Search "braces" in our example market and some of the ads come from general dentists. They're allowed to be there. General dentists can legally provide braces and aligners in every state we checked, and plenty of them do. For an orthodontic practice, that makes the family dentist down the street both a referral source and a competitor in the same auction.
What a general dentist usually can't do is call themselves an orthodontist. That one word is the clearest thing an orthodontic practice has that a general dentist doesn't. This bonus chapter covers who's advertising braces, what the rules say about the word, what "board certified" may and may not claim, and how to win a parent who doesn't know there's a difference.
Same caveat as Chapter 14: these are rules we read in 10 states, interpreted by marketers, not lawyers. Every practice should have its ads reviewed by someone who knows its own state dental board.
General Dentists Advertise Braces in the Same Searches as Orthodontists.
The evidence has been building across this guide. In our example market, Detroit, we checked the Search ads of 14 general and multi-specialty dental practices that showed up around orthodontic searches; 11 were running ads. One dental group's ad promised braces starting at $99 a month. And Chapter 5 found that the only ads on a Medicaid orthodontist search came from a general dentist. And Chapter 12 found that two of the three paid pins in Google's map on orthodontic searches belonged to general dentistry offices.
None of that is wrong. Many general dentists offer orthodontic treatment, and most orthodontic practices depend on general dentists to refer patients. But a parent typing "braces near me" sees both kinds of practices side by side, often without knowing they're different, and the ads are the first place the difference can be made clear.
Every State We Checked Lets a General Dentist Provide Braces. Nine Reserve the Word "Orthodontist."
We read the dental advertising rules of 10 large states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona and Washington. In all 10, a general dentist may provide orthodontic treatment. What changes is the label.
In nine of them, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona and Washington, the title "orthodontist" or "specialist" in orthodontics is reserved for dentists with recognized specialty training. California is the exception: it repealed its dental specialty-title rules after a long court fight.
Five of those states go further and require a general dentist who advertises orthodontic services to say plainly that they're a general dentist:
- Texas requires "General Dentist" or "General Dentistry" in a font no smaller than the largest font used for the orthodontic service.
- Illinois requires a disclaimer that the dentist doesn't hold a license in that specialty.
- Pennsylvania requires a conspicuous statement that the services are provided by a general dentist.
- Ohio requires "General Dentist" as prominently as the services, directly after the name.
- Arizona requires a statement that services are provided by a licensed general dentist.
The American Dental Association's code of ethics points the same way nationally: general dentists may announce the services they offer as long as they avoid anything that expresses or implies specialization.
If you're a general dentist reading this, the takeaway runs the other way. Advertising braces and Invisalign is fine. Putting "orthodontist" or "ortho specialist" in a headline isn't, in nine of these 10 states, and in five of them the ad or the page it links to needs your general-dentist statement. A 30-character headline can't carry that statement, so the safest place is a description line plus the first screen of the landing page, in the form your state requires.
What about the court cases? Dentists have successfully challenged state specialty-advertising rules, in Texas, California and South Dakota among others. Those cases struck down bans on advertising other credentials, like implant dentistry, and courts upheld disclaimer requirements. None of them involved a general dentist calling themselves an orthodontist. Orthodontics is itself a recognized specialty, so the title rules above weren't what those courts struck.
Parents Search "Dentist vs Orthodontist" 1,600 Times a Month Because the Difference Isn't Obvious.
If the difference were obvious, nobody would search for it. Across the US, people type "dentist vs orthodontist" roughly 1,600 times a month, and "difference between dentist and orthodontist" about as often. "Is an orthodontist a dentist" adds around 480 more, and "can a dentist do braces" about 110, by Keyword Planner's count.
The confusion shows up in what patients write. In the Reddit threads we read, three of 62 patient and parent threads were about choosing between a dentist and an orthodontist, and one poster admitted that "at the time, I had no clue that dentists and orthodontists were different things." In the 181 low-star orthodontic Google reviews we read in full, four described being treated by a general dentist rather than an orthodontist.
That's a parent with a question and no one answering it in the ads. In Chapter 8, 65 of 162 orthodontic ads led with "affordable." Only 5 mentioned board certification or the word "specialist" at all, and none explained what makes an orthodontist different from the family dentist who also offers Invisalign.
"Board Certified" Belongs to the Orthodontist, Not the Practice.
