Growing an Orthodontic Practice: From No Google Advertising to 36 Patient Calls/mo. with LSA
CASE STUDY SUMMARY
- Industry: Dental / Orthodontics
- Business type: Single-location orthodontic practice
- Project type: Local Services Ads and Google Search ads setup and management
- Platforms: Google Local Services Ads, Google Search
- Services: Local Services Ads, Google Ads Management
This Local Services Ads case study shows how Oberheim Orthodontics, a single-location orthodontic practice in rural Pennsylvania, went from no Google advertising to about 36 patient calls a month by adding Local Services Ads to new Google Search ads. Pronto set up and managed both campaigns and guided the practice through Google’s screening for healthcare providers. Between May 27 and October 31, 2026, Local Services Ads brought in 153 billed calls at about $30 each, a monthly pace more than seven times the initial forecast. By partnering with Pronto Marketing, the practice turned its strong local reputation into a steady flow of patient calls.
From LSA
Revenue
per Call
Company Background
Oberheim Orthodontics is based in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, near Williamsport. Dr. Mark Oberheim has led the practice for 26 years and treated more than 10,000 patients, offering Invisalign and clear aligners and braces for children and adults. Readers of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette have voted it the area’s best orthodontist nine of the last ten years, and it holds a 5.0 rating across 157 Google reviews. The practice already had its own way of getting reviews, and it worked: 152 came in the past two years.
Office manager Mary Bower runs the front desk and is Pronto’s day-to-day contact. Dr. Oberheim came to Pronto for Google Search ads and Local Services Ads.
No Place in Google’s Ads, and a Demanding Approval Process
The practice had a strong reputation and good organic rankings, but it had never advertised on Google, and Local Services Ads came with a demanding approval process.
Missing From the Ads at the Top of Google
Dr. Oberheim set the goal when he booked his first call with Pronto: “Explore the best way to reach prospective orthodontic patients that are 10-20 miles from my office.” The practice ranked well in the regular (organic) results but had never run Google ads, so it never appeared in the ad spots above them. Other orthodontists compete for the same patients: two multi-office practices have offices in Williamsport, one of which runs its own Google ads, and four more practices are within about 30 miles. The practice’s reviews were a real strength, but it wasn’t yet putting them to work in Google’s ads.
A Small Team and Modest Forecasts
No one on the small team had time to learn or manage ads. As Mary put it: “This whole Google thing is way beyond my wheelhouse, so just tell me what else I need to do.” Based on Google’s forecasts for a rural area, our proposal expected fewer than five leads a month from Local Services Ads and two to four from Search ads.
Google’s Screening for Healthcare Providers
Local Services Ads screens healthcare providers before they can appear: business verification, insurance documents that meet Google’s requirements, a background check for Dr. Oberheim and a correctly linked Business Profile, the practice’s listing on Google Maps and Search. It took months of back-and-forth with Google. Google linked the wrong Business Profile twice, and Dr. Oberheim had to complete the background check twice.
The screening steps Google requires before an orthodontist’s Local Services Ads can run, all complete in the practice’s account.
Two Kinds of Google Ads, Set Up and Managed for the Practice
We set up two kinds of Google ads that do different jobs: Search ads for people researching treatment, and Local Services Ads for people ready to call.
“Google’s approval process had a lot of hoops, and I just wanted to get our ads going. Pronto walked us through every step and had the ads ready the day we were approved. Now patients see our reviews at the top of Google and call us straight from the ad.”
Google Search Ads (Pay per Click)
Google Search ads are text ads above the search results when someone searches for things like “Invisalign cost” or “braces for adults”. The practice pays when someone clicks, and the click lands on a page on its website.
We built one campaign around the practice’s three services: Invisalign and clear aligners, children’s braces and adult braces. Our web team built a landing page for each service, with call and form tracking so every inquiry is counted. Each week, we review what people actually searched, block irrelevant searches and check the budget.
The Invisalign landing page, one of three service pages our web team built for the Search ads.
Local Services Ads (Pay per Call)
Local Services Ads are the “Google Screened” listings at the very top of the page, showing the practice’s star rating and Dr. Oberheim’s photo. People call the office straight from the ad, and the practice pays only for qualified calls, not clicks.
We built the full profile (services, service area, hours, budget and team photos) and guided Mary and Dr. Oberheim through each verification step, following up with Google when it stalled. The ads cover Montoursville and Williamsport and, to the south, Watsontown, Milton and Lewisburg. Because the profile was already complete, the ads went live the day Google approved them. We check both campaigns and their budgets every week and report on them monthly.
