Should you put your prices on your dental website?

Most dental sites show no prices at all, usually for one of two reasons: a belief that the HPCSA forbids it, or a fear that a number will scare patients away. The first is a misreading; the second is usually backwards. The HPCSA's Ethical Rules of Conduct require that fees be "transparent, fair, and market-related" — the rule is aimed at over-servicing and overcharging, not at telling patients what things cost. Quoting an honest price isn't the violation; it's closer to what the rules ask for.

The fear that a price drives people away gets the psychology wrong. Uncertainty is what drives people away. A patient comparing two practices — one that indicates what a check-up or a whitening costs, and one that makes them phone to find out — leans toward the one that answered, because silence on price reads as "expensive, and they don't want to say". Dental care is one of the few things people genuinely fear an unexpected bill on, so the practice that removes that fear has an edge before the patient even calls.

The honest difficulty is that dental pricing is genuinely variable. Every mouth is different, and a real quote depends on an exam; you can't publish a fixed price for "an implant" the way a shop prices a kettle. But that's an argument for framing, not for silence:

Showing prices without overpromising

• Use "from" pricing for the predictable things — a check-up, a clean, a whitening — so patients have an honest anchor.
• Explain that anything bigger needs an exam. "Implants and crowns are quoted after we've seen you" is honest and expected, not evasive.
• Put the medical-aid picture next to it — direct billing or claim-back, likely co-payments. This is half the cost question for most patients.
• Never overpromise to win the click. A lowball "from" price you can't honour breaks trust at the chair and bends the fair-fees rule.

The practice that handles this well isn't the cheapest; it's the clearest. In the practices we audit, the price page is either missing entirely or buried, while the practice's Facebook comments fill with the same question — "how much for a clean?" — going half-answered. The demand for the information is visible; the answer just isn't where the deciding happens.

A few honest "from" figures and a plain word on medical aids will do more for a hesitant patient than another paragraph about your commitment to care. Transparency is the trust signal here, and it's a cheap one to give.

Setting out pricing clearly and compliantly is part of a build — but a "from" price and a medical-aid line are yours to add to your current site this week.

General guidance on the HPCSA's fee rules, not legal or financial advice.