guide walks through that audit, channel by channel.
How confident are you that every page, post and printed piece about your practice would pass a College review today? Many dentists did not write their own website copy. An agency did, or a former office manager, or a template that came bundled with the practice management software. As of October 2026, that does not shift responsibility. The RCDSO states in its July 2025 article "The dos and don'ts of advertising" that "dentists are responsible for all advertisements involving them and their clinic(s)."
For practices in Toronto, Markham, Mississauga and across the GTA that compete hard for local search visibility, the pressure to sound different from the clinic down the street is real. The advisory says the purpose of the rules is "to protect the public interest and to ensure that advertisements by dentists do not demean the integrity and dignity of the profession." An audit is the simplest way to make sure your marketing stays effective and inside the lines.
What Counts as Advertising Under RCDSO Rules?
The definition is broad. The RCDSO's practice advisory on Professional Advertising defines a professional advertisement as "any material related to your practice which is published, displayed, distributed or used, whether by you directly or by someone on your behalf." The advisory lists advertisements, flyers, websites, advertorials, newsletters, business cards, stationery, logos, signage and announcements, and adds "or other information related to the dentist/dental practice, regardless of the form or the manner of distribution."
The College's 2025 article widens the lens further. It says advertising material may come "from you, your clinic, your staff, or a third party acting on your behalf," and may also be subject to your obligations under the RCDSO's guidance on professional use of social media when it extends beyond your clinic.
In practical terms, your audit inventory should include:
- Your website, including blog posts, service pages and team bios
- Your Google Business Profile and other directory listings you control
- Practice social media accounts and any posts staff make about the clinic
- Email newsletters and recall messages
- Printed material: flyers, business cards, appointment cards, signage
- Paid search and social ads, including copy written by an agency
The Seven Things to Look For
The RCDSO's advisory lists the content that would be considered a violation of the advertising regulation. Use it as your audit checklist. Each item below quotes the advisory or the College's related guidance.
1. Unclear, untrue or misleading statements
The advisory prohibits "statements which are unclear, untrue or misleading." The 2025 article adds statements "that are not backed by fact or scientific evidence." Check every factual claim on your site: years in practice, services offered, hours, languages spoken, insurance accepted. Outdated information is still inaccurate information.
2. Superiority, uniqueness and superlatives
The advisory prohibits "statements which are indicative of superiority or uniqueness" and "superlative or comparative terms, such as 'state of the art', 'cutting edge' or any other words or phrases to suggest a higher quality in relation to services, equipment, technology used, or products or persons providing the services." The College's 2025 article gives further examples to avoid: "#1 rated," "cutting edge technology used," "hires only top graduates" and "best at."
Pro Tip: Run a search of your website text for these words: best, leading, top, #1, premier, advanced, state of the art, cutting edge, unmatched and only. A single search pass is faster than rereading every page.
3. Promised results or appeals to fear
The advisory prohibits "statements which suggest or create an expectation of favourable results or appeal to the public's fears." The 2025 article names "risk-free care or guaranteed results" as examples. Watch for phrases like "guaranteed perfect smile" or copy that warns of dire consequences to push a booking.
4. Testimonials and unverifiable claims
The advisory prohibits "testimonials or any statement that can only be verified by a person's personal feelings or views." Check website templates and agency builds carefully: a testimonials carousel or embedded star-rating widget is easy to miss. Remove patient testimonials from your own website, social posts and ads. If you are unsure how the rule applies to a specific third-party review platform, ask the College rather than guessing.
5. Incentives, giveaways and discounts
The advisory prohibits "incentive programs, including giveways [sic], contests, draws or free products or services." The 2025 article extends this to "offering rewards, benefits, or other incentives (i.e. reduced rates, bonuses, or tiered programs)." That would cover new-patient specials, free whitening offers, referral rewards and social media contests.
6. Credentials that do not belong in ads
The advisory prohibits reference to "your continuing education, or membership or positions at the College or in societies, associations, academies or similar institutions," and to degrees or diplomas other than those required for registration with the College. Team bio pages are a common place for this to turn up. Lists of courses, fellowships and association memberships need to come out of anything that functions as advertising.
7. Missing general-practitioner or specialist disclosure
The advisory states that if your advertisement refers to an area of dental practice, a procedure or a treatment, "you must clearly disclose whether you are registered with the College as a general practitioner or a specialist; and if a specialist, in which specialty." Check every service page. A page about implants or orthodontics that does not identify the dentist as a general practitioner or a registered specialist is a gap.
