The Dental Website Checklist for GTA Clinics (2026)

Use this checklist to review your current site, or to brief whoever builds your next one. Each item is something patients look for on their phone, something Google uses to decide where you rank, or an Ontario-specific rule worth knowing.

Open your website on your phone and go through the groups below. Count how many you can tick. There are 40 items in total. Be strict. If you have to search for something, it doesn't count.

1. The first screen on a phone (5 items)

• A Book or Call button visible without scrolling.
• Your hours, including evenings and Saturdays if you offer them.
• Your address, with a tap-to-open map link.
• Whether you're accepting new patients.
• A real photo of your team or office instead of a stock smile.

2. Information patients look for (6 items)

• Insurance: whether you bill insurers directly.
• A new-patient page that explains the first visit and what to bring.
• Your dentists and hygienists, with names and photos.
• Parking, transit and accessibility information.
• The languages your team speaks. In the GTA this is often the reason a patient picks you.
• A clear phone number and email on every page, in the footer at least.

3. CDCP and coverage wording (5 items)

The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) is a federal plan, and many GTA patients now search for clinics that accept it. According to the Government of Canada's page for oral health providers, participation is voluntary, providers bill Sun Life directly, and CDCP clients should not be asked to pay the full cost upfront.

• A plain statement of whether you accept CDCP patients.
• A short explanation that CDCP patients pay only the part the plan doesn't cover, if any.
• A note that patients should confirm their own coverage with the plan before their visit.
• A link to the Government of Canada's CDCP page for eligibility questions.
• No promise of what the plan will cover for a specific treatment.

If you see many CDCP or Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) patients, give each its own page. The Markhamack Dental site I built has a CDCP dental coverage page, an IFHP page and two CDCP landing pages for this reason.

4. An emergency page (4 items)

Patients in pain search late at night and on weekends. A page that tells them what to do right now helps them reach you, and it gives your team fewer panicked calls to sort out the next morning.

• A separate page for dental emergencies, linked from the menu or the first screen.
• What to do during opening hours, with a tap-to-call number.
• What to do after hours, with your after-hours message or number.
• Common emergencies listed in plain words your dentists have approved, such as a knocked-out tooth or a swollen face.

5. Service pages (6 items)

A page for each main service, written in plain language, does two jobs. It answers a patient's questions, and it gives Google a page to show for searches like “root canal Brampton”. Each service page should have:

• A title with the service and your city.
• What the treatment is and who it's for, in two or three short paragraphs.
• What happens at the visit and afterwards.
• How insurance and CDCP apply, or a link to your insurance page.
• A booking or call button at the end.
• A clear statement of whether the dentist providing it is a general practitioner or a specialist.

That last item is a rule. The RCDSO's practice advisory on professional advertising says that if your advertising refers to a dental procedure or treatment, you must disclose whether you are a general practitioner or a specialist, and if a specialist, in which specialty.

6. Forms and patient privacy (5 items)

Dental offices handle personal health information. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario's FAQ on the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) lists dental professionals among the health information custodians the law covers. A website form is the easiest place to collect more than you need, so keep it short. Use the form for booking requests only. Details about a patient's teeth, medications or history belong in your practice software, collected at the visit.

• The appointment form asks only for name, phone or email, preferred time, and whether the person is a new or existing patient.
• The form does not ask for symptoms, medical history, health card numbers or insurance policy numbers.
• A line above the form asks people not to include health details, and to call for anything urgent.
• You know where form submissions go, and only the staff who need them can read them.
• A privacy page explains what the site collects and who to contact with questions.

7. What Google needs (5 items)

• A unique page title and description for every page, with your city in it (for example “Family Dentist in Orangeville”).
• Your clinic's name, address and phone number written the same way on your site and your Google Business Profile.
• Local business structured data, so Google can read your hours and address directly.
• Fast loading on mobile. Large images are the most common reason a clinic site is slow.
• A site that works over HTTPS, with one address (not both www and non-www).

8. Ontario rules (2 items)

Dentists in Ontario are regulated by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), and its advertising rules apply to your website. The RCDSO's practice advisory lists websites as advertising, and it names testimonials, statements of superiority, superlatives like “state of the art” or “cutting edge”, and statements that create expectations of favourable results as things to avoid. Guidance summarised by Ontario dental marketers also says to leave review widgets and star ratings off your site.

The RCDSO's own dos and don'ts of advertising says dentists are responsible for all advertisements involving them and their clinics. The dentist is responsible for what the site says, even when a web designer writes it, so check the RCDSO's current guidance before you publish.

Accessibility matters too. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees in Ontario must make their public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with exceptions for live captions and pre-recorded audio descriptions (Government of Ontario). This has applied since January 1, 2021. Smaller clinics aren't required to, but readable text, good contrast and buttons that work with a keyboard help every patient.

• No patient testimonials, review widgets, star ratings, superlatives or promised results on the site.
• Text with good contrast, readable sizes, and buttons and forms that work with a keyboard.

This is general information, not legal advice. The dentist is responsible for the website and should check the current rules with the RCDSO and, where needed, a lawyer.

9. Easy to keep up to date (2 items)

• Your front desk can change hours, holidays and team members without a developer, and an edit can't break the design.
• Someone is responsible for updates, backups and security, and you own your domain name.

What your score means

Add up your ticks. If you scored 34 or more, your site covers the basics, and the gaps are probably small fixes your team can make. Between 20 and 33, start with the first screen, the emergency page and the form, because those affect patients today.

Below 20, the site is likely missing whole pages, and a rebuild may cost less than patching it. If you're weighing that, read what a dental website costs in Toronto to see what each option includes.

Want a second opinion?

Send me your current website and I'll tell you which items on this list it misses. You can also see the before and after of three Ontario practices I've rebuilt on my dental website design page. I reply the same business day.

What I'd do first is fix anything on the first screen and remove anything from section 8 that shouldn't be there. Then add the emergency page and tidy the form. Those changes take days, and every patient who visits sees them.