Every year on 6 March, National Dentist Day provides us with a great opportunity to celebrate the professionals who keep our smiles healthy. Dental health also plays a significant role in our overall well-being. 

National Dentists Day isn't just about saying thank you. It's a smart way for dental practices to connect with patients and show their skills through social media.

Are you a dentist or marketing professional with dental practice clients? National Dentist Day provides numerous opportunities to create content that resonates with your audience. The key is to plan ahead, raise awareness, and use the right social media tools. 

In this article, we show you how to use National Dentist Day to your advantage on social media. 

What is national dentist day?

National Dentist Day happens every March 6th. It’s a day to acknowledge dentists, dental hygienists, oral surgeons, and everyone who helps keep our mouths healthy. This day recognises dentists and their teams who work hard to care for patients.

The history and purpose of national dentist day 

National Dentist Day happens every March 6th. It's a day to acknowledge dentists, dental hygienists, oral surgeons, and everyone who helps keep our mouths healthy. This day recognises dentists and their teams who work hard to care for patients.

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Although not a formal national holiday like Christmas or Easter, National Dentist Day is believed to have originated in 1790, so it has older origins than many might imagine.

The date of March 6th is when Dr John Greenwood, the personal dentist of George Washington, America's first President, created the world's first dental drill. 

Thanks to dentists and the dental industry keeping the tradition alive, it's become pretty popular on social media. It demonstrates the importance of dental care in combating oral, mouth, and gum diseases. It also helps when it comes to building stronger relationships between dentists and their communities.

For dental practices, National Dentist Day 2026 is more than just a date on the calendar. 

It's a great opportunity to showcase your practice's personality and values. This will help remind current patients to come in for a check-in or attend to the work they've been meaning to do.

It can also help your practice bring in new private or NHS patients, depending on which services you offer. Campaigns can help you get more patients and make your practice seem friendly.

Social media celebration ideas for your dental practice

Social media gives you numerous creative ways to celebrate National Dentist Day. You or the person responsible for marketing needs to make content that's both professional and makes that personal, friendly connection with the audience. 

Ideally, the audience for your dental practice consists of current patients and new patients you want to attract (assuming your books aren't too full).

You want to show your skills while highlighting your team, and reminding people of the importance of proper dental care.

#1 Share a "behind the scenes" look at your dental practice.

Show followers what daily life is like at your practice. This type of content works really well because it makes dental visits seem less scary. It builds trust with new patients who might be nervous about dental work.

Here are a few ideas:

• Create short videos of your team getting ready for the day. 
• Show your team cleaning equipment or setting up rooms. 
• Time-lapse videos of office prep work really well. Make use of them across numerous platforms:
  • Use Instagram Stories or Reels for quick views (it has now exceeded 3 billion users worldwide)
  • TikTok for younger audiences and more rapid engagement
  • Facebook for families and older patients.

#2 Patient appreciation giveaways

Giveaways generate a lot of engagement, which helps attract new followers. You're also demonstrating an appreciation for current patients. Think about prizes that are relevant to what patients need, like:

• Electric toothbrushes
• Whitening treatments
• Dental care bundles.

All of these show gratitude to your patients, whilst generating engagement, and reminding people of the importance of dental care. 

Set up your giveaway to get real engagement, not just likes. Ask people to share their best dental care tips. Ask them to tag friends or share good dental experiences. All of this gets more engagement and creates real testimonials. 

💡Use this free dental social media strategy template if you need ideas about how to run contests and create other types of social media content. 

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#3 Highlight your team

Your team members are one of the primary reasons patients continue to come back. National Dentist Day is the perfect opportunity to showcase their skills and personalities. 

Create posts for each team member, including: 

• Dentists
• Dental hygienists
• Trainee dentists and hygienists
• Managers (especially in multi-location operations)
• Support staff.

Use professional photos if you’ve got them, or take more candid ones in advance of the posts being created. Share favorite dental tips, years of experience, certifications, or fun facts. 

Make sure to say thank you for their hard work, so that it helps patients connect with their dental team. 

#4 Educational content and fun facts

Make your practice a trusted source for dental health info. Share content that teaches and engages. Create posts about proper brushing, how oral health connects to overall health, and fun dental facts, like:

Pictures with text work really well because they're easy to share and understand. Use tools like Canva to make this easier. 

Create visual guides for common procedures. 

Show timelines for kids' dental growth. Compare different treatments, especially if you offer something that’s superior to other dentists in the area. 

Creative ways to celebrate in the office

Social media campaigns are essential, but don't forget about creating positive experiences in your practice. 

You can also use these, like a team member’s birthday, to create genuinely engaging content that can be posted on social media. 

#1 Staff appreciation

National Dentist Day is great for showing appreciation for your team's hard work. Host a special lunch, bring breakfast treats, or give small gifts that recognise their contributions.

Take photos of these moments for social media. Photos of team lunches, gifts, or celebrations show your practice culture. This content works well because it shows you value employees. This tells patients they'll get great care from a happy team.

