Pain-Free Dental Marketing and Growdent both specialize in helping dental practices attract patients and grow. Their services overlap considerably, covering everything from Google Ads and SEO to website development and marketing strategy. However, there are some differences worth considering before choosing between them.
Pain-Free Dental Marketing has been working with dentists for more than a decade, offering comprehensive marketing services with a particular emphasis on branding, content, and practice positioning. Growdent is a newer agency with a strong background in performance marketing, a flexible service model, and experience working with both independent practices and growing dental groups.
We looked at their pricing, services, working arrangements, and published client results to see what each agency brings to the table.
Table of Contents
Pain-Free Dental Marketing vs Growdent: Quick Comparison
| Category | Pain-Free Dental Marketing | Growdent |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 | 2021 |
| Specialization | General, private, and fee-for-service dental practices | General dentistry, orthodontics, and multi-location dental groups |
| Core services | SEO, PPC, websites, branding, social media, content, video | PPC, SEO, AEO, websites, CRO, analytics |
| Starting price | From $1,300/month | From $850/month |
| Service model | Essentials and comprehensive CMO service | Individual services or combined packages |
| Advertising channels | Google, Meta, YouTube | Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, YouTube, and others |
| Team approach | Outsourced marketing department with dedicated client support | Small specialist team offering hands-on strategic and technical support |
| Notable case studies | Lugoff Smiles, Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Lubbock | Swish Dental, Yass Valley Dental |
| Particularly suited to | Practices looking for comprehensive marketing management and brand development | Practices seeking flexible services, performance marketing, and close collaboration |
Starting prices refer to different service packages. Advertising spend and additional costs are typically charged separately.
1. Background and Dental Industry Experience
Pain-Free Dental Marketing
Pain-Free Dental Marketing was established in 2015 and has built its business around helping dental practices grow.
The agency works with general dentists, implant-focused practices, and owners looking to move toward fee-for-service dentistry. Its portfolio includes practice rebranding, ownership transitions, and marketing strategies designed to attract patients for higher-value treatments.
A recurring theme in Pain-Free’s work is the importance of understanding the practice itself. The agency spends time learning about the dentist, the team, and the experience they want patients to have. This then shapes everything from website messaging to advertising and video content.
Its case studies suggest particular experience with established practices that want to change how they are perceived in their local market or attract a different patient mix.
Growdent
Growdent was established in 2021 by Art Zabalov, building on the experience of Art Does Ads, a digital marketing agency he had founded several years earlier.
Art Does Ads has worked with businesses across various industries, including projects for companies such as Microsoft and ARX Fit. As the team developed its expertise in dental marketing, Growdent emerged as a dedicated agency for dental practices, orthodontists, and multi-location dental groups. Art Does Ads continues to serve businesses outside the dental industry.
Today, Growdent has a small in-house team specializing in paid advertising, SEO, AEO, website development, design, and analytics. Art, who has more than a decade of experience in digital marketing, remains actively involved in client strategy, working alongside specialists responsible for campaigns and technical execution.
The agency works with both independent practices and larger dental organizations. One of its most notable projects is its partnership with Swish Dental, a Texas-based dental group that expanded from 10 to 23 locations during the engagement.
Comparing their experience
Pain-Free has been dedicated to dental marketing since 2015, with a portfolio that includes practice rebranding, fee-for-service transitions, and patient acquisition. Growdent is a newer dental-focused brand, but benefits from the broader marketing experience of Art Does Ads. Its published work particularly highlights performance advertising, patient acquisition, and supporting multi-location dental groups.
Both agencies have experience working with practices of different sizes, though their case studies reflect somewhat different areas of expertise.
2. Services and Marketing Capabilities
Pain-Free Dental Marketing
Pain-Free provides a broad selection of services, including:
- Dental SEO and local search optimization
- Google Business Profile management
- Google, Meta, and YouTube advertising
- Website design and maintenance
- Social media management
- Branding and practice positioning
- Photography, video, and content production
- Reputation management and patient reviews
The agency organizes its work around two main offerings: Essentials and CMO.
Essentials focuses on maintaining a practice’s website, search visibility, and online reputation. The CMO service covers a wider range of marketing activities, including advertising, content, social media, and strategic planning.
