Health advertising regulation in Turkey: what the latest change means for dental clinics
The health advertising regulation people search for in Turkey is officially the Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services. Published in Official Gazette No. 33075 on 12 November 2025, it takes effect the same day and repeals the 2023 regulation. Advertising is still banned; promotion and information remain allowed within the rules. For dental clinics the main changes are a sponsored promotion allowance for the first month after opening, a conditional model for before-and-after images, and a 45-day review period for provincial commissions.
As of October 2026, the sources we can reach show no further amendment to the 2025 text. Fees, discounts and patient thank-you posts remain banned. Before every step, check the regulation, the provincial health directorate and your chamber of dentists.
What happened: which regulation, and since when?
The Ministry of Health’s regulation has been in force since 12 November 2025 and replaces the earlier text published in Official Gazette No. 32263 on 29 July 2023. It covers health professionals, private health facilities and international health tourism intermediaries.
The line between advertising and promotion
The regulation defines advertising as any activity that puts a service or facility forward and goes beyond the limits of promotion and information. Address, contact details, opening hours, specialties and titles count as promotion and information.
What changed compared with the 2023 text?
The new text keeps the ban and sets rules in three areas. Under the 2023 text, before-and-after images were banned if they created demand; under the 2025 text they may be shared under specific conditions. The table below sums up the differences that matter directly to a dental clinic.
| Topic | 2023 text | 2025 text |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsored promotion after opening | No explicit opening exception | Allowed for the first month after opening, within the rules |
| Before-and-after images | Banned if they create demand | May be shared with explicit consent, same setting and technical conditions, procedure date and a warning text |
| Provincial commission review period | 30 days | 45 days at most |
| Sanctions framework | Suspension for 3 days after two warnings | Annex-2 Administrative Sanction Form; sanctions including administrative fines under Law No. 3359 |
The opening-month exception
A newly opened health facility may run regulation-compliant sponsored promotion on all platforms for the first month after opening. The clock starts at opening and the window is used once; it does not run before the licence.
Health tourism takes a separate road
International health tourism may use a separate platform and sponsored promotion in languages other than Turkish, but a domestic target audience cannot be selected.
What is still banned?
The core bans stay in place. Hidden or open advertising is banned, health services cannot be the subject of incentives, prize draws or gifts, and promotion cannot include fees, discounts, campaigns or promotional offers. The “20 percent off for our opening” banner has no place at a dental clinic. The list below shows the six bans a new clinic meets most often.
- Publishing fees, discounts, campaigns or promotional offers.
- Advertising through thank-you or satisfaction messages from patients or their relatives.
- Calling, texting or emailing people for promotion without their consent.
- Setting up prize draws, gifts or incentive schemes.
- Sharing images of patients during medical procedures.
- Using specialist titles based on certificates outside recognised main and sub-specialties.
Whoever shares is also responsible
Those who run non-compliant promotion and those who share it are equally responsible. An agency’s post becomes the clinic’s responsibility once it leaves the clinic’s account.
Under what conditions can a before-and-after image be shared now?
The 2025 text replaces the broad ban with a conditional model. The patient gives explicit consent on the Annex-1 form, images share the same setting and technical conditions, and the procedure date appears on the image. The post is closed to comments and likes, is not published as sponsored content, and carries a fixed warning text.
The patient’s rights
The patient has the right to see the image before it is shared and may withdraw consent at any time without conditions.
No retouching, a warning instead
No technological alteration or correction may be applied to images afterwards. Every post carries a warning that results may vary from person to person.
What does it say about websites, search engines and social media?
The regulation addresses digital channels directly. A website must clearly show the day its information was last updated and contact details for the site’s editor. A health facility may register on social media and search engines provided it is not sponsored. Keywords used in search engines and the information on results pages must not conflict with the regulation’s principles either.
Keywords can be reviewed too
A price or superiority keyword such as “cheapest implant” can breach the principles even if it never appears on the page.
Where each channel stands
We compare maps, website, social media and AI answers within these rules in a single table in dental clinic promotion channels compared.
How do inspection and sanctions work?
In every province a seven-member Provincial Evaluation Commission for Health Information and Promotion Activities is set up with the governor’s approval. The commission completes its review within 45 days at most; breaches bring the Annex-2 Administrative Sanction Form and administrative fines under Law No. 3359 into play.
Unlicensed promotion is a separate matter
For those promoting health services without authority or a licence, the regulation provides for notification to the Ministry of Trade and a criminal complaint to the prosecutor.
The personal data angle
Patient images and information are personal health data. Promotion must also comply with Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 and patient rights legislation.
What it means for you: what should a new clinic do now?
The new text tells a new clinic two things. The first month is a one-off window for a rule-compliant opening announcement. After that, visibility is built with informative content that answers patients’ questions and has passed a dentist’s review. The till keeps ringing because of that base, not the first month. The full promotion framework is in new dental clinic promotion, and the 90-day plan in new dentist practice.
Informative content is the safest ground
Say a patient asks why their gums bleed. A page on that question, approved by your dentist and free of prices and promises, stays within the rules and gets found. We explain the question-and-answer format AI assistants can quote in writing FAQ blocks AI can quote.
Building the groundwork in one go
If you want this base built turnkey, look at the AI SEO Campaign: 108 articles across 6 question groups, structured data, llms.txt, Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools setup at a fixed TRY 36,000 + VAT, delivered in 30 days. It takes 12 businesses per period and offers a 10 percent coupon. No recommendation is guaranteed; have every article reviewed by a dentist before publishing. With 20 percent VAT it is TRY 43,200; check the current rate on your invoice.
Quick Summary
- The text in force is in Official Gazette No. 33075 of 12 November 2025.
- The 2023 regulation is no longer in force; the advertising ban continues.
- Sponsored promotion is allowed in the first month after opening.
- Before-and-after images may be shared with consent, equal conditions and a warning text.
- Fees, discounts, campaigns and patient thank-you posts remain banned.
- Provincial commissions review cases within 45 days at most.
Short Glossary
Promotion and information: Promotion and information is the activity, not counted as advertising, used to share a facility’s address, contact details, specialties and titles.
Explicit consent: Explicit consent is the type of permission used to document that a patient approved the use of an image on a specific matter, informed and of their own free will.
Provincial Evaluation Commission: The Provincial Evaluation Commission is the seven-member board used to review health promotion in a province for compliance with the regulation.
Next Step
You know the rules; the next step is becoming findable within them. Apply to the AI SEO Campaign, share your site and target questions, and we start with the diagnosis card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Only legally authorised health professionals may give information about health services, including oral health articles on a clinic’s site.
We collect the full list of what can and cannot be said in dental clinic advertising rules.
The text in force is the Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services, published in Official Gazette No. 33075 on 12 November 2025 and effective the same day. As of October 2026, the sources we can reach show no further amendment.
Under the 2025 text, yes, with conditions: the patient’s explicit consent on the Annex-1 form, the same setting and technical conditions, the procedure date, comments and likes switched off, no sponsored publishing, and the warning text. No retouching may be applied afterwards.
No. No recommendation is guaranteed; the campaign builds and measures readability and recognisability. It costs TRY 36,000 + VAT at a fixed price, and the 108 articles and technical setup are delivered in 30 days.
Updated: October 2026