Cost per lead is the most quoted number in dental marketing, and the least useful. A cheap lead that never books is a waste of money. An expensive lead that becomes a seated case is a bargain. For full-arch implants, the number that matters is cost per seated case, and everything upstream is an input to it.
Benchmarks by channel
Channel benchmarks vary by market, offer, and how well the conversion side runs, but the shape is consistent. Google Ads, which harvests high-intent searches, typically produces the highest cost per lead and the highest close rate. Meta, which builds demand among people not yet searching, typically produces a lower cost per lead and a longer time to close. A practice that runs both sees the blended picture, not either extreme.
These are industry ranges, not any single practice's results. Your own numbers depend on your market, your competition, your landing page, and your follow-up.
Work back from the seated case
The only benchmark that matters is what a seated case is worth to you. Estimate the value of a seated full-arch case after lab and chair costs. Then work backwards through the funnel, from lead to consult to treatment-planned to seated, using your real conversion rates. The result is what you can afford per lead and per consult. If the number looks high, that is the rational reason to invest in the back end, speed to lead and a strong coordinator, because improving conversion at any step lowers the effective cost of a seated case.
Why cheap leads are a trap
A low cost per lead can hide a failing funnel. High-volume cheap leads that go nowhere, that never consult or that consult and never close, look good on a dashboard and terrible on a P and L. The way to tell is to track leads all the way to the seated result. When you do, the true cost per seated case reveals which channel is actually working.