What are the Texas rules for dental advertising?
Texas dental advertising is governed by the State Board of Dental Examiners' rules in 22 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 108, Subchapter E. Ads must name the dentist and degree, general dentists must say "General Dentist" when promoting services, price ads need specific disclosures, testimonials must be verifiable, and copies of every ad must be kept for four years. This reflects the rules as of October 2026; confirm with counsel.
- General dentists must add "General Dentist" or "General Dentistry" directly after their name in any ad for specific services, in a font no smaller than the largest service name.
- Price ads must disclose the service, likely related services, that the fee is a minimum, and the dates the price is available.
- Patient photos need written consent for identifying details and the statement "Actual results may vary."
- Keep a copy of every ad for four years after it last runs; the board can ask for it.
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Which Texas rules govern dental advertising?
Texas dental advertising is controlled by the Business Promotion rules in 22 TAC Chapter 108, Subchapter E, sections 108.50 to 108.63. The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (TSBDE) adopts and enforces them under the Dental Practice Act, Occupations Code Chapters 251 to 267. The board links both from its rules and regulations page.
The subchapter covers names, fees, specialties, general dentists, credentials, false or misleading advertising, solicitation and gifts, websites, record keeping, discipline, awards and unlicensed clinicians. Three provisions shape how a practice and its agency work together:
- Presumed approval. Under § 108.57(f), every advertisement is presumed to have been approved by the licensee named in it. "The agency posted it" is not a defense.
- Shared responsibility. Under § 108.52, each licensed owner, principal, partner or officer of the entity named in an ad is jointly and severally responsible for its form and content.
- Records. § 108.60 requires a copy of every broadcast, print and electronic ad for four years after it last appears. It also requires a record of when you found and corrected any false or misleading ad.
Federal rules on reviews, endorsements and patient privacy still apply on top of these. Our HIPAA dental advertising guide covers that layer.
What must a Texas dental ad say about the dentist and the practice name?
Texas ads must identify who is practicing. Each dentist's license name or commonly used name must be disclosed, with their dental degree and either "general dentist" or a recognized specialty. Trade-name ads must prominently show the owner and at least one dentist practicing at each advertised location, and trade names must be filed with the board.
Key points of § 108.52
- Anyone practicing under a name or trade name must fully disclose their full license name or commonly used name.
- Professional communications list the dental degree and either "general dentist" or a specialty recognized by the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards. That wording came in with an amendment effective May 22, 2025.
- A trade-name ad must prominently include the owner's name and at least one dentist practicing under that name at each advertised location. Location signage is exempt from this part.
- Trade names are filed with the board at initial licensure and at each renewal. A trade name that is false or misleading in any material respect is unethical.
- Hygienists or assistants shown in an ad must be identified by title along with a supervising dentist's name.
Website disclosures
§ 108.59 says a dental practice website should clearly disclose who owns it, the services offered, office locations and contact details, and the licensure and qualifications of its dentists and associated providers. For a DSO or multi-location group, that usually means an ownership line in the footer and a location page that lists the dentists who actually practice there.
Practical tip: build a provider page template with name, degree, "General Dentist" or specialty, and locations. Then every location page and ad can pull from one accurate source.
How can Texas dentists advertise specialties, credentials and board certification?
Texas recognizes 12 specialty areas for advertising. A dentist may use "specialist" only for a recognized specialty, with qualifying education or certification. A general dentist can promote implants, aligners or other specialty-type services, but must label themselves "General Dentist." Credentials must sit on a separate line, with any acronym defined.
Specialists: § 108.54
The listed specialties are endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, dental public health, oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, oral medicine, dental anesthesiology and orofacial pain. "Board certified" may be used only for a certifying board referenced in the rule or under the credential rules in § 108.56. Specialists use "specialist in" or "practice limited to" and must limit practice to that specialty. The practice owner must avoid any suggestion that its general dentists are specialists. The rule was last amended effective April 1, 2021.
