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Dental acquisition cost calculator

Enter your own ad spend, fees, enquiries and conversion rates to see cost per enquiry, cost per started patient and contribution after marketing.

By Antoine Martin, Founder, Dental Mastery.
Published 1 November 2026. Last reviewed 1 November 2026.

Every field is yours to fill. There are no built-in averages, because a national figure tells you nothing about your own diary. Results update as you type, and each one shows the sum behind it.

Calculator

Monthly marketing cost

What the ad platforms charge you, before any agency fee.

Retainer or management charge for the month.

Creative, landing pages, call tracking, software.

Enter 20 if you are charged VAT on these costs and cannot recover it. Ask your accountant.

Enquiries and conversion

Calls, forms and messages from this marketing in the month.

From your own diary and CRM, not an industry figure.

From your own treatment plan records.

Value of a started patient

For the treatment this marketing promotes.

Lab, materials, associate pay and other direct costs.

Results

Fill in every field to see results. Enter 0 where something does not apply.

This is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a forecast or a promised return. One month of enquiries is a small sample: a handful of extra or missing patients moves every figure.

Where your numbers come from

  • Ad spend: the invoices or billing pages of each ad platform for the month.
  • Fees and other costs: your supplier invoices, plus software and tracking subscriptions.
  • VAT you cannot reclaim: ask your accountant. The VAT section of the costs guide explains why this is often a real cost for practices.
  • Enquiries: calls, forms and messages that came from this marketing, not all new patients.
  • Attendance and start rates: your practice management system and treatment plan records.
  • Revenue and delivery costs: for the treatment this marketing promotes, from your own accounts.

Reading the results

Revenue, contribution and marketing cost are kept separate on purpose. A campaign can bring in plenty of revenue and still lose money once delivery costs and fees are counted. Where a result cannot be calculated, for example cost per enquiry in a month with no enquiries, the calculator says so instead of showing zero.

One month is a small sample. With a dozen started patients, two more or two fewer change cost per patient by between 14% and 20%. Look at three months together before deciding anything.