What You’ll Learn
- Why chasing viral videos is the wrong strategy for dental practices
- How to use ChatGPT’s project feature to streamline your video content creation
- Step-by-step instructions for creating AI videos with Sora 2
- Where to find trending content ideas that actually work for dentists
- The best platforms to post your AI-generated videos (and why Instagram matters most right now)
- How social media content now directly impacts your SEO and AI search visibility
Forget Going Viral: How Dentists Should Really Use AI Video Content
It’s 9 PM, you just finished a long day of back-to-back patients, and your marketing manager (or let’s be honest, maybe that’s you) is staring at a blank screen trying to figure out what to post on social media this week. Sound familiar?
On this episode of the Byte Sized Podcast, host Adrian Lefler sat down with Megan Nielsen, My Social Practice’s Grand Master of Copywriting and SEO, to break down exactly how dental practices can use AI video tools to create engaging social media content in minutes, not hours. Megan has been on the front lines of AI content creation since ChatGPT launched and has generated over 10,000 images in Midjourney alone. Her approach to AI video creation is refreshingly practical and built for busy dental professionals who have teeth to attend to.
The Viral Video Trap (And Why You Should Avoid It)
How’s this for myth-busting? Going viral should not be your goal.
Megan puts it plainly: “Most of those people are never going to book an appointment with you. So that’s really not your metric.”
The misconception that dental practices need viral content with millions of views is everywhere. But think about it. If your TikTok gets a million views from people scattered across the country, how many of them are actually going to drive to your office in Boise for a cleaning? The answer is somewhere between zero and none.
“Your point is to make something that supports your brand and that makes it so that when I am sitting in bed, oh, I need to schedule my dentist appointment and I’m scrolling through my options and your TikTok comes up, I can see exactly what your brand is and I like you right away,” Megan explains. “My one view, if I’m in that city and I’m looking for a dentist, my one view is way more valuable than a thousand views out of your range.”
The goal isn’t fame. It’s trust-building with local patients who might actually walk through your door.
Why Video Content Matters More Than Ever
Short-form video has become the dominant way people consume content online. Adrian shared a striking example from a content creator friend. His hour-long instructional video received just six views, while the 20 short clips cut from that same video accumulated nearly 13,000 views combined.
People are scrolling on their phones. They’re not watching hour-long dental education videos (no matter how good they are). But they might watch a funny 10-second clip that makes them smile and think, “I like this dentist.”
Here’s the game-changer that connects all of this to your bottom line: AI search engines like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are now indexing social media content. Instagram is confirmed to be indexed by both platforms, and Facebook follows the same path. This means your social media posts aren’t just building brand awareness anymore. They’re directly supporting your search engine optimization.
Social media, SEO, and reputation management are no longer separate strategies. They’re all connected through AI search.
The Meta-Prompting Method: Let AI Write for AI
Megan’s secret weapon for creating great AI videos isn’t just using Sora 2. It’s using ChatGPT to write the prompts for Sora. This technique, called meta-prompting, produces dramatically better results.
Why does this work? Because AI understands AI. When ChatGPT writes a prompt, it uses terminology and formatting that Sora recognizes and interprets more accurately than the way most humans would naturally describe what they want.
Here’s the workflow:
- Create a project in ChatGPT (this saves your preferences and brand voice)
- Add instructions about your practice, tone, and content style
- Upload files like your logo, color palette, or practice photos
- Ask ChatGPT for video ideas based on trending topics
- Have ChatGPT format the idea as a Sora-ready prompt
- Copy the prompt into Sora and generate your video
The project feature is particularly powerful because it creates a “working memory.” You don’t have to re-explain your brand voice, practice name, or content preferences every time. ChatGPT remembers, which makes the process faster with each video you create.
Finding Trending Ideas That Work for Dental Content
Coming up with content ideas is often the hardest part. Megan recommends two approaches that work together beautifully.
First, check TikTok’s Creative Center and look at trending hashtags. During the podcast recording, “Dancing with the Stars” was trending heavily. Megan’s approach? Ask ChatGPT: “Dancing with the Stars just aired a finale. Give me some dental-related ideas I can use to create Sora videos.”
ChatGPT immediately generated ideas like a dentist dramatically reacting to the finale results and closing the office for “bereavement leave,” or mimicking judge reactions but scoring X-rays instead of dances.
Second, subscribe to My Social Practice’s Weekly Trending Social Media Ideas email. Every week, you’ll receive a trending concept already adapted for dental practices. You can shoot it yourself or turn it into an AI-generated video using the workflow above.
What Type of Content Should You Create?
Megan is clear about this: stick to fun, funny, and trendy content. Not clinical.
“If you’re sharing something clinical, people don’t want to watch an AI video of that anyway. You’re the dentist. You’re the expert,” she notes. Using AI to create fake before-and-after images or make clinical claims feels unethical and audiences are already suspicious of it.