The rule has a litigation history. In American Academy of Implant Dentistry v. Parker, the Fifth Circuit (June 19, 2017) affirmed a ruling that the earlier version of § 108.54 violated the First Amendment as applied to the plaintiffs, and upheld an injunction. The board has amended the rule since. If you plan to advertise a credential in an area outside the listed specialties, ask counsel how the rule is enforced today.
General dentists: § 108.55
- Any ad for specific services must show "General Dentist" or "General Dentistry" directly after the dentist's name.
- The label's font can be no smaller than the largest font used for the services. Radio, TV and video ads must say it in a clearly audible manner.
- A list of services is allowed if it does not imply specialization and is kept separate from the designation.
- Business cards and letterhead are exempt.
Other credentials: § 108.56
Fellowships, memberships and other credentials may be advertised if they do not imply specialization. They must be listed separately from the dentist's name and designation, not on the same line, and any abbreviation must be followed by its definition.
What must Texas dental ads disclose about fees, discounts and free offers?
Any Texas ad with a price must disclose six things under § 108.53. They are the service, related services usually needed, that the fee is a minimum, the dates the price is available, the standard fee for discounts, and what drives a fee range. Calling a service free is not allowed when an insurer, Medicare or Medicaid pays for it.
Required disclosures in a price ad (§ 108.53(c))
- The professional service offered.
- Related services usually needed with it, which may cost extra.
- A statement that the advertised fee is a minimum and may rise depending on the treatment needed.
- The dates the service is available at the advertised price.
- For a discount, the standard fee and whether the discount is limited to cash payment.
- For a fee range, the basic factors that set the actual fee.
What you cannot say
- That deductibles or copayments are waived when they are in fact required.
- That a health plan's benefits will be accepted as full payment when deductibles or copayments apply.
- A fee without noting additional fees that can reasonably be predicted.
- A discount without the total fee it applies to.
- "Free" for a service a third-party payer, including Medicare or Medicaid, pays for.
Section 108.57(c) adds one more: do not imply a service is free or discounted when its fee is built into a companion procedure.
For Google Ads, the character limits make these disclosures hard to fit in a headline. The usual fix is a short offer in the ad, with a landing page that carries all six disclosures above the fold. Your ad agency should have a template for this.
What we found when we studied 2,318 US dental practices on Google
Patients praise the care and the people. Where they push back is the treatment-plan conversation: upselling is the one review theme where complaints dominate.
2,318 US dental practices across 20 metros · review themes, pace and replies from a 120-practice subsample · every headline figure re-derived from raw data.
What do Texas rules say about testimonials, photos, awards and patient gifts?
Texas allows testimonials and patient photos with conditions. Section 108.57 bars testimonials from non-patients and unverifiable or misleading ones. It requires written consent for identifying patient details and the line "Actual results may vary." Awards need the year and the awarding body. Gifts to win new patients are capped at ten dollars, non-cash.
Banned claim types (§ 108.57(c), selected)
- Claims that treatment will be free of pain or discomfort.
- Implying superior materials or services, or comparisons with other professionals that cannot be factually substantiated.
- Implied guarantees of future satisfaction or success. A promise to refund the fee if the patient is unsatisfied is not considered misleading.
- Excessive appeals to anxiety, or pressure tactics.
- Statistics the public cannot reasonably verify.
- Testimonials from non-patients, false or unverifiable testimonials, or those that do not disclose the speaker's identity and credentials.
Awards: § 108.62
Awards may be publicized if they can be verified, with the specific year or period and the awarding organization named. Saying you were selected for inclusion in a named list is proper. Saying you are a type of dentist the list names is improper. Paying to be included in the survey that selects winners makes the claim misleading. In a group practice, name the dentist who received the award, not the whole practice.
Gifts and lead payments: § 108.58
A dentist may not give cash or anything of value to secure patients, except a non-cash gift worth no more than ten dollars to a potential patient. Rewards to existing patients for staying are allowed if they are not used to solicit new patients. Payments for advertising and marketing are allowed if set in advance, consistent with fair market value, and not based on the volume or value of referrals. That last test matters when you evaluate pay-per-lead offers.