Part of the Local Services Ads profile we built: budget and bidding, the services the practice offers, team photos and settings.
Seven Times the Calls Google Forecast
Local Services Ads became a steady source of patient calls, and the Search ads kept bringing in appointment requests.
153 Patient Calls at About $30 Each
Between May 27 and October 31, 2026, Local Services Ads brought in 153 billed patient calls at about $30 each, all by phone. Since July, the practice has averaged about 36 calls a month, more than seven times the forecast.
Billed calls from Local Services Ads each month, against the forecast in our proposal (Google Ads).
Most Calls Came From Within 20 Miles
Of the calls with a known location, two in three came from within 20 miles of the office, mostly from Williamsport, South Williamsport, Montoursville and Muncy. Most of the rest came from towns up to 40 miles away, such as Lock Haven and Danville.
Billed calls by straight-line distance from the office, for calls with a known location, May 27 to October 31, 2026 (Google Ads).
A Reputation That Wins the Top Spot
Local Services Ads show the practice’s 5.0 rating from 157 Google reviews, more than any orthodontic office within about 30 miles. Google ranks these ads partly on rating and number of reviews, and the practice’s ad appeared in the top spot for 99% of its impressions in the months Google reported. The practice’s reputation did the selling.
Google reviews for each orthodontic office within about 30 miles of the practice, November 3, 2026 (Google Maps).
Search Ads: 50 Calls and Appointment Requests
From January 7 to October 31, 2026, the Search ads produced 50 conversions (calls and appointment requests), about five a month against a forecast of two to four. They cost $198 each on average, falling to $99 in October, the best month so far with 10. Nearly all of the inquiries the ads sent to the website were online appointment requests, and more than eight in ten were marked as genuine prospects. Searches about Invisalign, and about cost and insurance, produced most of the conversions.
Conversions from the Google Search ads each month, January 7 to October 31, 2026 (Google Ads).
Calls Worth Investing In
When September’s Local Services Ads budget ran out on the 24th, the calls stopped until the new month.
“In the last week of September, everything stopped. We had met our budget in the first three weeks. October 1st hit, and boom, all of a sudden, call from Google. Call from Google. Call from Google.”
Billed Local Services Ads calls on each weekday, September 1 to October 16, 2026 (Google Ads).
The September gap made the case for a bigger budget. Dr. Oberheim approved an extra $500 a month for Local Services Ads so the practice stays visible all month. As Mary wrote to Pronto: “Dr. Oberheim would like to invest a little bit more in the Google LSA.”
The calls keep the front desk busy. In Mary’s words: “You are already working hard for us, managing our website and managing Google, we are getting calls regularly, we are busy!” She says the practice is growing compared with when it joined Pronto.
We also estimated what the calls could be worth. At conservative rates (40% of calls booking an exam, half of those starting treatment and $3,680 a case, the low end of typical braces fees), the 153 calls point to an estimated $110K+ in treatment revenue. That’s an estimate, not closed revenue.
The results also reflect the practice’s own strengths: 26 years of patient care and a base of reviews that Google’s ads reward.
🔍 Data Context and Methodology:
Every result runs to October 31, 2026, from each campaign’s launch: January 7 for the Search ads and May 27 for Local Services Ads.
Tracking Platforms: Google Ads for both campaigns (billed calls, spend, conversions and caller locations); WhatConverts call and form tracking on the landing pages; Google Maps for review counts, checked November 3, 2026.
Lead Counting: A billed call is a call Google charged the practice for, not necessarily a new patient. The Local Services Ads dashboard counts 153; Google Ads shows 154 because it credits one website lead to the campaign. Search conversions are calls from the ads plus calls and forms from the landing pages. The forecast comes from our proposal, based on Google’s estimates for the area.
Pipeline Revenue Calculation: 153 billed calls × 40% booking an exam (61) × 50% starting treatment (30) × $3,680 per case = $110,400. Both rates sit below published benchmarks (Liine: 57.1% of dental new-patient inquiries book an appointment; Planet DDS: 68.3% average case acceptance), and $3,680 is the low end of typical braces fees (Pearl). This is a projection, not closed revenue; the practice hasn’t shared its own booking or treatment figures.
Attribution Boundary: The two campaigns are reported separately and never added together. Some billed calls may come from existing patients or from people who would have found the practice anyway.
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