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    Dental practicesDental practices

    Make dental reminders and recall easier to manage

    Send agreed reminders, handle supported replies and help the team offer available appointments to patients on the waiting list. Reminders for booked appointments and recall for patients due a check-up are set up as separate processes.

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    Why missed dental appointments are hard to manage

    Automating dental reminders means sending messages before booked appointments at intervals you set, handling replies such as confirmations and cancellations, and offering freed slots to patients on your waiting list. Recall for patients due a check-up is a separate process. Results vary between practices, so measure your own missed-appointment rate before and after.

    See it run

    Viewing coordination agent in practice

    The workflow as it runs day to day, with a person signing off at the end. Sample data.

    Viewing coordination agentCountrywide viewing coordination: the agent reads a viewing request, finds a free slot in the negotiator’s Outlook diary, texts the applicant a confirmation and asks for feedback after the viewing

    The problem

    Why missed dental appointments are hard to manage

    Quick answer

    Automating dental reminders means sending messages before booked appointments at intervals you set, handling replies such as confirmations and cancellations, and offering freed slots to patients on your waiting list. Recall for patients due a check-up is a separate process. Results vary between practices, so measure your own missed-appointment rate before and after.

    A missed appointment leaves chair time that is hard to fill at short notice. Phoning patients to confirm takes reception time and reaches only those who answer.

    An automated process can send reminders, read replies and update the diary for supported changes. Reception handles the replies the system cannot, and talks to patients who prefer a phone call.

    How it works

    How reminders, recall and the waiting list work

    Appointment reminders

    SMS and email reminders at intervals you choose, for example a week before and the day before.

    Cancelling and rebooking

    Patients can reply to cancel or ask to move. Changes the system supports are made in the diary, and reception picks up the rest.

    Waiting list

    Freed slots can be offered to patients on your waiting list, with reception confirming the booking where needed.

    Recall messages

    Patients due a check-up or hygiene appointment receive recall messages at the interval your clinicians set.

    How we help

    Working with Reformat Labs

    We build and support reminder and recall systems for dental practices, connected to your practice software where it allows.

    Agent Deployments for dental remindersA reminder, recall and waiting-list process set up for your appointment types, with exceptions passed to reception.Managed Services for dental practicesSupport after launch, including changes to message timing and wording.AI Workshops for dental practicesA session to map where reception time goes and agree what to test first.

    Our page on AI for dental practices covers other practice tasks we can help with.

    Common questions

    Questions about reducing dental no-shows

    How do we work out what missed appointments cost?

    Take a recent period, count the missed appointments for each treatment type and multiply each count by its fee. Include each lost fee only once. Chair time and staff costs are largely fixed, so treat them as a further loss only where you could have filled the slot.

    How does an automated process reduce dental no-shows?

    Messages go out at intervals you set before each appointment. Patients can reply to confirm, cancel or ask to move, supported changes update the diary and freed slots can be offered to the waiting list. Reception handles the rest.

    What about NHS dental practices?

    NHS and mixed practices have their own contractual arrangements for recall and appointments. We work through the arrangements that apply to your practice with you and agree the setup and checks before messages go to patients.

    How does automated recall work alongside our existing dental software?

    Exact, Dentally, Carestream and SOE each have their own options for connecting other tools. We check your current system during scoping and design around it.

    How will we know if it is working?

    Record your missed-appointment rate by appointment type before the change, then compare it with a similar period afterwards. Attendance varies with the season, so compare like with like.

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