Content production is a significant part of Pain-Free’s offering. The agency uses photography, videos, interviews, and patient stories to communicate what makes a practice different.
For dentists offering cosmetic procedures, implants, or other high-value treatments, presenting the team and treatment experience effectively can be just as important as appearing in search results.
Growdent
Growdent offers:
- Google Ads, Meta Ads, Microsoft Ads, TikTok, and YouTube advertising
- Dental SEO and local SEO
- AEO and AI search visibility optimization
- Website design and development
- Landing pages and conversion optimization
- Analytics, call tracking, and conversion measurement
- Marketing strategy for single-location and multi-location practices
- Reputation management and patient reviews
Growdent allows clients to select individual services or combine several into a broader marketing package.
A practice with a good website and established organic visibility, for example, might only need Google Ads management. Another might require SEO, paid advertising, new landing pages, and improved tracking.
The agency also has experience expanding marketing programs across different advertising platforms. During its partnership with Swish Dental, Growdent helped the group move from two advertising channels to six.
Comparing their services and marketing capabilities
While both agencies cover the main areas of dental digital marketing, Pain-Free places greater emphasis on content, branding, and comprehensive marketing management. Growdent’s offering is particularly flexible for practices that want to begin with one service and add others as their needs change.
3. Pricing and Service Packages
Both agencies publish starting prices, although they structure their engagements differently.
Pain-Free Dental Marketing pricing
Pain-Free offers two main packages.
Pain-Free Essentials: $1,300/month
Essentials is intended for practices that want to maintain a strong online presence without investing in a full marketing program.
It includes website maintenance and optimization, basic SEO, content updates, Google Business Profile management, and review support.
Paid advertising, social media management, and video production are not included.
The service requires an initial six-month commitment and then continues on a month-to-month basis.
Pain-Free CMO: Starting at $3,000/month
The CMO package is designed for practices that want a wider range of marketing services managed under one arrangement.
Depending on the engagement, it can include paid advertising, SEO, AEO, website development, social media, content production, video, and marketing strategy.
The final fee depends on the number of locations, services, and overall scope. Advertising spend is charged separately.
Pain-Free advertises its CMO offering without long-term contracts.
Growdent pricing
Growdent’s services start at $850 per month, with pricing based on the services selected, the number of locations, and the amount of work involved.
Clients can purchase individual services, such as Google Ads management or SEO, or combine several into a package.
This makes it possible to begin with a relatively focused engagement. A practice might start by improving its advertising campaigns, then introduce SEO or website optimization once it is ready to invest further.
Growdent also works with practices that need several marketing activities managed together, including multi-location groups running campaigns across different services and markets.
Comparing their pricing and service packages
Growdent has the lower entry price, which may make it easier for smaller practices to begin working with an agency.
Pain-Free’s Essentials package starts higher, but it includes a defined combination of website, SEO, and reputation management services. Its CMO offering is designed for a more comprehensive marketing engagement.
A $850 Growdent service should not be compared directly with Pain-Free’s $3,000 CMO package, as the scope of work is different.
4. How the Agencies Work With Clients
Pain-Free Dental Marketing
Pain-Free’s CMO service is positioned as an alternative to hiring an internal marketing department.
The agency coordinates different marketing activities, from advertising and website management to content production and brand development. This allows dentists to delegate much of the marketing work rather than manage several providers themselves.
Pain-Free also puts considerable effort into learning about each practice. Its approach considers the dentist’s professional goals, the type of patient experience offered, and how the practice wants to position itself.
That can be particularly helpful during periods of change. A dentist moving toward fee-for-service care, for example, may need to rethink their messaging, website, advertising, and reputation strategy at the same time.
The agency provides ongoing strategic reviews and a dedicated point of contact, making its model suitable for owners who want someone to coordinate their marketing on a regular basis.
Growdent
Growdent has a small team of specialists who work closely with clients and remain actively involved in their marketing efforts.
While practices can hire Growdent for individual services, the team’s involvement often extends beyond the original scope of work. For example, managing Google Ads may lead to recommendations for improving appointment tracking, updating landing pages, or making changes to the website that could help attract more patients.
