The first question every patient asks — and most dental sites don't answer

For the South Africans who can choose a private dentist, the first question is almost always money — and specifically, "do you take my medical aid?" Around 9.17 million people belong to a medical scheme, roughly one-seventh of the country, according to the Council for Medical Schemes' 2024 industry report, and they make up most of your prospective private patients. Most South Africans rely on the public system; the ones choosing a private practice are overwhelmingly the ones with a scheme. So if your website says nothing about medical aids, you have left their very first question unanswered — and an unanswered question about money reads as "probably not", or "probably expensive".

Dental care is one of the few things people genuinely fear an unexpected bill on. Faced with two practices, a patient will book the one that tells them plainly how payment works and leave the one that makes them phone to find out. The uncertainty itself is the friction, and friction is what loses the booking — not the price.

There is an honest limit to what you can say, and it matters. You cannot promise what a scheme will pay; that is between the patient and their plan, and a guarantee of cover is exactly the kind of promise the HPCSA's advertising rules tell you not to make. What you can do is be transparent — name the schemes you bill, explain how billing works, and be upfront about any shortfall. Here is what that section should cover:

What to put on your site

• A plain "Medical aids" heading a patient can find in seconds, not a line hidden mid-page.
• The schemes you routinely work with.
• How billing works in practice — direct to the scheme, or pay-and-claim-back.
• An honest line on co-payments or shortfalls, so there are no surprises.
• "We'll check your benefits before we start", with a way to book or message to do exactly that.

Where there is a real, factual benefit, state it plainly rather than burying it. If Discovery Vitality members earn points for a check-up, for example, that is true, useful, and a genuine reason to book now. In the practices we audit, medical aids are almost never addressed up front, even when the same question fills the practice's Facebook comments — patient after patient asking whether they take Discovery, or Bonitas, or GEMS. The answer exists; it just is not on the website, which is where the deciding happens. A clear medical-aids section is one of the cheapest trust-building things you can add to a dental site: it answers the unspoken first question and removes the biggest hesitation before booking, and it asks nothing of you but honesty about how you already bill.

We build it in as standard when we make a site, but it is a line you can add to your current site this week.

General guidance, not legal or financial advice; what a scheme pays on any claim depends on the patient's plan.