For Practice Owners
What is a dental lead and how are they qualified?
By The Local Dentist Editorial · Updated 13 July 2026
What counts as a lead
On The Local Dentist, a lead is not a page view or a phone number scraped from a list. It is a patient who has compared options, picked your practice from the results, and submitted a form with contact details plus the private need they are exploring — for example hygiene and check-up, cosmetic treatment, orthodontics, implants or restorative work, or an emergency private slot. That package is what you receive so your team can follow up and book an assessment. Browsing alone never generates a billable lead.
How we qualify enquiries
Qualification is operational, not clinical: we are not diagnosing patients. We require a completed form, consent to be contacted, and a need category we actually route as private enquiries. We filter incomplete submissions and duplicate sends so you are not paying twice for the same person refreshing the page. Postcode and urgency fields, when present, help your team triage. We do not accept nhs-dentistry as a paid lead need — NHS discovery stays free for patients and is not sold on a CPA basis. What happens after the lead arrives — clinical suitability, financing, and whether treatment goes ahead — sits with your practice.
What you should do with a lead
Speed matters. Contact the patient promptly, confirm what they asked for, and offer a consultation or emergency slot that matches capacity. Ask clarifying questions (timeline, any existing dentist, budget expectations) without promising outcomes over email. Log outcomes so you can judge channel quality: booked assessment, not suitable, no answer, booked treatment. If leads arrive for services you do not offer, update your profile's service list — better data upstream means cleaner matching.
Pricing and disclosure
Included monthly enquiries on Standard and Premium, and pay-per-lead fees thereafter (or on free listings), are published on /for-dentists/. Fees vary by partner tier and category. Referral partnerships and sponsored placement are labelled on the patient-facing site. Paying for leads never alters The Local Dentist Score. For commercial terms, cancellation, and responsibilities on both sides, read /partner-terms/.
People Also Ask
Is a website click a lead?
No. A lead is a submitted patient enquiry after the patient selects your practice. Clicks and profile views are not billed as leads.
Do you sell NHS dentist leads?
No. We do not sell NHS access as paid leads. Patients looking for NHS care use free discovery routes; paid enquiries are for defined private needs.
What if the patient does not book?
A qualified lead means a genuine enquiry passed our filters — not a guaranteed booking or case start. Conversion depends on your follow-up, capacity, and clinical fit.
How are duplicates handled?
We filter obvious duplicate submissions before they count toward your allowance or pay-per-lead charges. If you believe a specific enquiry was billed in error, contact us with the details.
Affiliate disclosure:The Local Dentist is free to use. We may earn a fee when you visit a referral partner or send a private-treatment enquiry. That never changes ratings, match results, or the prices you pay. Outbound partner links userel="sponsored". Seeaffiliate complianceandhow we make money.
This article is general information for UK patients, not clinical advice, and NHS rules and charges change — confirm current rules on nhs.uk or speak to a dentist before acting. For severe facial swelling affecting breathing/swallowing, uncontrolled bleeding, or trauma call 999 / go to A&E; otherwise NHS 111 for urgent dental access. Price figures are indicative benchmarks from ourmethodology.