What Dental Assistants Should Never Say About Google Reviews
It usually happens casually.
Between handing the patient a mirror and walking them to the front desk.
A quick comment. A half-joke. A soft reminder meant to be helpful:
“Don’t forget to leave us a good review!”
“If you had a great visit, it’d mean a lot to us if you told Google!”
“Let the internet know we didn’t hurt you today!”
It sounds harmless. It sounds human.
But it’s exactly the kind of moment that can tank trust without you realizing it.
Because in 2025, patients aren’t just listening to your tone.
They’re evaluating your intent.
And when your assistants — even with the best intentions — say the wrong thing about reviews, it changes how patients perceive the entire visit.
It makes the review feel transactional.
It makes your professionalism feel shaky.
It makes your office look like it’s playing the game, not delivering real care.
This post isn’t about blaming your team.
It’s about protecting your reputation from the hidden damage that gets caused by casual language, poor timing, and misaligned incentives.
Google Reviews Are a Public Trust Signal — Not a Favor You Ask For
Here’s the mindset mistake most offices make:
They treat reviews like feedback forms. Like something that helps the business but doesn’t impact the patient.
But to the patient, reviews aren’t “for you.”
They’re a promise you’re making to the public.
And when your team asks for them casually — or worse, in a way that sounds coached — it cheapens that promise.
The second it feels like a pitch, the whole experience gets re-evaluated:
- “Were they really that friendly — or was it all just to get a review?”
- “Is this how they stay ranked high? By asking everyone who walks out the door?”
- “Why do they need me to say something online if they already know I’m happy?”
And just like that, the most powerful review — the one they would’ve written freely, from emotion and memory — never gets posted.
Not because they had a bad visit.
Because the ask tainted the moment.
That’s the loss.
Not a bad review.
No review.
And you’ll never know how many you missed.
What You Say About Reviews — Even Jokingly — Shapes Patient Perception
Let’s look at real-world examples.
Your assistant finishes a great visit. The patient’s smiling, relaxed. Then they say:
Wrong:
- “If we were good to you today, give us five stars!”
- “You’d be helping us out a lot if you posted something nice.”
- “You want us to keep our jobs, right?” (Yes, that one’s been said.)
- “We’re trying to beat the practice across the street!”
- “Tell the internet we’re not scary!”
Every one of those lines sounds light. Playful.
But what they communicate is pressure.
They sound like a plea.
They shift the energy from care to validation-seeking.
And the patient walks out wondering if they were being served — or marketed to.
Now let’s flip it:
Better — but still wrong:
- “Let us know what you thought of the visit online!”
- “Feel free to leave a review if you want!”
- “Google reviews help other patients — so if you’re up for it…”
- “You might get a survey — it’s optional!”
These sound nicer. Safer.
But they still carry the same subtext:
“Please post something.”
Even without pressure, it puts the focus on doing something for the practice — instead of reflecting their own experience.
That shift is subtle, but dangerous.
Because the patient now feels responsible for your success — and that doesn’t sit well.
They came in for care.
They didn’t sign up to be part of your marketing team.
The Second You Mention Google, the Dynamic Changes
Let’s say everything about the visit went well:
- The front desk was smooth.
- The assistant was warm.
- The procedure was painless.
- The energy was calm.
- The patient was smiling.
Then someone says, “If you’re happy, don’t forget to leave us a good Google review.”
What does that do?
It converts the visit from a great experience… into a favor.
Suddenly, the patient’s memory of that visit becomes transactional.
They think:
- “Were they this nice to everyone? Or just trying to get a review?”
- “Are they hinting that I owe them?”
- “If I don’t leave a review, will I be treated differently next time?”
This is where good intentions go sideways.
Even soft, innocent comments — especially when tied to Google — turn real trust into manufactured pressure.
And the result isn’t just no review.
It’s a shift in perception.
You went from above-and-beyond care to subtle manipulation — without meaning to.
That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in your metrics.
But it shows up in the patient’s memory — and it sticks.
Why Scripts and Incentives Backfire — Even When They “Work”
Some practices try to get clever.
They roll out internal contests.
“Whoever gets the most reviews this week wins a gift card!”
“Let’s get 20 reviews by Friday and beat last month’s number!”
Now the team is asking. Regularly.
And reviews are going up.
Sounds like a win, right?
Until the tone starts to slip.
Assistants start pushing harder.
The ask starts coming earlier.
The comments get more obvious, more rehearsed.
And patients start feeling it.
Even if they don’t say it, they know:
- This isn’t about them.
- This is about the office.
- They’re being asked for something that wasn’t part of the deal.
And instead of building loyalty, you’re slowly eroding it.
The office feels more like a business than a care environment.
The interaction becomes more about what you get — not what they got.
That’s how practices lose trust in silence.
Not from bad care.
From over-asking.
Because once patients sense that your reputation is being engineered, not earned — they stop participating.
When Assistants Say the Wrong Thing, It’s Not Just a Missed Review — It’s a Broken Moment
This is what most doctors and office managers miss:
The patient may not write the review right away.
They may not post anything at all.
But the energy of the moment determines what they remember — and how they share the story with others.
If they leave feeling cared for, respected, and unpressured, they’ll:
- Tell three friends about how good the visit was.
- Mention your name next time someone needs a dentist.
- Eventually post a review — unprompted and heartfelt.
But if the last thing they hear is, “Leave us a review, it helps a lot,” it reshapes the entire visit.
Now, when someone asks, “How was it?”
They say, “It was good… but they’re kind of pushy about reviews.”
Boom.
There goes your organic growth.
There goes your referral.
There goes the one-star review you never saw coming — just because your assistant tried too hard to help.
This isn’t about blaming the team.
It’s about building a boundary — and protecting the moments you’ve worked hard to earn.
