If you run a dental practice in Salt Lake City, you already know the competition is real. Patients searching for a new dentist aren't just typing "dentist near me" and picking the first result. They're scrolling, comparing star ratings, and reading reviews before they ever pick up the phone. In a city like Salt Lake City, where there are dozens of practices competing for the same neighborhoods, your Google review count can be the difference between a booked schedule and an empty waiting room. The good news is that getting more reviews isn't complicated. It just takes a system.
Why Most Dentist Businesses Don't Have Enough Reviews
Most dental practices are great at providing care and terrible at asking for recognition. The typical scenario looks like this: a patient leaves happy, the front desk says "have a great day," and that's the end of it. No ask, no follow-up, no review. The practice ends up with a handful of reviews that trickled in from their most enthusiastic patients while competitors who are more intentional about the process slowly pull ahead in local search rankings.
There's also a common belief among dental offices that asking for reviews feels pushy or unprofessional. It doesn't, as long as you do it right. Patients who just had a great cleaning or finally got relief from tooth pain are genuinely happy to share that experience. They just need a little nudge and a frictionless way to do it.
The 5-Step Review System
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Get more Google reviews →Step one is to get your Google review link and make it easy to access. Go into your Google Business Profile, find your review link, and shorten it using a tool like Bitly. You want something clean that's easy to text or drop into a message.
Step two is asking at the right moment. The best time to ask a dental patient for a review is right after they've expressed satisfaction, whether that's during checkout, right after a successful procedure, or when they comment on how much better they feel. That emotional high is your window. Don't wait until they're home and the moment has passed.
Step three is using text instead of email. Email open rates for dental practices hover around 20 to 30 percent on a good day. Text messages get opened at over 90 percent. A simple text that says something like "Hey, it was great seeing you today! If you have a minute, we'd love a Google review. Here's the link:" works far better than any email campaign you'll put together.
Step four is following up once. If someone doesn't leave a review after your first ask, one polite follow-up a few days later is completely acceptable. One. After that, let it go. You're not running a collections department.
Step five is responding to every review, good or bad. This tells Google that your profile is active and it tells prospective patients in Salt Lake City that you actually care about feedback. Keep responses short, warm, and professional. Don't get defensive on negative reviews. A graceful response to a critical review often does more for your reputation than a five-star rating.
What a Realistic Review Growth Timeline Looks Like for a Dentist in Salt Lake City
If you implement this system consistently, a dental practice seeing 50 to 100 patients per week can realistically collect 15 to 30 new reviews per month. Within three months, you could go from 20 reviews to 60 or 70, which is a significant jump in how you appear in local Salt Lake City search results. Six months in, you'll likely see a measurable uptick in new patient inquiries coming directly from Google. These aren't overnight numbers, but they're real, sustainable, and they compound over time as your profile gains authority.
The practices that dominate local search in Salt Lake City didn't get there by accident. They built systems and stayed consistent.
If you'd rather automate this whole process instead of managing it manually, check out TrailMark Digital's review automation service. We make it easy for dental practices to collect more reviews without adding anything to your team's plate.