Sunrise Family Dental: 47 to 312 Google reviews in 5 months.

The starting point.

Sunrise Family Dental had been operating in Mesa, AZ for nine years when Dr. M. — the practice owner — reached out to Apex Media Solutions in November 2025. The practice ran 4 operatories, completed roughly 220 patient visits per month, and held a 4.2-star average across 47 Google reviews. Front-desk had tried periodically asking for reviews at checkout, but the conversion was poor: maybe one new review every two or three weeks, often when a long-time patient happened to be in a chatty mood.

The bigger problem wasn't volume — it was the rating ceiling. Sunrise's 4.2-star average put them second from the bottom of the five dental practices showing up in their zip code's local pack. Two competitors had over 250 reviews each and held the top two map slots. Google's local algorithm was using review count as a tie-breaker, and Sunrise was losing every tie.

What the practice tried first.

Before signing with ApexReviewPro, Sunrise had tested three things over 18 months — each of which failed for predictable reasons:

• Printed "Review us on Google" cards handed out at checkout. Conversion rate was below 0.5%. Patients tucked the card in their wallet and forgot it.
• Email-only follow-ups from the practice management software. Open rates hovered around 18%, and only one in 40 readers actually clicked through to the Google profile.
• A self-serve review platform the practice tried in 2024. The dashboard required 20 minutes of weekly attention from the office manager, and the per-text fees pushed monthly cost over $310. They cancelled after four months.

What ApexReviewPro did differently.

Sunrise's dedicated Apex specialist, Renee, built a campaign around three principles drawn from years of running dental campaigns at Apex Media Solutions:

1. Capture the moment before it cools.

Patient sentiment about a dental visit peaks within four hours of leaving the chair and decays sharply over the next 48 hours. Renee set up a daily 9:00 AM Mountain blast that pulled the previous day's completed-appointment list out of the practice's Open Dental system as a CSV. Every patient seen the prior day received a simultaneous SMS and email — never later than 18 hours after the appointment.

2. HIPAA-aware messaging, every time.

The messages never referenced diagnosis, procedure, hygienist name, or insurance. Just a first-name greeting, a thank-you for visiting the practice, and a single 1-click link to the Google review box.

"Hi Maria, this is Sunrise Family Dental. Thanks for being part of our practice family today. If you had a great experience, would you share a quick Google review? It really helps us. {ReviewLink} — Reply STOP to opt out."

3. Intercept the unhappy patient before Google does.

Patients who tapped the link and selected 1, 2, or 3 stars on the routing widget were redirected to a private feedback form that went straight to Dr. M.'s inbox. Patients who selected 4 or 5 stars were sent directly to the Google review box. This kept compliant with Google's review-gating policy (every patient could leave a public review if they chose to) while ensuring Dr. M. saw operational complaints before they became 1-star public reviews.

Month-by-month progression.

1. Month 1 (December 2025): 31 new reviews captured. Average rating moved from 4.2 to 4.4 stars. The first negative-feedback interception caught a long-wait complaint from a new patient — Dr. M. called the patient personally and refunded the visit.
2. Month 2 (January 2026): 58 new reviews. Practice cracks the top 3 of the local pack for "family dentist Mesa AZ" for the first time. New-patient call volume up 42% over the prior 90-day baseline.
3. Month 3 (February 2026): 64 new reviews. Average rating reaches 4.7 stars. The practice now ranks #1 in the local pack for "dentist near me" within a 3.2-mile radius.
4. Month 4 (March 2026): 51 new reviews. Volume dips slightly as the existing patient list is mostly worked through; Renee shifts to capturing new-patient visits same-day.
5. Month 5 (April 2026): 61 new reviews. Total review count crosses 300. New-patient calls referencing "I saw your Google reviews" hit 3× their pre-Apex baseline.

What the practice owner says.

"We went from 47 Google reviews to 312 in five months. New-patient calls referencing 'I saw your reviews on Google' tripled. Renee handles everything — I literally do not think about reviews anymore. Best $99 a month I spend in this practice." — Dr. M., Sunrise Family Dental

The economics for a 4-chair dental practice.

The math for an independent dental practice running ApexReviewPro is unusually favorable because each new patient is worth $1,500 to $4,000 over their lifetime, while the campaign cost is fixed at $99/month regardless of volume.

• 5-month ApexReviewPro spend: $495
• Net new patients attributable to Google review-driven calls (per practice-level reporting): 23 over 5 months
• Conservative estimated patient lifetime value: $1,800
• Return on ApexReviewPro spend: ~84×

Even with aggressive haircuts on attribution — say, only crediting Apex for half of those new patients — the return is over 40×.

How to replicate this in your own dental practice.

If you run a single or multi-location dental practice and want to model Sunrise's playbook, the steps are simple:

1. Book a 15-minute strategy call with an Apex specialist.
2. Provide read-only access (or a daily CSV export) from Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, or your practice management software.
3. Your specialist configures your messaging templates, your Google profile review link, and your negative-feedback routing — all on the strategy call.
4. Your first campaign goes live the same day. First reviews typically arrive within 24 hours.

See more on ApexReviewPro for dental practices, read the complete Google reviews guide, or compare ApexReviewPro vs Birdeye if you're evaluating alternatives.

FAQ: Sunrise Dental case study