Dental practices
Business texting for dental practices
Remind patients the day before, offer short-notice slots when someone cancels, and let patients reply to reception by text, with nothing clinical in the message.
How do dental practices use text messages?
Dental practices text patients to remind them of appointments, tell them a check-up is due, offer short-notice slots and rearrange by reply. Reminders of booked appointments are service messages. A text promoting treatments such as whitening is marketing and needs consent. Either way, keep clinical detail out of the text, because anyone holding the phone can read it.
What practices text about
Appointment reminders are most of it: a text a day or two before with the time and the practice name, and an easy way to say they can't come. Then there's recall, telling patients a check-up or a hygiene visit is due, and the cancellation list, offering a short-notice slot to patients who've said they can come in at short notice.
Send these from a UK mobile number so patients can reply. 'Can I come at 4 instead?' lands in the inbox, where reception can answer it between calls.
Keep clinical detail out
A text can be read by anyone who picks up the phone or glances at the lock screen, and phones get shared with family. Health information is special category data under the UK GDPR, so the less a text says, the better. 'Your appointment at Bridge Street Dental is on Tue 27 Oct at 3:40pm' is enough. Leave out the treatment, the type of appointment if it gives anything away, and anything about the patient's teeth.
The same goes for replies. If a patient texts about pain or a problem, call them or ask them to ring the practice, and record anything clinical in your practice system, where it belongs.
Recalls, treatments and the marketing line
The ICO's test is whether a message promotes anything. A reminder of a booked appointment promotes nothing, so it's a service message. A recall telling a patient their check-up is due is a service message if it's plain and factual, and marketing if it promotes paid treatment. A text about whitening, aligners or a hygiene offer is marketing and needs the patient's consent and an opt-out line.
If you'd like to send treatment news, ask patients when they register or at their next visit, record the answer, and keep those patients in a list of their own.
Children and family accounts
When the appointment is for a child, the text goes to the parent or carer's number on file, so write it for them, using the child's first name only: 'Ella's check-up at Bridge Street Dental is on...'. Merge fields fill from the contact, which is the parent, so type the child's name into the text.
Features practices use
The parts of CaptiFi Connect that suit a dental practice:
- Scheduled reminders up to a year ahead, with cancel and refund.
- Templates with {first_name} for reminders, recalls and short-notice slots.
- A UK mobile number patients can reply to, with replies in one inbox.
- Lists for recalls and the cancellation list, with CSV import from your practice software's export.
- Message history with delivery status, so reception can see whether a reminder arrived.
- The REST API, if your practice software can call it.
Sample texts
Merge fields in braces are filled from each contact. The part count is worked out the way the platform bills it.
Appointment reminder(service)
Hi {first_name}, a reminder of your appointment at Bridge Street Dental on Tue 27 Oct at 3:40pm. Reply YES to confirm or NO to rearrange.
137 characters, 1 part
Child's appointment(service)
Hi {first_name}, Ella's check-up at Bridge Street Dental is on Sat 31 Oct at 10am. Reply if you need to change it.
114 characters, 1 part
Recall(service)
Hi {first_name}, you're due a check-up at Bridge Street Dental. Reply to this text or call 01632 960654 to book a time that suits you.
134 characters, 1 part
Short-notice slot(service)
Bridge Street Dental has a cancellation tomorrow at 10:20am. Reply YES if you'd like it. First reply gets it.
109 characters, 1 part
Missed appointment(service)
Hi {first_name}, sorry we missed you at Bridge Street Dental today. Reply or call 01632 960654 to rebook.
105 characters, 1 part
Getting set up
- 1
Create your account
Sign up with the practice's details. We check every new account before it can send.
- 2
Import patients
Import names and mobile numbers from your practice software's CSV export, and nothing more than the texts need.
- 3
Write the templates
Save reminder, recall and short-notice templates, and read each one as if a stranger had picked up the phone.
- 4
Schedule reminders
Schedule each reminder when the appointment is booked, and cancel it if the appointment moves.
- 5
Answer replies
Replies arrive in the inbox, one thread per number. Move anything clinical to a phone call.
Common texts for dental practices
| Message | When it goes | Service or marketing | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appointment reminder | One or two days before | Service | Your appointment is on Tue 27 Oct at 3:40pm |
| Same-day reminder | That morning | Service | See you at 3:40pm today |
| Recall | When a check-up is due | Service if plain and factual. Marketing if it promotes paid treatment. | You're due a check-up, reply or call to book |
| Short-notice slot | When a cancellation frees a slot | Service | Slot free tomorrow at 10:20am, reply YES to take it |
| Missed appointment | After a no-show | Service | Sorry we missed you today, reply to rebook |
| Treatment news | Occasionally | Marketing, needs consent | Whitening appointments now available |
Questions people ask
Can we mention the treatment in a reminder?
We'd advise against it. Anyone who sees the phone can read the text, and health information is special category data under the UK GDPR. The practice name, date and time are enough.
Do patients need to consent to reminder texts?
Appointment reminders are service messages, so PECR's marketing consent rules don't apply. Texts promoting treatments are marketing and do need consent.
Can our practice software send the reminders?
If it can call a REST API, yes. There are no ready-made connections to dental software, so reminders come either from the API or from a CSV import and scheduled sends in the dashboard.
What if a patient replies CANCEL?
CANCEL is one of the opt-out words, so CaptiFi Connect adds the number to your opt-out list and won't send that patient any more texts, reminders included, until they text START. Ask patients to reply YES or NO instead. If a patient meant the appointment, ring them to check before you take them off the opt-out list.
How much does it cost?
One credit per SMS part to a UK mobile, and a typical reminder fits in one part. Packs start at £25 for 500 credits (5p a text) and fall to 3.5p on the biggest pack, plus VAT; the pricing page has the table.
Send your first text this week
Set up your account and contacts now; we check every new account before it can send.