What to post on a dental practice's Instagram: the list of what is allowed

Search for "what to post on Instagram as a dentist" and you will keep finding the same ideas. A patient testimonial. A screenshot of a five-star review. Behind the scenes at the practice, filmed between two appointments.

These ideas share one flaw: the rules of the French Dental Council (Ordre national des chirurgiens-dentistes) rule them out. Third-party testimonials are banned by the code itself; ratings and putting your private life on show are ruled out by the National Council's recommendations and by the Dental Council's newsletters (Lettres de l'Ordre). A dentist who follows that advice posts, in good faith, content that puts them at risk.

The right question is not what to post to please the algorithm, but what is left once the rules are respected. Quite a lot is left: in the first half of 2025, one in two people in France ran at least one search through a social network, based on a sample of 3,000 people aged 15 to 80 (Médiamétrie, 2025).

The rule in one sentence, and the three limits around it

A dentist can post anything that informs, and nothing that sells. That is the line set by article R.4127-215-1 of the French Public Health Code: a dentist "is free to communicate with the public, by any means, including on a website." A social network is one of those means.

The same article sets three limits, and they are what rule out the popular ideas. Communication "does not make use of third-party testimonials." It includes no comparison with other dentists or facilities. It "does not encourage unnecessary use of preventive or treatment procedures."

No article of the code names Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. The Dental Council regulates content; it does not approve any platform. Decree No. 2020-1658 of December 22, 2020 broadened what counts as information and kept the ban on advertising, as explained in our guide on what the Dental Council allows on a dentist website and our article on the visibility levers that remain allowed.

Ten allowed posts, with the reason each one complies

Here is what a practice can post, and why each idea holds up.

1. Introducing a dentist: background, degrees, and titles and positions recognized by the National Council. Other training can be mentioned, followed by a statement that it is neither a specialty nor a recognized degree. See our article on what you are allowed to display on a dentist website.
2. Opening hours, directions, parking, accessibility. These are practice conditions, allowed "without promotion and without comparison," according to the National Council's recommendations.
3. How a treatment works, step by step: duration, number of appointments, aftercare, alternatives. A dentist can describe the procedures they perform, without promising a result.
4. Prevention: brushing, fluoride toothpaste, diet, how often to have checkups. Article R.4127-215-1 II allows information that is "scientifically supported," worded "with caution and restraint."
5. Pointing to your fees page. Article R.4127-240 II requires information that is "clear, honest, accurate and non-comparative." That obligation is met on the website, and a post can point to it: see fees on the dental practice website.
6. Payment methods and access to care without discrimination, including patients covered by the complémentaire santé solidaire (France's free or low-cost supplemental coverage). Article R.4127-240 II requires information on "the payment methods accepted" and on "everyone's access to prevention or care without discrimination."
7. The team: first names and roles, with the consent of the people involved. Photos of the dentist and the team are among the permitted elements.
8. Your equipment, described factually: what the device does, why it is used, in which cases. Equipment can be presented, without promotion or comparison.
9. What to do in an emergency: a broken tooth, pain at night, who to call. Article R.4127-215-3 governs educational or health information for the public: the dentist "only reports confirmed data" and does not seek to "take advantage of their participation."
10. Announcing a change: a new partner joining the practice, a move, new opening hours. Article R.4127-219 allows it "on any non-commercial medium, at a reasonable frequency."

An eleventh idea clears up a misunderstanding. A dentist who focuses on certain procedures can say so, using the wording required by the recommendations: "focuses/limits their practice to orthodontic procedures." Only three specialties exist: dentofacial orthopedics (orthodontics), oral surgery and oral medicine. Outside those, this is the only correct wording.

The filter to run before every post

An idea that complies can still turn into a breach in how it is carried out. Six checks are enough:

• no recognizable patient, whether in the image or in a comment;
• no visible brand of a product or medical device;
• no highlighted price, no crossed-out amount, no incentive;
• no superlative, no comparison, no promised result;
• no testimonial, no rating, no review screenshot;
• written sign-off from the dentist before anything goes live.

This sign-off is at the heart of our method: the practice writes nothing, designs nothing, edits nothing, posts nothing. For a video, the dentist records a voice memo based on a script we prepare. Across the four videos we have produced, the speaking time runs between 33 and 39 seconds: so two videos come to less than two minutes of speaking, plus one review per post, which we do not put a number on because we have not timed it.

The common advice that puts the practice at risk

You can read this advice everywhere. Taken literally, it puts the dentist at risk.

Before-and-after photos are not covered here: their exact status needs a whole page.

Filming at the practice: the patient must never be identifiable

This is the toughest point, and the one the market's pages cover in a sentence or two. Yet the recommendations are explicit: "As soon as a patient is filmed inside a dental practice, they must under no circumstances be identifiable. Their face must be blurred even if the patient wishes to give express consent to the use of their image."

Read the end of that sentence twice. The patient's consent is not enough. Professional secrecy, set out in articles R.4127-206 and R.4127-208, is a principle from which the patient cannot release their dentist. The recommendations put it this way: "a dentist could not post videos of recognizable patients on social media without violating professional secrecy." They are on the Dental Council's page devoted to dentists' professional communication.

In practice: frame the teeth only, no face, no distinguishing feature, no recognizable voice. Also listed as breaches are X-rays, photos or screenshots that could identify a patient, and replying to a review that names or identifies someone. For your employees, the rule is different: their image depends on their written consent, not on professional secrecy.

These posts can show up on Google

Public posts and videos from a professional account can be indexed by Google and Bing, under three conditions: being over 18, having a public account and having a professional account. So a post explaining an implant placement can appear on Google, next to your website and your Google Business Profile. We cover the setting and what it includes in Instagram indexed by Google.

What the texts do not say

On many practical questions, there is no Dental Council rule at all. Nothing is written about how often to post, about music, about follower counts or about hashtags. We stick to descriptive hashtags, out of caution, not because any text requires it. No text addresses whether a practice account may exist, either: what the Dental Council does allow is listing your social media accounts on your professional documents and in directories.

One point is settled twice by Lettre de l'Ordre 196: a personal account used to share professional information is treated as a professional account. A private account is not a loophole.

That leaves deciding what to post first. Start with what your patients already ask you on the phone: our page on social media for dental practices takes it from there.

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