AI-generated content works best when it’s obviously playful. In fact, Megan suggests that sometimes the more obviously AI-generated something looks, the better it performs. People appreciate the creativity and humor without feeling deceived.
Always disclose when content is AI-generated. Viewers are increasingly savvy, and failing to mention it invites skepticism in the comments.
Where to Post Your AI Videos
Not all platforms are created equal for dental practices. Here’s the priority order:
Instagram Reels should be your primary focus. It’s indexed by AI search tools, audiences expect to follow businesses there, and content automatically cross-posts to Facebook. Instagram is also testing a limit of just three hashtags per post, so keep your hashtag strategy tight and targeted.
YouTube Shorts comes next since Google owns YouTube and definitely indexes this content for search.
TikTok rounds out the top three. While it may not be indexed by AI search yet, it’s coming. Building your presence now means you’ll be established when that indexing begins.
For hashtags, Megan recommends three to five per post: one hyper-local tag (your city or neighborhood), one or two broader dental tags (like #dentistlife or #dentisthumor), and one or two trending tags related to your content theme.
The 10-Minute Content Creation Goal
This entire process, from idea to published post, should take about 10 minutes once you’ve done the initial setup. That’s great for busy dental professionals.
“Dentists, you’re busy. You have teeth to attend to,” Megan says. “You want to make this as simplified as possible.”
The key is front-loading your setup work. Create your ChatGPT project with detailed instructions. Save characters in Sora that you can reuse. Build a system that makes consistency easy, because posting three times per week is far more valuable than one “perfect” viral attempt per month.
AI video content isn’t replacing your authentic practice content. You should still shoot real videos in your office and share genuine moments with your team. But AI tools like Sora and ChatGPT give you a way to stay consistent, stay on trend, and stay visible without burning out your marketing efforts.
The practices that embrace these tools now won’t just save time. They’ll be positioned as forward-thinking, tech-savvy offices that patients trust to deliver modern care.
Read some of Megan’s content for My Social Practice here:
Our Writer Re-Imagined 10 Iconic Movie Posters to Feature Dentistry, and No One Is Totally Sure Why
What if Characters from The Office Built Dental Websites? (I Was Left Unsupervised and Found Out)
Our Writer Tries Dental Logo Design for Famous Brands and You Won’t Believe the Results!!
TV and Film’s Sexiest Dentists Ranked by Very Qualified Experts
In This Episode:
Megan Nielsen, Copywriter and SEO Strategist
Megan Nielsen is the Grand Master of Copywriting and SEO at My Social Practice. She specializes in AI content creation tools and has been on the front lines of emerging AI technologies since the launch of ChatGPT. Megan has extensive experience with AI image generators like Midjourney, music generators like Suno AI, and video creation tools including Sora 2 and Veo 3. As a content creator and SEO specialist, she develops workflows and processes that help dental practices leverage artificial intelligence in their marketing efforts. Megan writes all blog content for My Social Practice and manages the Dental AI Art Instagram account showcasing AI-generated dental content.
Adrian Lefler, CEO and Co-founder of My Social Practice
Adrian Lefler, CEO of My Social Practice, is a seasoned expert in the dental marketing industry with 14 years of experience. He is widely recognized for his engaging and informative presentations. Based in Suncrest, Utah, Adrian shares his life with his wife, four children, and a lively mix of pets. My Social Practice is a leading dental marketing company, and Adrian is passionate about helping dental professionals succeed in this dynamic field.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need technical skills to create AI videos with Sora for my dental practice?
No technical skills are required. Sora 2 is a text-to-video tool, meaning you simply type a description of what you want and it generates the video. The free version creates 10-second clips, which is perfect for social media. Using ChatGPT to write your prompts (meta-prompting) actually makes the process easier because AI writes in a way that other AI tools understand better than casual human descriptions.
How often should a dental practice post AI-generated video content on social media?
Aim for at least three posts per week to maintain and potentially grow your audience. Consistency matters more than perfection. Not every post needs to be a home run. Sometimes just showing up and posting something signals to algorithms (and potential patients) that your practice is active and relevant. Mix AI-generated content with authentic videos from your practice for the best results.
Is it ethical to use AI-generated videos for dental marketing?
Yes, as long as you follow two guidelines. First, always disclose that content is AI-generated. Audiences are increasingly suspicious of unmarked AI content, and transparency builds trust. Second, never use AI to make clinical claims or create fake before-and-after images. Keep AI content fun, trendy, and clearly playful rather than attempting to pass it off as real clinical results or patient experiences.
How does posting social media videos help my dental practice's SEO?
AI search engines like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews now index social media content, particularly from Instagram and YouTube. This means your social media posts directly contribute to how discoverable your practice is in AI-powered search results. Consistent posting with relevant local hashtags helps establish your practice’s online authority and can improve your visibility when potential patients search for dentists in your area.
