Dental patient recall: bringing patients back

Recall works when the next visit is booked before the patient leaves, and every patient who is not booked has a due date, a planned reminder, and a person who follows up. Most practices do the first part well. Patients slip away in the second.

This guide is for the front desk and the practice manager. It covers how to sort patients for recall, a reminder plan, wording that gets replies, and the one number worth tracking. It does not cover clinical decisions, which belong to your dentists.

The interval is the dentist's call

Many recall systems assume every patient is due every 6 months. The American Dental Association's guidance says a review of the literature did not reach consensus on the best recall frequency, and that dentists may tailor each patient's interval to their assessed risk of disease.^[1]

A 2020 Cochrane review of recall intervals found only 2 trials, with 1,736 participants, that compared intervals directly.^[2] The clinical findings are for your dentists to weigh. For the front desk the lesson is practical. Store each patient's own due date, set by the dentist, rather than one rule for everyone.

Sort patients into 3 groups

Recall is easier to run when every active patient sits in one of 3 groups. Each group needs different work.

Run a list of each group once a week. If the Overdue group keeps growing, the problem is follow-up. If the Booked group is small, the problem is at checkout.

Book the next visit at checkout

The easiest recall is the one that never becomes a recall. When the dentist sets the next interval, the front desk offers a date before the patient leaves. Patients who are unsure of their schedule can take a provisional slot and move it later from a link in their reminder.

Booking months ahead only works if the patient remembers. Our calendars send a confirmation with a link to move or cancel the booking, so a patient who books in March can change a September slot without ringing the office.

A reminder plan for everyone else

Patients who leave without a booking need reminders that start from their due date, not from a date someone remembers to check. This plan is practice, not proof. Adjust the timing to suit your patients.

1. 4 weeks before the due date: a text with a booking link.
2. On the due date: an email with the same link and your phone number.
3. 4 weeks after: a second text, short and friendly.
4. 8 weeks after: a call task for a person on the front desk.

With date-based follow-ups, each step starts from the due date on the patient's record, so every patient gets the message at the right time. When a patient books, the sequence stops. The booking reminders then take over, which we cover in our guide to appointment reminder texts.

What the research says about reminders

Reminders are among the best studied tools in healthcare scheduling. A 2013 Cochrane review of 8 randomised trials found text reminders raised attendance compared with no reminder. Attendance was 67.8% with no reminder and 78.6% with a text.^[3]

Wording matters too. In 2 large NHS trials in London, a reminder that stated the specific cost of a missed appointment cut missed appointments to 8.4%, against 11.1% for the hospital's standard message.^[4] That was a hospital setting with patients in 5 specialties, so treat it as a pointer rather than a rule for a dental office.

Wording that gets replies

Keep recall messages short, name the practice, and make the next step obvious. Leave treatment details out of texts and emails. A plain example follows, with a made-up practice name.

• Due: "Hi Maria, it's Lakeside Dental. Dr. Patel asked us to book your next check-up around 14 November. Pick a time here: [link], or reply and we'll call you."
• Overdue: "Hi Maria, Lakeside Dental here. You're due for your check-up and we have openings next week. Book here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out."

Being specific helps, as the NHS trials suggest.^[4] A named dentist, a date, and a link give the patient less to think about than "It's time for your visit".

Reminders versus offers

The CTIA messaging principles, which US carriers follow, class reminders a patient asked for as informational. They need the patient's agreement to texts for that purpose. A sales promotion, such as a whitening offer, is promotional and needs express written consent.^[5] Keep recall texts about the visit. Our guide to business texting registration explains the rest.

If you plan to store patient health information in your account, talk to us first about the optional HIPAA add-on, which has its own monthly price. Clinical notes stay in your practice software.

Track one number: the recall rate

Each month, take the patients who became due and count how many have a booking within 30 days of their due date. That share is your recall rate. As an illustration, not data from a real practice: 220 patients due in a month, 150 booked within 30 days, gives a rate of 68%.

Change one thing at a time, such as adding the call task at 8 weeks, and compare the next month. Dental offices run on repeat visits, so a few points of recall rate adds up across a year. See how a dental practice runs recall, reminders, and reviews from one account.

Want recall reminders built for your practice? On Grow and Scale our team sets up the groups and writes the messages. Book a walkthrough or compare plans.