Dental recall is where a practice's revenue lives: the hygiene cycle, the check-up that is due, the treatment plan with a next step, and every one of them is a patient who will not come back unless someone asks. This page gives the front desk the three parts of the job: the dental recall script for the call, the dental recall messages for the text and the email, and what dental recall systems have to do so nobody falls off the list. Every message here is the template's own wording; the practice names and dates are invented. The free reminder template on this site sizes the reminder load from your own diary.
The dental recall script for the phone
The call is short, and it asks for a date, not a decision. "Hello, this is Dana at Riverside Dental. Dr. Alvarez has you due for your hygiene visit and we have a Tuesday morning or a Thursday afternoon open next week; which is better for you?" The script names the practice, names the clinician, states that the visit is due rather than asking whether the patient wants one, and offers two times. If the patient cannot do either, the script asks for the week that suits and books it, and the call ends with the date repeated back. Nothing about the call is clinical; it is a diary conversation.
The dental recall messages for text and email
The text is the script compressed: "Riverside Dental: you are due for your hygiene visit with Dr. Alvarez. Reply with a weekday and a morning or afternoon and we will book it, or call 555-0134." The email carries the same ask with a booking link and the practice hours. The Cochrane 2013 review found mobile text reminders raised attendance from about 67.8% to 78.6%, risk ratio 1.14, and the same channel works for recall, because the patient reads a text and files an email. Send the text first, the email if there is no reply in a few days, and the call last; the sequence, not the wording, is what most practices get wrong.
What dental recall systems have to do
A recall system is a list before it is a message: every patient whose last hygiene visit was more than the practice's interval ago and who has no future booking, sorted by how overdue they are. Kheirkhah et al. 2016 measured an average cost of $196 per missed appointment in the clinics they studied; the recall list is where that chair time is replaced. The system then sends the recall message at the interval, records the reply against the patient, and moves the patient off the list when a booking exists. Recallvia Pro is $20 a month to keep that list, send the messages under the practice name and record who booked, from whatever chart system the practice runs.
Questions people ask about dental recall
How often should a dental practice run recall?
Weekly, from the list of patients due with no booking. The list is small if it is worked every week and unmanageable if it is worked every quarter.
Text, email or call for dental recall?
Text first, because it is read; email second, because it carries the link; call last, for the patients who did not reply. The free template on this site counts the messages for the sequence you choose.
Does the recall message need to say why the visit is due?
No. It says the visit is due and asks for a date. The clinical reason is the clinician's to discuss in the chair, and a recall message that stays a diary message is easier to send from a shared phone.
Does Recallvia connect to my practice management software?
It keeps the recall list, sends the messages and records the replies alongside the chart system you run; the booking stays where it is.
Sources
- Gurol-Urganci et al., Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013
- Kheirkhah et al., Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows, BMC Health Services Research 2016
- Dantas et al., No-shows in appointment scheduling, a systematic literature review, Health Policy 2018