The team takes a proactive approach, regularly sharing ideas, identifying potential issues, and helping clients find ways to improve their marketing. Depending on the engagement, Growdent can act as an extension of the practice’s own marketing department, providing both strategic input and hands-on technical support.
The agency also considers each practice’s operational needs when planning campaigns. For multi-location groups, this might mean promoting implant treatments at one office while focusing on general dentistry at another, depending on appointment availability and business priorities.
Clients work directly with the specialists managing their campaigns, making it easier to discuss results, explore new ideas, and address issues as they arise.
Comparing Their Approach to Client Relationships
Both agencies offer more than basic campaign management. Pain-Free has a structured model for taking over a broad set of marketing responsibilities, while Growdent offers a more flexible arrangement with active strategic and technical involvement.
5. Patient Acquisition, Tracking, and Reporting
Pain-Free Dental Marketing
Pain-Free’s approach to patient acquisition combines advertising and search visibility with practice positioning.
Its marketing services aim to help dentists attract more patients while also communicating the quality and character of their practice.
The agency’s case studies frequently discuss monthly production, new patient numbers, and changes in the types of patients a practice attracts. For dentists looking to increase fee-for-service patients or promote more complex treatments, these are relevant business outcomes.
Its CMO service includes ongoing reviews and adjustments to marketing strategy.
Pain-Free’s public materials provide examples of business results, although practices should confirm which lead, appointment, and revenue metrics will be included in their own reporting.
Growdent
Growdent places considerable emphasis on measuring what happens after someone clicks an advertisement or contacts a practice.
Its services include conversion tracking, call tracking, website analytics, and reporting on patient inquiries and booked appointments.
The team also looks at problems that can affect results beyond the advertising campaign. If a practice receives plenty of inquiries but relatively few bookings, Growdent may examine the landing pages, tracking setup, or appointment follow-up process.
For dental groups, campaigns and reporting can be organized by location and treatment type. This helps practices see which offices are attracting patients and where additional advertising investment might be worthwhile.
Growdent’s public materials discuss conversion measurement and attribution in greater technical detail, while Pain-Free’s case studies tend to focus on broader practice outcomes.
6. Published Results and Case Studies
Both agencies share examples of their work with dental practices. The figures below come from their published case studies and have not been independently audited.
Pain-Free Dental Marketing: Lugoff Smiles
Pain-Free worked with Lugoff Smiles, a dental practice in South Carolina, following a change in ownership. The new owner wanted to refresh the practice’s brand and move away from a PPO-driven model toward fee-for-service dentistry.
The agency supported the transition with branding, website development, content, SEO, and advertising.
Reported results:
- Monthly production increased by 63%, from $35,000 to $57,000.
- Monthly new patients increased by 145%, from 11 to 27.
- The practice reached a monthly production high of $84,000 in 2024.
The project shows Pain-Free’s experience supporting practices through business changes, where attracting new patients goes hand in hand with repositioning the practice.
Pain-Free Dental Marketing: Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Lubbock
Pain-Free also worked with Aesthetic & Implant Dentistry of Lubbock, an established practice looking to strengthen its position in the premium dental implant market.
The agency focused on brand positioning, website messaging, content, and patient acquisition, helping the practice communicate its expertise in more complex treatments.
Reported results:
- Annual production increased by 13%, from $3 million to $3.38 million.
- Monthly production increased by 8%, from $260,000 to $281,000.
- Monthly new patients increased by 19%, from 21 to 25.
This case study highlights Pain-Free’s experience marketing higher-value dental treatments, where the practice’s reputation and how it communicates its expertise can play an important role in attracting patients.
Growdent: Swish Dental
Growdent’s partnership with Swish Dental involved supporting the growth of a Texas-based dental group across several markets.
The agency managed advertising campaigns, creative testing, landing pages, and conversion tracking, gradually expanding the group’s marketing across additional advertising channels.
Reported results:
- Google Ads bookings increased by 54% during the first six months.
- New patients increased by 64% month over month.
- Average monthly revenue increased by 49% in the first six months.
During the longer partnership, Swish expanded from 10 to 23 locations across Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. The group also maintained approximately 25% year-over-year growth for four consecutive years, while revenue nearly doubled.
Although the group’s expansion involved broader business decisions beyond marketing, the project demonstrates Growdent’s experience coordinating patient acquisition for a growing multi-location organization.
