RCDSO Rules: What an Ontario Dental Website Can't Say

Short answer: the RCDSO treats your practice website as advertising, so its advertising rules apply to every page. No testimonials, no "best" or "#1" claims, no guaranteed results and no incentive offers. Any treatment you mention needs to say whether you're a general dentist or a specialist, credentials stop at the degrees you needed to register, and unless you say otherwise, an advertised fee is the most anyone pays. This is my reading of RCDSO's documents, not legal advice.

Here's the usual situation. An agency did your Ontario dental website design a few years ago, and somewhere in the hero is a line about being the neighbourhood's most trusted dentist that nobody has reread since launch day. The team page lists every weekend course anyone has ever attended. The agency has moved on. The regulator hasn't. If you're weighing a rebuild, here's what a dental website built for Ontario practices has to leave out, section by section.

Does the RCDSO treat your practice website as advertising?

Yes, in writing. RCDSO's Professional Advertising advisory covers any material about your practice published by you or on your behalf, websites included. The documents I cite are linked from its Advertising Guidelines page.

"On your behalf" includes your agency. RCDSO's July 2025 article, "The dos and don'ts of advertising", makes dentists responsible for what staff or third parties publish too. Your agency isn't registered with the College. You are.

None of this is new. Paragraphs 60 and 61 of the professional misconduct regulation, O. Reg. 853/93 do most of the work, and they're older than Google. The advisory is from 2012; the 2025 article adds newer examples but doesn't change the regulation.

Can you put testimonials or Google reviews on a dental website?

The advisory says not to include testimonials, or any statement only verifiable by someone's personal feelings. Some marketing guides suggest genuine testimonials are fine. The advisory has no such exception. A testimonials page is exactly what the rule describes, and a homepage carousel of five-star reviews is a testimonials page that learned to rotate.

In fairness, no RCDSO document I found names review widgets, so that's the rule applied, not a quoted ban. Patients reviewing you on Google themselves is a different thing. Those reviews live on your Google Business Profile, covered in how to get more Google reviews.

Are before-and-after photos allowed on a dental website?

Not banned by name. But RCDSO's Winter 2024 advice on patient images sets strict consent steps:

• It's health information. A patient image gets the same consent and confidentiality as the chart.
• Consent, twice. Get it in advance, then reconfirm it in writing, dated and signed, once the patient has seen and approved the images.
• Anonymous isn't exempt. Consent is required even when the patient can't be identified.
• It can be withdrawn. If it is, the images come down everywhere they're used.

Paragraph 60 also bars creating expectations of favourable results. My reading: a gallery of only your best cases, presented as typical, is what that rule is pointed at.

RCDSO also describes a dentist who answered a bad review with photos the patient had approved for the website. That was consent for the website, not for winning an argument in the review section. There are better ways to answer a bad review.

Who gets to call themselves a specialist?

Ontario recognizes 11 dental specialties, including orthodontics and periodontics. Everyone else is a general dentist, and you advertise by registration category only.

• Mentioning a treatment triggers disclosure. Under paragraph 61, anything referring to a treatment has to say whether you're a general practitioner or a specialist, and which specialty. An implants page counts. So does a services list.
• Treatments aren't titles. RCDSO's own examples of what not to call yourself are "cosmetic dentist", "implant specialist" and "holistic dentist". Listing the services you provide is fine.
• You can limit your practice, out loud. A general dentist can limit their practice to a branch such as orthodontics, if they also clearly say they're a general practitioner.

Practice names follow suit: a specialty in the name means every dentist there must hold it, and descriptive terms about quality or results are out. A name that describes your location doesn't need Executive Committee approval. Anything else does. Either way, you file RCDSO's Application for Practice Names and tell the College in writing who practises under the name, then report changes within 30 days.

What your team bios can and can't say about training

The advisory rules out three things:

• Continuing education. The weekend course certificate can stay on the wall.
• Memberships or positions in the College, associations, societies or academies.
• Degrees or diplomas beyond the ones your registration required. Other earned degrees need the College's prior written approval before you use them.

Paragraph 41 lists permitted designations, including "dental centre", "dental clinic" and "and associates". Under paragraph 42, those three come with paperwork: the College must be told in writing the names and certificate numbers of everyone practising there, and about any change within 30 days.

Can you advertise fees, a free consultation or a new-patient offer?

Fees, yes. Unless you say otherwise, a stated fee is the maximum, including lab costs, for every patient, insured or not. A price on your website is a promise to everyone.

