How to Reply to Google Reviews as a Dental Practice: Safer Wording and What to Avoid

Replying to Google reviews is good business, but a dental practice has an extra problem: the warm, natural reply ("Thanks for coming in — we loved seeing you!") may be the risky one.

This article summarises what the American Dental Association publishes on the subject, in plain language. It is not legal advice, and it does not say any particular reply is "compliant". Ask your own counsel.

Why dental replies are different

The ADA's toolkit on online reviews says dental practices can be fined for responding to reviews with identifiable patient information such as a patient's name, insurance information, treatment plan or cost information, and that fines might also apply if a response merely confirms that a patient was at the practice. [1] It also notes that the ADA Health Policy Institute found 39% of dentists said they were unable to respond to reviews because of HIPAA regulations. [1]

HHS says HIPAA applies to "covered entities", which include health care providers such as dentists, but only if they transmit health information electronically in connection with certain standard transactions. [2] The ADA also points out that state privacy laws can apply, and that practices not covered by HIPAA must still follow state privacy laws. [1] Whether your practice is a covered entity is a question for your own advisor.

A real enforcement example: in 2019 HHS's Office for Civil Rights announced that Elite Dental Associates of Dallas agreed to pay $10,000 and adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential HIPAA Privacy Rule violations, in a resolution titled as concerning social media disclosures of patients' protected health information. [3]

What the ADA recommends

Key points from the ADA toolkit: [1]

• A patient who names themselves has not waived their privacy. The ADA says that just because a patient identifies themself in a review, they have not waived their right to privacy, so it's best to use generalities in any reply, positive or negative.
• Don't confirm the person was a patient. Its guidance: "Don't acknowledge that a reviewer was a patient. This is true for positive reviews, too!"
• For positive reviews, the ADA's example of a safer answer is simply "Thank you!" It lists "Thank you for coming in," "We appreciate our patients," and "We love treating your kids" as phrases that can violate HIPAA.
• Take complaints offline with a general message such as "Our office strives to ensure a great patient experience. Please call our office to discuss."
• Be professional, prompt and private. Think overnight before replying to a bad review.
• Sometimes the best option is not to respond.

Say this / not that (adapted from the ADA's examples)

The ADA publishes paired examples of "safer" and "risky" replies. A few, quoted or closely paraphrased from its page: [1]

Situation	ADA's safer example	ADA's risky example
Positive review	"Thank you!"	"Thanks for coming in!"
Negative review about care	"We strive to provide every patient with the best possible care. Please call the office."	"Your crown was a complicated situation. Please call the office to discuss your concerns."
Negative review about insurance	"We work closely with all payers to ensure a smooth process, but occasional mix-ups do happen. Please call the office."	"You didn't provide your updated insurance information, so we were delayed in processing the claim…"
Negative review about wait times	"…there are occasional delays in our schedule. Please call our office."	"I'm sorry you had a long wait."

Notice the pattern: no treatment, no dates, no insurer, no apology that implies a visit, no argument.

A short pattern for 1–2★ reviews

Based on the ADA's "Take complaints offline" advice, a brief reply could look like:

Thank you for sharing your feedback. We take every concern seriously and would like to understand more. Please call our office at [phone] so we can talk. — [Practice name]

Some practices add a general statement of policy (for example, that the office aims to return calls within 24 hours), which the ADA suggests can be done in generalities. [1] Only say it if it is true.

What not to paste into any tool

Whether you are using a template, an AI tool or a person on your team: paste only the public review text. Don't paste anything from a patient's chart, schedule, billing or insurance records, and don't paste private messages. The ADA's whole point is that responding with information from those records is the risk. [1]

Positive reviews: what else to watch

• Avoid replying with the reviewer's name, the procedure, or the team member's name. (The ADA's list of risky examples includes specific, personal acknowledgements. [1])
• If you want to thank someone properly, the ADA says you can do so in person the next time they are in the office, but never online. [1]

Who to ask

• Your own attorney or compliance advisor
• Your state dental board (the ADA says to review state dental board regulations and all relevant law before online marketing) [1]
• The ADA's toolkit itself: https://www.ada.org/resources/practice/legal-and-regulatory/managing-dental-practice-online-reviews

Where Gladhear fits (and doesn't)

Gladhear is a small tool that drafts Google review replies for you to approve. The dental version is written to avoid confirming that someone is a patient and to avoid treatments, dates and insurance, and to give 1–2★ reviews a short "please call the office" reply. It is not HIPAA-certified, the company makes no HIPAA-compliance claim, the wording of the 1–2★ pattern has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer, and nothing is posted without your approval. It's in free beta. Free tool: https://gladhear.com/free-review-reply-generator (paste public review text only).

Sources (all fetched/verified 2026-10-01)

1. American Dental Association, "Protect your practice's reputation" (managing dental practice online reviews): https://www.ada.org/resources/practice/legal-and-regulatory/managing-dental-practice-online-reviews
2. HHS, "Covered Entities and Business Associates": https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/covered-entities/index.html
3. HHS OCR, "Dental Practice Pays $10,000 to Settle Social Media Disclosures of Patients' Protected Health Information" (page last reviewed Oct 2, 2019): https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/elite/index.html

Editorial note: the "short pattern" and the framing are editorial. The "say this / not that" table reproduces short excerpts from the ADA page with attribution; see the ADA page for the full text. No claim of HIPAA compliance is made for any product, template or practice.