What should a Texas dental practice check before an ad goes live?
Run every ad, post and landing page through one checklist before launch. Then archive the final version, because Texas requires four years of records. The table maps the Texas rules to the channels where they usually break.
| Channel | What to check | Texas rule |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Owner disclosed; each dentist's name, degree and "general dentist" or specialty; locations and contact details | § 108.52, § 108.59 |
| Service and offer pages | "General Dentist" after the name at matching font size; all six fee disclosures; no "free" for insured services | § 108.53, § 108.55 |
| Google Ads and Meta ads | No "painless" or superiority claims; landing page carries the fee disclosures; owner and dentist named on trade-name ads | § 108.52, § 108.57 |
| Google Business Profile | Name matches the trade name filed with the board; offers follow fee rules; awards dated and attributed | § 108.52, § 108.53, § 108.62 |
| Social media and reviews | Testimonials from real, identifiable patients; patient photos with written consent and "Actual results may vary" | § 108.57(c)–(d) |
| Referral and gift campaigns | Gifts to prospects non-cash and no more than ten dollars; vendor fees fixed in advance, not per referral | § 108.58 |
| Ad archive | Copies of all ads kept four years after last use; correction log | § 108.60 |
Groups that operate in more than one state should not assume Texas creative works elsewhere. The Virginia Board of Dentistry advertising guide is a useful comparison. If you want a dental marketing agency for US practices that builds this checklist into every campaign, book a call with our US team. We are based in Dallas and work Central Time.
Related pages from the US team
Dental Marketing Agency USA
How Ichelon Consulting US runs Goals-Driven marketing for dental practices and groups.
Virginia Board of Dentistry advertising rules
A second state's dental advertising rules, useful for multi-state groups comparing requirements.
HIPAA dental advertising compliance guide
Patient photos, testimonials, tracking pixels and the federal privacy layer that sits on top of state rules.
Dental marketing agency contract checklist
Fee models, ownership and termination terms to check before you sign with a dental marketing agency.
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Common questions
Do Texas general dentists have to say "General Dentist" in ads?
Yes. Under 22 Texas Administrative Code § 108.55, any ad by a general dentist for specific dental services must show "General Dentist" or "General Dentistry" directly after the dentist's name. The label must be in a font no smaller than the largest font used for the services, and broadcast ads must state it in a clearly audible manner. Business cards and letterhead are exempt.
What must a Texas dental price ad include?
Under 22 TAC § 108.53, a Texas ad that states a price must disclose the service offered, related services usually needed that may cost extra, that the fee is a minimum, and the dates the price is available. Discount ads must show the standard fee and any cash-only limit. Fee ranges must explain the factors that set the actual fee.
Can Texas dentists use patient testimonials and photos?
Yes, with conditions. 22 TAC § 108.57 bars testimonials from non-patients and false, misleading or unverifiable ones, and requires the speaker's identity and credentials to be disclosed. Patient photos are allowed, but identifying details need the patient's written consent, and the ad must include the statement "Actual results may vary." Federal FTC and HIPAA rules also apply.
How long must a Texas dentist keep copies of ads?
Four years. 22 Texas Administrative Code § 108.60 requires a dentist to keep a pre-recorded copy of broadcast ads and copies of print and electronic ads for four years after their final appearance. The dentist must also record when a false or misleading ad was discovered and what was done to correct it, and provide copies if the board asks.
Can a Texas dental practice pay a marketing company per lead?
Use caution. 22 TAC § 108.58 allows payment for advertising and marketing services only if it is set in advance, consistent with fair market value, and not based on the volume or value of patient referrals. Fees tied to each patient referred may fail that test. Fixed retainers are the conventional model. Have counsel review any per-lead or per-patient deal.
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 Texas ads checked against Chapter 108?
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