In short. A dental practice website costs 1,200 to 3,500 EUR at a generalist agency, and starts at 450 EUR with me, in two to six weeks. But before price, a question almost no agency asks: since the decree of 22 December 2020, French dentists may communicate, under strict conditions. Patient testimonials are not among the things you may publish. Plenty of generalist agencies ship a reviews section by default, and it is the practitioner, not the agency, who answers to the professional body.
Let me start with what actually costs money, and it is not the quote.
A practitioner has his site rebuilt by a local agency. Clean work, good looking, 2,400 EUR. The agency installs what it installs for every client: a patient testimonials section, a punchy slogan, a "best practice in the neighbourhood" banner. Three elements, three deontological problems.
The agency carries none of the risk.
I build dental practice websites. Here is the actual framework, then the prices.
1. What the 2020 decree changed
For years the rule was simple: advertising was prohibited for dental surgeons.
Decree n° 2020-1658 of 22 December 2020 amended article R.4127-215 of the Code de la sante publique and removed that near-total ban. What remains is the prohibition on practising the profession as a commercial business.
In its place, the decree frames how dentists may communicate. Article R.4127-215-1 permits a dental surgeon to give the public, by any means including a website, information that helps a patient choose a practitioner freely: professional skills and practices, career history, and the conditions under which they practise.
The national professional body published recommendations in 2021 setting out how these principles apply in practice. They do not carry regulatory force, but they are the reference point if a complaint is filed.
Put simply: you are entitled to a real website. You are not entitled to just any website.
2. What you may publish
Based on the decree and the body's recommendations, a dental practice site may present:
- your name, titles and qualifications
- your professional skills and practices
- your career history
- the conditions of your practice: address, hours, accessibility, languages spoken, how to book
- factual information about the treatments you provide
- your fees, and in fact you must answer any request for information about your fees or the cost of a treatment
That is more than enough for a useful website. A patient looking for a dentist wants to know where you are, whether you take new patients, what you do, and what it costs. All of that is permitted.
3. What stays off the table
This is the part generalist agencies miss. Communication must be fair and honest, and must not:
- include third-party testimonials, from patients or anyone else
- include comparative claims against other practitioners
- encourage unnecessary or unjustified treatment
- undermine the dignity of the profession
- breach professional confidentiality
The first point deserves a pause, because it runs against everything standard web marketing does. No "what our patients say" section. No testimonial carousel. No patient reviews republished on your homepage.
The second matters too: no "the best practice in", no comparison with colleagues nearby, not even implicitly.
The third has a practical consequence. A page pushing whitening or veneers with a sales pitch is risky ground. A page explaining what whitening is, when it is indicated and what it costs, is not.
Breaches are not theoretical. They lead to complaints to the professional body, with sanctions ranging from a warning to a reprimand to suspension from practice.
One point if you are considering search visibility: article R.4127-217 of the Code de la sante publique deals specifically with digital referencing. A dentist's SEO carries a deontological dimension of its own. More on that on my SEO and GEO services page.
This article is general information and does not replace legal advice. The professional body's recommendations change: check the current version before publishing anything.
4. What that means for choosing a provider
An agency that has never worked with a dental practice will hand you its usual template. That template almost always includes a testimonials section, because for a restaurant or a tradesperson it is the highest converting element on the page.
When you get quotes, ask three questions:
- Have you built a dental practice site before? Show me two.
- What do you know about the 2020 decree on dentists' professional communication?
- Are you planning a patient testimonials section?
If the answer to the third is yes, the person opposite has not read the framework. That is not a moral failing, they are simply not specialised, and you will be paying for their education.
5. Prices and timelines
Three routes.
A DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace): 30 to 60 EUR a month, forever, and a weekend of your time. It works for existing quickly. You own nothing, the result looks like your colleagues' sites, and compliance is entirely on you.
A generalist web agency: 1,200 to 3,500 EUR to build, paid once, over three to eight weeks. The site is yours. Check who holds the domain and hosting when the contract ends, and settle the testimonials question up front.
A specialist developer: with me, from 450 EUR, in two to six weeks. The code belongs to you, no mandatory subscription keeps it online, and the site is built to be readable by Google and by ChatGPT and Perplexity, which matters more each year as patients search differently.
What stretches a project is never the development. It is photographs and copy. Book a practice photo session and set aside an hour to review the text, and you will save two weeks.
Examples: Dentia Ca and Dentia Po. Demos rather than clients, and I would rather say so. Real projects sit in my case studies.
What I deliver: dentist website design.
6. What about online appointment booking?
Plenty of practices have a listing on a booking platform and consider the matter closed.
It is not the same thing. A listing makes you bookable. A website makes you choosable. A patient deciding between three practices wants to see your hours, your team, your equipment, and understand what you actually do. Your site does that work, a standardised listing does not.
The two sit together well: the platform runs the diary, the site handles presentation and compliance. And fill in your Google Business Profile, which is free. On "dentist + your city" it often outweighs everything else.
The table
The three routes line by line: what each costs, whether you own the site at the end, and how long until you are online.
- DIY builder: 30 to 60 EUR a month, forever. You do not own the site. Online in a weekend.
- Generalist agency: 1,200 to 3,500 EUR once. You own the site. Three to eight weeks.
- Specialist developer: from 450 EUR once. You own the site. Two to six weeks.
My prices are public: see pricing. If your question is mainly about budget, I have broken the numbers down in my dentist website pricing guide.
Sources
Decree n° 2020-1658 of 22 December 2020 amending the dental surgeons' code of ethics regarding professional communication. Articles R.4127-215, R.4127-215-1, R.4127-217 and R.4127-240 of the Code de la sante publique. Recommendations of the national body of dental surgeons on professional communication, 2021. Check the current version before publishing. Price ranges from published French market sources, August 2026.
Want to know whether your current site is a problem? Send me the address and I will look at it and tell you honestly what works and what does not. Write to me here, I reply within 24 hours.
The detail of how I work: dentist website design.