Growdent: Yass Valley Dental
Growdent also works with smaller dental groups, including Yass Valley Dental, which operates two practices in New South Wales, Australia.
The engagement combined paid advertising, SEO, and improvements to the practice’s online visibility, with a focus on attracting patients for services including dental implants and orthodontics.
Reported results:
- Paid advertising generated more than 200 appointments during the early stages of the partnership.
- Organic appointment bookings increased by 37% month over month, reaching 52 appointments.
The project shows how Growdent combines paid patient acquisition with organic search improvements, helping practices generate appointments while developing their longer-term visibility in local search.
What the results show
Pain-Free’s case studies provide examples of practices improving production, changing their positioning, and attracting patients for higher-value treatments.
Growdent’s published work includes both multi-location expansion and patient acquisition for a smaller, two-location practice.
7. Which Agency Should You Choose?
Pain-Free Dental Marketing could be a good fit for practices that:
- Want one agency to coordinate their marketing, from advertising and SEO to content and branding.
- Need help with photography, video production, social media, and communicating their practice’s identity.
- Are transitioning toward fee-for-service dentistry or changing their market positioning.
- Need ongoing website maintenance, Google Business Profile management, and support with patient reviews and online reputation.
- Prefer a structured marketing program with regular strategic support.
Growdent could be a good fit for practices that:
- Want to start with one service, such as Google Ads or SEO, and expand later.
- Need an agency that can manage their wider marketing activities, including advertising, SEO, websites, and local visibility.
- Place a high priority on conversion tracking, patient acquisition, and booked appointments.
- Want ongoing support with website improvements, Google Business Profile management, patient reviews, and online reputation.
- Operate multiple locations with different patient acquisition needs.
- Appreciate a hands-on marketing team that contributes ideas, identifies opportunities, and helps solve problems beyond routine campaign management.
Final Verdict: Pain-Free Dental Marketing or Growdent?
Pain-Free Dental Marketing and Growdent both offer comprehensive marketing services for dental practices, from advertising and SEO to website development and reputation management. Both can also take on the role of an external marketing team, although their experience and working arrangements differ.
Pain-Free Dental Marketing has a strong background in branding, content production, and helping established practices refine their market positioning. Its experience with fee-for-service transitions and higher-value treatments makes it particularly relevant to dentists looking to strengthen their practice’s identity. The agency’s CMO service also offers a structured way to manage multiple marketing activities under one arrangement.
Growdent combines performance marketing expertise with a flexible service model and a highly involved team. Practices can start with an individual service from $850 per month or bring several marketing activities under one agency. Growdent’s specialists also take a proactive role in identifying opportunities, improving tracking, and addressing issues beyond their immediate responsibilities. Its experience with Swish Dental is particularly relevant to practices managing growth across multiple locations.
For dentists who place particular importance on branding, content, and practice positioning, Pain-Free is worth exploring. Growdent is an attractive option for practices looking for flexibility, detailed performance tracking, and a marketing team that stays closely involved in their business.
Both agencies have documented client results and experience working with different types of dental practices. Before choosing, it’s worth discussing your specific goals with each team and comparing what their proposed services would look like in practice.
How We Compared These Agencies
We evaluated Pain-Free Dental Marketing and Growdent using six criteria that we apply across our agency comparisons:
- Dental industry experience: How long the agency has worked with dental practices and what types of clients it has served.
- Services and practice fit: The range of services offered, pricing, flexibility, and suitability for practices with different needs and budgets.
- Patient acquisition: The agency’s approach to attracting new patients through advertising, SEO, and other marketing channels.
- Tracking and reporting: How the agency measures marketing performance, patient inquiries, and appointment bookings.
- Published results: The availability and quality of case studies, client results, and other supporting evidence.
- Client support: How the agency works with clients, provides strategic guidance, and handles ongoing marketing responsibilities.
Our comparison is based on publicly available information, including agency websites, service descriptions, published pricing, and client case studies.
We don’t assign numerical scores or declare an overall winner. Instead, we look at where each agency has demonstrated relevant experience and which types of dental practices are likely to benefit most from its services.
Case study figures are reported by the respective agencies and have not been independently verified.