Why Dental Assistants Are Critical to Reputation — But Shouldn’t Be Involved in the Ask
Let’s be clear: your dental assistants are not the problem.
In fact, they’re often the most emotionally attuned, patient-connected members of the entire team.
They calm fears.
They read body language.
They carry the weight of the room when things get tense.
And they’re the ones patients remember — often more than the dentist.
But that’s exactly why you can’t afford to have them stumble into review conversations they were never trained for.
Their strength is connection.
That’s where they build loyalty.
The second you ask them to shift into marketing mode — even subtly — you corrupt that connection.
They go from care provider to brand advocate.
From support to salesperson.
And patients feel the difference immediately.
That’s not fair to your team, and it’s not fair to your patients.
Because now your assistant is stuck in the awkward middle:
- Wanting to help the practice…
- But unsure how to phrase the ask…
- And possibly putting the relationship at risk by saying too much — or saying it the wrong way.
It’s pressure they never asked for.
And risk you can’t afford.
The Dangerous Crossover from Friendly to Non-Compliant
Most assistants don’t realize when they’ve crossed the line.
It starts with:
“Let us know how we did!”
Then becomes:
“It’d be great if you told others!”
And eventually…
“If you liked your cleaning today, a review would be awesome!”
Now you’ve done it.
You’ve confirmed treatment.
You’ve connected it to a public request.
And whether you realize it or not, you’ve potentially breached compliance.
Even in a joking tone.
Even if the patient mentioned it first.
Even if they seem happy.
HIPAA doesn’t care about intent.
It cares about what was said, by whom, and where it led.
You might think the comment was innocent.
But in a public-facing world, every word becomes a liability when handled wrong.
Especially when the conversation shifts from clinical to reputational — with zero legal training to back it.
This is why review conversations should never, ever happen in the operatory.
Or in the handoff.
Or on the way out.
You don’t need better scripting.
You need to remove the script entirely.
If the Review Process Depends on Your Team’s Language, It’s Already Broken
Here’s a simple test.
Ask yourself:
If my entire online reputation depended on exactly how my team talks about reviews, would I sleep well at night?
If the answer is no — that’s your answer.
Most practices rely on “review culture.”
They try to bake it into the flow.
They teach new hires how to “talk about it.”
They use incentives to keep the team focused.
It feels proactive.
But in reality?
It’s inconsistent.
Untrackable.
Emotionally draining.
And dangerously close to compliance fire.
Because what your team says about reviews — even in a half-sentence, even off the cuff — isn’t happening in a vacuum.
It’s happening in a world where every patient has a phone, a social platform, and a Google Business listing they can attach your words to.
That’s not “culture.”
That’s exposure.
You’re putting your brand, your tone, and your compliance in the hands of humans — under pressure, in busy moments, with zero margin for error.
And it only takes one misstep for everything to go sideways.
The Solution Is Silence — Not a Better Script
The safest, strongest, and most scalable review strategy doesn’t involve anyone on your team talking about reviews.
Not assistants.
Not hygienists.
Not the doctor.
Not even the front desk.
Why?
Because the moment a review gets mentioned, the energy shifts.
The care becomes commerce.
The trust becomes transactional.
And the entire patient experience — up to that point — becomes something else entirely.
You don’t want to manage that risk.
You want to eliminate it.
The right way to handle reviews is quietly, professionally, and automatically — without needing a single spoken word from your team.
If someone’s happy, let the tech handle the follow-up.
If someone’s not, let the automation route it away from public view.
Your team should never carry the weight of managing trust and driving engagement.
They were hired to serve people — not coach behavior.
Protect their energy.
Protect your reputation.
And stop expecting the people doing the emotional labor to also do your marketing.
That’s not scalable.
And it’s not sustainable.
Reputation Is Too Important to Leave to Casual Comments
The irony is this:
Most dental practices spend tens of thousands on training, coaching, and systems to “build trust.”
Then lose that trust at the front lines — over one casual sentence about Google.
It’s not the big things that erode credibility.
It’s the small ones. The offhanded comments. The small, misplaced attempts to “help” that feel just a little too self-serving.
You don’t need to fix your staff’s language.
You need to free them from the responsibility of carrying your reputation.
That means:
- No more review contests.
- No more subtle hints during handoffs.
- No more laminated cards with smiley faces and “Tell us what you thought!”
What it needs is this:
- A process that runs automatically.
- A review strategy that doesn’t require asking.
- A protection layer between the patient’s memory and your public visibility — with no risk of crossing the line.
- A professional, invisible follow-up engine that lets your team stay in their lane, and still gets you the five-star proof that drives new business.
You already hired the right people.
They’re doing their job.
Now take review pressure off their shoulders — and let the right tools do the work silently.
Final Word: Protect Your Team by Never Putting Them in That Position Again
Dental assistants are the heartbeat of your patient experience.
But the second they’re expected to “help get reviews,” you’ve taken them out of their zone of genius — and put them in a role they didn’t ask for, weren’t trained for, and can’t win at consistently.
And for what?
A maybe?
A forgotten card?
A pressured review that never gets posted — or worse, backfires?
That’s not worth it.
You don’t need another reminder at the next team meeting.
You don’t need another way to “encourage patients to review.”
You need a reputation system that:
- Captures trust without asking — while the patient’s still in the room
- Filters reviews intelligently — to protect your profile from negativity
- Responds automatically and professionally — without needing your team
- Routes issues privately — before they damage your public brand
- And never, ever puts your staff in a compromising position again
That’s what GetReviews.Live is for — combining the AI Powered Google Review Stand for passive capture with Mercy AI for hands-free automation after the fact.
Not a script.
Not a card.
A real reputation engine — silent, scalable, and built for how dental practices actually run.
A total removal of friction — for your team, your patients, and your growth.