Offers are narrower than most practices assume:

• The advertising documents say no. The advisory lists incentives like giveaways, contests, draws and free products or services. The 2025 article adds reduced rates, bonuses and tiered programs.
• The conflict-of-interest guidelines leave a small gap. RCDSO's 2018 Conflict of Interest Guidelines allow a service like whitening at a reduced fee or no charge for patients or groups like seniors, as long as it isn't a referral reward. The same guidelines also say dentists must not offer incentives for individuals to become or remain patients, and must not advertise with gifts, gift cards, contests, prizes, rebates, credits or other benefits.

My reading: a reduced fee in the chair and "free whitening for new patients" on the homepage are different acts, and the second is an incentive to become a patient, which both documents aim at. Send the exact wording to RCDSO's Practice Advisory Service before publishing any offer. Contests and referral rewards are the easy part. Both sides say no.

Why "best", "#1 rated" and "state of the art" have to come off the homepage

Paragraph 60 bars comparisons and claims of superiority. The advisory names "state of the art" and "cutting edge"; the 2025 article adds "#1 rated" and "best at". Guaranteed results and appeals to fear are out too.

So many dental websites have state-of-the-art technology that the phrase stopped meaning anything years ago. Swap adjectives for facts:

• "Toronto's best family dentist" becomes what you do, where you are and when you're open.
• "State-of-the-art technology" becomes the actual equipment and what it does for patients.
• "Pain-free dentistry" becomes the freezing and sedation options you offer. It isn't banned by name, but in my reading it's a favourable-results promise.
• "#1 rated" doesn't become anything. There's no factual version. It just goes.

The emergency rule most dental marketing guides skip

This one is pedantic. It's also the one with numbers in it.

Paragraph 46 makes it misconduct to use "dental emergency service", or any designation indicating emergency care, unless a dentist is present and available on site for at least 16 hours every day, and a dentist is available for the remaining 8 hours to attend immediately, either at that location or at another location within 8 km, or the service is run under an Ontario Dental Association component society and clearly says so. That's a bigger promise than a page title usually means to make. Nothing I found says whether an "emergency dentistry" page counts as a designation, so ask first.

The honest caveat: a list of can'ts isn't a website

Everything above is something to take off. Take it all off and you have a perfectly compliant site that says nothing. The rules mark the edges. The middle is the patient side, covered in how dental practices get new patients. Read that advice inside these rules: any emergency page or published price it suggests still has to clear paragraph 46 and the fee rule above.

Standards also move. For anything borderline, RCDSO's Practice Advisory Service beats my opinion, and your agency's.

What RCDSO-compliant dental website design looks like

Strip out the paragraph numbers and RCDSO wants one thing: say what can be checked. Who you are, what you treat, when you're open. That's also what an anxious patient wants. Adjectives reassure nobody. Facts do.

That's how I approach dental website design for Toronto and GTA practices: factual treatment pages, your registration category stated clearly, no superlatives. I build inside the published rules, but I'm not a compliance review, and the site is still yours. Most practices need the $999 multi-page build, because a treatment list with proper disclosure won't fit on the $499 one-page Starter. Both are one-time.

Want to see it first? I'll design a free demo homepage with factual treatment copy and your registration category stated, and flag the lines on your current site this post covers, before you pay anything.

Frequently asked questions

Can Ontario dentists put testimonials or Google reviews on their website?

RCDSO's advisory counts websites as advertising and says not to include testimonials. A testimonials page or review carousel is what that rule describes, though RCDSO doesn't name review widgets specifically.

Can a general dentist call themselves a cosmetic dentist in Ontario?

No. RCDSO gives "cosmetic dentist" as an example to avoid, because it presents a treatment area like a recognized specialty. A general dentist can list cosmetic services while clearly stating they're a general practitioner.

Can dentists advertise their prices in Ontario?

Yes. The fee must be clearly stated, and unless you specify otherwise it's the maximum, including lab costs, for every patient, insured or not.

Can dentists post before and after photos in Ontario?

Not banned by name, but RCDSO treats patient images as health information. Get consent in advance, then reconfirm it in writing once the patient has approved the images. Anonymous photos still need consent.

Can a dental office call itself an emergency dental clinic in Ontario?

Only if it meets paragraph 46 of the misconduct regulation: a dentist on site at least 16 hours a day, and one able to attend immediately for the other 8, at that location or another within 8 km. The alternative is running under an Ontario Dental Association component society and saying so.