#2  Decorate the office

Make your practice look good for National Dentist Day. Create a fun atmosphere for staff and patients. Use tooth decorations, thank you banners, or displays showing your team's achievements.

• These decorations do two things
• Create a positive environment for patients
• Provide great photo opportunities. 

Patients often share photos from businesses that create special experiences. Create a photo area where patients can take selfies during visits. User-generated content (UGC) can really expand your social media reach when patients share with their networks.

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How patients can show appreciation for their dentists 

Getting patients involved in National Dentist Day celebrations builds community around your practice. It also creates real social media content and valuable feedback. 

The National Dentists Day website suggests the following for patients: 

1. Show your dentist how you’ve improved your oral health regimen
2. Commit to better dental habits
3. Raise awareness (teach your child a new tooth-brushing song, encourage family and friends to visit their dentist)
4. Schedule a dental checkup (get back in the office to make sure your teeth are healthy and your habits are on the right track)
5. Smile (show off your work and your dentist’s work)
6. Take a picture with your dentist and do a shout-out on your social media accounts
7. Make sure to add the #NationalDentistsDay hashtag to all posts.” 
   
   

Share a positive review

Good reviews are crucial for dental practices everywhere. Online, unfiltered reviews influence new patients' decisions. National Dentist Day gives you a natural chance to ask happy patients to share their experiences. 

You could even ask for quick 30-second videos as people are leaving, as long as you tell them what they’ll be used for. Just make sure it’s patients who can speak clearly, and who’ve not just had extensive work done with numb mouths. 

Send personal thank you messages explaining how reviews help other people in the area access high-quality dental care. Give direct links to your preferred review platforms like Google, Facebook, or Trustpilot.

Tag your dentist on social media

Ask patients to share their National Dentist Day appreciation by tagging your practice. Email or text them a hashtag like #[YourPracticeName]Appreciation or #NationalDentistDay2026. This creates a campaign that's easy to track and engage with.

Create a simple graphic that patients can share. Include your practice logo and a message like "Grateful for the amazing team at [Practice Name]!" This makes it easy to participate while keeping your brand consistent.

Plan your national dentist day campaign with Sendible

High-impact social media campaigns need planning, high-quality, engaging content, consistency, and to be measured. This is especially important for days like National Dentist Day, particularly for dentists. Good timing and coordination can make the difference between a great campaign and a missed chance.

#1 Why planning is key

National Dentist Day campaigns work best when planned in advance. This allows time for creating content, getting approvals, and scheduling posts. Start planning at least 6-8 weeks before March 6th. This gives you enough time to create good content and coordinate office celebrations.

Planning also helps you find opportunities for patient participation, staff involvement, and community engagement. For practices with many locations or those using marketing agencies, early planning ensures everyone has time to contribute ideas.

#2 Simplify your social media with a content calendar

A good content calendar makes social media management much easier. For National Dentist Day campaigns, social media scheduling calendars help you see the whole campaign timeline. Calendars ensure consistent messaging and coordinate team responsibilities.

Sendible's content calendar shows your scheduled posts across all social media platforms. This makes it easy to spot gaps, avoid posting too much, and keep messaging consistent. Our visual interface lets you drag and drop posts to optimise timing. 

#3 Schedule posts for all your platforms simultaneously

Managing many social media platforms by hand takes too much time and leads to mistakes. This is especially true during campaigns when you post more often. Cross-platform scheduling tools solve this by letting you create and schedule content for all platforms at once.

Sendible's multi-platform scheduling lets you customise content for each platform while keeping consistent messaging. The Campaigns feature is really valuable for dental practices. It allows you to track the campaign’s success easily. You could label the post as ‘National dentist day’ so the tracking is available quickly in one click.

Sendible can help schedule ongoing dental health content to keep posting automatically between your National Dentist Day campaign posts. You can also use pre-saved campaign hashtags by adding them to the content library, which ensures consistency.

This keeps your social media active throughout the campaign without needing constant manual work. Automated scheduling also gives staff flexibility to focus on patient care while maintaining consistent social media activity.

Want your National Dentists Day to go well? Sign-up to Sendible: From scheduling to reporting—manage everything in one place, build engagement and grow your dental practice.

National dentist day Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Is national dentist day a real holiday?

Yes, National Dentist Day is a real national and international day that’s observed on the calendar every March 6th. While it's not a federal holiday, it's widely celebrated by dental professionals, practices, and patients across the UK, US, Canada, and many countries worldwide. It's a way to honour the important work dentists do in maintaining our oral health and hygiene. 

How do you write an appreciation post for a dentist?

A good dentist appreciation post should be personal, specific, and real. Focus on particular aspects of care you received. Talk about great customer service, pain-free procedures, or helpful guidance about oral health. Include specific examples like "Thanks to Dr. Smith's gentle approach, my root canal was completely painless" rather than general statements. 

How can a dental practice use social media to attract new patients?

Dental clinics can attract new patients through social media by sharing educational content about oral health, showing before-and-after treatment results (with patient permission), highlighting positive patient testimonials and reviews, posting behind-the-scenes content that humanizes the practice, and engaging with local community events and discussions. Consistency is key.