HPCSA Social Media Rules for Dentists: What Your Practice Can and Can’t Post

The HPCSA has a specific document for this: Guidelines for Good Practice in the Health Care Professions: Ethical Guidelines on Social Media, Booklet 16, first issued in 2019 and updated in March 2025. Read with Rule 3 of the Ethical Rules (advertising, canvassing and touting), it tells you exactly what a practice account may do. This is the short version, written for whoever holds the phone.

The usual note: this is a marketing article, not legal advice. Booklet 16 is a few pages. Read it, and confirm specifics with the HPCSA or SADA.

The seven rules that matter for a practice account

1. The Ethical Rules apply online. Booklet 16 exists to say that everything in the Ethical Rules, including Rule 3’s prohibition on canvassing and touting, applies on social media exactly as it does on a billboard. “It was only an Instagram story” is not a defence. What canvassing and touting mean is set out in can dentists advertise in South Africa?; in short, no claims of superiority, no guarantees, no offers or material benefits attached to treatment.

2. Written consent before any patient information goes online, even if the patient cannot be identified. This is the rule practices break most. A photo of teeth with no face is still patient information. A “we had a lovely patient today who...” caption is still patient information. Booklet 16 requires written informed consent first, and the duty of confidentiality continues after the patient’s death.

3. Before-and-after photos without consent are inappropriate conduct. The guidelines list a practitioner posting before-and-after photos on the practice’s social media without consent as an example of what not to do. With specific, written, revocable consent for social media use, a cosmetic case can be shown. Without it, never, however good the result.

4. Keep professional and personal accounts separate. The guidelines ask practitioners to separate professional and personal accounts so that professional boundaries can be maintained, and warn that personal online activity can still damage the profession’s reputation. The practice account is a practice account. The dentist’s personal Facebook does not discuss patients, ever.

5. Do not treat patients through social media. Health advice on a practice account must be evidence-based, scientifically sound and generic. A patient who DMs “my tooth hurts, what should I do?” gets directed to an appointment (or to emergency care if it is one), not a diagnosis in the comments.

6. No photographs during care or treatment. The reel of the surgery with a patient in the chair is out unless that patient has consented in writing to that specific use.

7. No touting or campaigning for products or institutions for financial benefit, and disclose financial interests. A practice account that pushes a whitening brand it earns commission on, without saying so, has two problems: touting under Rule 3(2) and non-disclosure under Rule 7.

What a compliant dental account looks like

Strip out the specials, the patients and the superlatives, and there is still plenty to post. The practices whose accounts actually bring in patients post information, consistently.

Hygiene and prevention tips, generic and evidence-based: how to brush a toddler’s teeth, why floss, what sugar does. The team, named, in scrubs, with what they do. The rooms and the equipment, empty. Hours, holiday closures, new medical aids accepted, a new service. Explainers of what a procedure involves (a root canal, an implant, a whitening session), in general terms, with the price. Answers to the questions patients ask at the desk (“Do you claim directly from Discovery?” “Do you see children?” “What do I do if I break a tooth on a Saturday?”).

Every one of those is professional, truthful, not misleading, not enticing, and contains no patient. That is the test.

What breaks it

Specials, discounts, “free” anything, prize draws, “tag a friend to win”. Touting.

Before-and-after photos, patient photos, patient stories or quotes, without written consent for social media use. Booklet 16.

“Best dentist in [town]”, “gentle”, “painless”, “guaranteed”, “leading”. Canvassing.

Fear posts: “Bleeding gums could be a sign of...” with a booking link. Rule 3(1), unwarranted anxiety.

Influencer deals where the influencer gets free treatment in exchange for a post. Touting (a material benefit attached to treatment) and, without written consent, a confidentiality problem as well.

Replying to a clinical question in public or by DM with a diagnosis. Booklet 16.

The dentist’s personal account commenting on a patient’s post, or the practice account posting from the dentist’s holiday. Boundaries.

The consent process, since it is the whole game

If you want to show cosmetic results, and the results are your best marketing, build the consent process properly and it becomes an asset instead of a risk.

A written consent form, specific to social media and website use, separate from the treatment consent. It says which images, which platforms, for how long, and that the patient can withdraw consent at any time, at which point the post comes down. Signed before the “before” photo is taken, not after the “after”. Stored with the patient record. Reviewed if the patient withdraws. POPIA applies alongside the HPCSA here: images are personal information and the practice is the responsible party.

Then, on the post itself, no name, no identifying detail, no caption about the patient’s story. The image and the treatment name. That is enough.

WhatsApp is social media too

Booklet 16 covers all social media platforms, and the practice WhatsApp line is one. The practical rules: a dedicated WhatsApp Business number for the practice, not a dentist’s personal number; no clinical advice by message beyond directing to an appointment or to emergency care; no forwarding of patient messages or images to personal devices; and no broadcast lists without consent. A recall reminder to an existing patient is routine care. A broadcast to a bought list is canvassing.

Replying to reviews and comments

Reply to every review and comment, in a sentence or two, without ever discussing the patient’s treatment, diagnosis or visit. Even a complaint gets “Thank you for the feedback, please call the practice on [number] so we can look into it properly.” A public reply that says “As we explained during your root canal...” is a confidentiality breach, in writing, on Google, forever.

Who holds the phone

Rule 3(2) makes the practitioner responsible for canvassing or touting done on their behalf, and Booklet 16 makes the practitioner responsible for what goes out under the practice name. So whoever posts, the dentist signs off. A one-line rule for the practice: nothing about a patient, nothing about a price cut, nothing about being better, nothing goes out without the dentist seeing it. We run it as a weekly batch: the content is drafted, the practice approves, then it is scheduled.

The five-question check before you post

• Is there a patient in it, in any form, without a signed social-media consent?
• Is there an offer, discount, gift, prize or freebie?
• Does it say or imply we are better than other practices, or guarantee anything?
• Is it trying to worry someone into booking?
• Is it answering a clinical question about a specific person?

Five no’s and it can go up.

If you’d rather we ran it

Social media for dental and health practices is part of the Local SEO starter at R10,000 a month (with the Google Business Profile, website SEO, content and short-form video), or on its own through our social media marketing service. Everything is drafted to sit inside Booklet 16 and Rule 3, batched weekly, and signed off by the practice before it publishes. Month to month, no setup fee, 30 days’ notice.

Send your practice name on WhatsApp to 079 100 5187 for the free audit (we look at the social accounts too), or see the marketing for dentists and health practices page. The patient-getting playbook that goes with this is in how to get more patients for your dental practice.