If You Advertise Fees, Get the Details Right
The RCDSO does not prohibit fee advertising. The advisory states, "There is nothing to prevent you from advertising a fee," with conditions. The fee must be clearly stated. Unless otherwise specified, the advertised fee is treated as "the maximum fee inclusive of all services, including laboratory costs." And it applies to all patients, "whether or not they were aware of the advertisement and whether or not they had dental insurance coverage."
That last condition is easy to overlook. A fee listed on your website is a commitment to every patient, not a campaign price for people who clicked an ad. If your listed fee excludes lab costs, imaging or follow-up visits, say so explicitly.
Agencies, Staff and Associates: Who Is Accountable?
The advisory's first compliance point is to "ensure that you personally control any and all printed and/or electronic material about your practice that is made available to the public." The 2025 article adds practical guidance:
- Staff: "Ask your staff to seek your approval before they post about you and/or your clinic."
- Third parties: If you have retained a third party to create your advertisements, the College suggests sharing its advertising guidance with them.
- Associates: According to the College, associates "must inform the principal dentist and/or clinic owner as soon as they become aware of any inappropriate advertising or misrepresentations," and should request that the information be updated or corrected.
The advisory also prohibits advertising arrangements that "would result in the sharing or splitting of fees or payments to a third party that relate to the amount of business that you obtain as a result of an advertising or marketing campaign." Review your marketing contracts with that sentence in mind. A pay-per-new-patient arrangement with an agency or lead-generation service deserves a close read and, where in doubt, legal advice.
Pro Tip: Add a one-page advertising approval step to every agency contract: no ad, post, landing page or listing goes live until the principal dentist signs off. Keep the approvals on file for at least the length of the contract.
How to Run the Audit: A Practical Sequence
An audit does not need to be complicated. The RCDSO's "Advertising with Integrity" sheet recommends that you "regularly review your print and online advertising and take proactive steps to ensure it is accurate and professional." A workable sequence:
- Inventory. List every channel from the section above, including logins for accounts an agency manages on your behalf.
- Screen against the seven items. Go page by page, post by post. Flag anything that is a superlative, testimonial, incentive, credential reference, promised result, unclear statement or missing GP/specialist disclosure.
- Check fees. Confirm every published fee is clear, inclusive or explicitly qualified, and applies to every patient.
- Fix and document. Correct or remove flagged items and keep a dated record of what changed.
- Set the controls. Put the approval rule in writing for staff and agencies.
- Repeat. Schedule the next review, and run a quick check whenever you launch a new campaign or redesign your website.
Marketing that stays inside the rules
Compliance does not mean going quiet. Plenty of effective tactics fit comfortably within the rules: plain-language patient education articles, an accurate and complete Google Business Profile, clear service pages that help patients make informed choices, an accessible website, and well-run recall and reminder systems. The RCDSO's own test question, "Does this information help the public make informed choices?", is also a good marketing brief. Content built to answer real patient questions serves both goals at once.
When you are not sure
Grey areas exist, especially on newer platforms. The RCDSO's "Advertising with Integrity" sheet directs questions to practiceadvisory@rcdso.org, and the 2025 article notes that you can contact the College and/or seek legal advice to align with its expectations. Asking before you publish is simpler than correcting material after the fact.
When did your practice last review its website and social accounts line by line? Share how your team handles advertising sign-off. Other Ontario practices are working through the same questions.
Sources
- RCDSO: Advertising Guidelines
- RCDSO Practice Advisory: Professional Advertising (PDF)
- RCDSO: Advertising with Integrity (PDF)
- RCDSO News: The dos and don'ts of advertising (July 28, 2025)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can Ontario dentists use patient testimonials in their advertising?
No. The RCDSO's Professional Advertising practice advisory lists "testimonials or any statement that can only be verified by a person's personal feelings or views" among the content that violates the advertising regulation. Remove testimonials from your website, social media and ads.
Q: Can a dental practice in Ontario offer new-patient discounts or free whitening?
The RCDSO advisory prohibits "incentive programs, including giveways [sic], contests, draws or free products or services," and the College's 2025 guidance also tells dentists to avoid offering reduced rates, bonuses or tiered programs. Offers like these should not appear in your advertising.
Q: Am I responsible for ads my marketing agency creates?
Yes. The RCDSO states that dentists are responsible for all advertisements involving them and their clinics, and the advisory says to ensure you personally control all material about your practice, including material published by someone on your behalf.