US Dental Patient Experience Report 2026: what patients expect vs what they get
We studied 2,318 US dental practices across 20 metros and about 3,000 of their patients' Google reviews. The full report brings every finding together: what patients value, where the experience falls short of expectations, and how your city compares.
- Patients write mostly about the people: staff and bedside manner is 61% of theme mentions, 97.5% positive.
- The biggest mismatch is upselling: about 74% of mentions are negative (46 mentions, a signal rather than a verdict).
- Profiles are deep but quiet: typical 319.5 reviews, about 5.17 new a month, and a 49% average reply rate.
- The PDF adds benchmarks for 20 US cities, a self-scoring worksheet and a "what to fix first" plan.
- Every practice welcome — retainers from $499/mo, Goals-Driven engagements, Performance-Linked Payout Models available.
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Six things you'll know by the end of the report
- 1The top 5 things dental patients value. What about 3,000 Google reviews say patients care about most.
- 2The mismatches. Upselling, price, booking and waiting: where the experience falls short of expectations.
- 3The online picture. Review depth and pace, reply rates, weekend hours and what profiles show.
- 4Benchmarks for 20 US cities. Ratings, typical review counts, review bands and weekend opening.
- 5A worksheet to score your own practice against the national and city numbers.
- 6What to fix first. A practical plan, none of it requiring a bigger ad budget.
The top 5 things dental patients write about
| # | Theme | Share of mentions | Positive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staff & bedside manner | 61% | 97.5% |
| 2 | Results | 9% | 91.5% |
| 3 | Pain & comfort | 8% | 96.8% |
| 4 | Wait time & scheduling | 5% | 81% |
| 5 | Before / after outcome | 4% | 95.2% |
Share of 2,992 theme mentions from a 120-practice review subsample. A review can mention more than one theme.
Where expectations and experience diverge
These themes have 46 to 158 mentions each; read them as signals.
What US dental practice patients expect, and where they don't get it
Findings from our study of 2,318 US dental practices across 20 metros and about 3,000 patient reviews. Read the findings below, or download the complete report.
Related pages from the US team
State of Dental Google Presence 2026
The public study page.
Methodology & data
How every number was produced.
Benchmarks for 9 specialties
Compare dental with other specialties.
Dental citation sites
Where your practice should be listed.
Every practice welcome — Goals-Driven engagements from $499/mo
We benchmark your last 90 days, agree monthly goals with you, and track them live on Ichelon Agency OS with a report every Monday. Performance-Linked Payout Models are available. Our US leadership is based in Dallas, and strategy calls run in US business hours.
Common questions
Is the report free?
Yes. Fill in the short form and we email you a download link straight away. Headline findings, methodology and the aggregate dataset are also public on our website.
What data is it based on?
Public Google Business Profile data for 2,318 US dental practices across 20 metros (September 2026), and about 3,000 Google reviews from a 120-practice subsample, classified by theme and sentiment. No survey was used and no practice is named.
Which cities are covered?
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Denver, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando and Scottsdale.
Will I get sales calls?
We may follow up once by email or phone to offer a free benchmarking call. If you are not interested, just say so and we will not contact you again.
A note on this guide: it explains marketing practice, not legal advice. Rules on privacy, advertising and insurance change and vary by state, so confirm anything compliance-related with your own counsel.
Want your practice benchmarked against the study?
A free 30-minute call with the US team. We compare your Google profile with your city's numbers and tell you what we'd fix first.
Key findings
- Staff and bedside manner make up 61 percent of theme mentions in dental reviews, and 97.5 percent of those mentions are positive.
- Upselling is the biggest mismatch: about 74 percent of upselling mentions are negative (46 mentions, a signal rather than a verdict).
- Price and value mentions are 42.5 percent negative and booking and communication mentions 40 percent negative.
- Dental profiles are deep but quiet: typical 319.5 reviews, about 5.17 new reviews a month and a 49 percent average reply rate.
- The study covers 2,318 US dental practices across 20 metros, with themes drawn from 2,992 theme mentions in a 120-practice review subsample.
How to cite this report
US Dental Patient Experience Report 2026, Ichelon Consulting Group, 2026. https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/dental-consumer-behaviour-report-2026
Free to quote and reuse with attribution and a link to this page.
Related research
Questions this report answers
What do dental patients care about most in Google reviews?
The people. In Ichelon Consulting US's study of 2,318 dental practices across 20 metros, staff and bedside manner made up 61 percent of 2,992 theme mentions in a 120-practice review subsample, and 97.5 percent of those mentions were positive.
What do dental patients complain about most?
Upselling, proportionally. About 74 percent of upselling mentions were negative, though only 46 mentions, so it is a signal rather than a verdict. Price and value (42.5 percent negative) and booking and communication (40 percent negative) were the next biggest mismatches.
How many Google reviews does a typical US dental practice have?
The typical practice in the 2,318-practice study has 319.5 reviews and gains about 5.17 new reviews a month. Owners reply to about 49 percent on average. Review pace and reply rates come from a 120-practice subsample collected in September 2026.
What is in the US Dental Patient Experience Report?
The free PDF combines the top five things dental patients value, where experience falls short, the online picture of review depth and reply rates, benchmarks for 20 US cities, a self-scoring worksheet and a what-to-fix-first plan, all drawn from 2,318 practices.