The other credential orthodontic ads lean on is board certification. The American Board of Orthodontics describes its certification as a voluntary credential that exceeds dental licensure requirements and can only be achieved by orthodontic specialists. It's renewed every 10 years.
It's also personal. The ABO's own brand standards say its marks belong to individual orthodontists and must not be used to suggest that a practice or an entity is board certified. Nine of the 12 practice sites we profiled claimed board certification somewhere. Two patterns stood out, and we're not naming the practices: one single-doctor site said "board-certified orthodontists," plural; and one group's ads claimed board certification for its orthodontists while one of its three doctors' bios listed memberships but no certification. Neither may be deliberate. Both are the kind of claim the ABO's rules are written to stop.
Texas adds a state rule: a dentist may use "board certified" in advertising only for certain recognized boards. And the American Association of Orthodontists' own ethics principles ask members to avoid statements that suggest superiority over other practitioners.
The practical rule: name the doctor who's certified. In a search ad, that usually fits best in a sitelink or callout tied to the doctor's bio page, where the certification is stated in full and the doctor is named. "Dr. Lee is a board-certified orthodontist" is accurate and strong. "Our board-certified practice" isn't.
The Strongest Word in an Orthodontist's Headline Is "Orthodontist." Say What It Means on the Landing Page.
Put it to work. Headlines that use the distinction honestly, each under Google's 30-character limit:
- "Orthodontist, Not a Dentist" (27), if every treating doctor is one
- "Board-Certified Orthodontist" (28), for an ad about that doctor
- "Braces by an Orthodontist" (25)
- "Ask an Orthodontist First" (25)
Then the landing page explains it without knocking anyone. Orthodontists finish dental school and then complete specialty training in orthodontics. Orthodontics is the focus of their practice. That's the whole message. A page that sneers at general dentists insults the doctors who send it many of its patients, and parents tend to trust the practice that explains over the one that attacks.
A comparison page that works is short and specific:
- One sentence on what an orthodontist is: a dentist who completed additional specialty training in straightening teeth and aligning jaws.
- What that means for the family: who does the exam, who adjusts the braces, who sees the case through to the retainer.
- When a general dentist is a fine choice, said plainly, and when a case calls for a specialist.
- The orthodontist's own credentials, named.
- One button: book a free consultation.
That honesty about when a dentist is enough is what makes the rest believable.
Two guardrails from earlier chapters apply here. Keep "specialist" and superlatives like "best" out of anything Google writes for you, using the term exclusions from Chapter 13. And make sure the claim is true for every doctor the ad could send a parent to. A group with a general dentist on the schedule can't run "every doctor is an orthodontist."
General Dentistry Searches Stay on the Negative List. The Comparison Search Doesn't.
Chapter 5 built a negative keyword list that keeps the account off general dentistry: cleanings, fillings, crowns, whitening. Those stay. A parent looking for a cleaning isn't looking for braces.
But "dentist vs orthodontist" and "can a dentist do braces" aren't general dentistry searches. They're a parent deciding where to take a child. Give them their own small ad group in Exploration, pointed at the comparison page, with ads that answer the question in the headline: "Dentist or Orthodontist?" "Why See an Orthodontist for Braces." Bid modestly, below the treatment ad groups. These searches come earlier in the decision than "braces near me," and they should be judged on booked exams over a few months, not clicks in the first week.
A starting keyword list for that ad group: "dentist vs orthodontist," "difference between dentist and orthodontist," "is an orthodontist a dentist," "can a dentist do braces" and "orthodontist or dentist for braces." Watch the search terms report closely in the first month. Some of these searches come from dental students and people researching careers, and those belong on the negative list as soon as they show up.
There's a quieter benefit too. The comparison page is exactly what a parent shares with a spouse, and exactly what AI Max and Performance Max can draw on later. A clear explanation on your own site is better raw material than anything Google could write.
An orthodontic practice that would rather have someone write ads that use "orthodontist" fully and correctly can see what our Google Ads management includes.
Next: Adults Wrote Twice as Many Low-Star Orthodontic Reviews as Parents. Chapter 16 Covers Adult Patients.
Chapter 14 covered payment offers. The last bonus chapter turns to the patients who pay for their own treatment, and what their reviews say an orthodontic account is getting wrong.
This chapter is part of Google Ads for Orthodontists, our sixteen-chapter guide for orthodontic practices anywhere in the US.
