In this guide 6 sections
Record each treatment plan against teeth, with an estimate and a status of accepted, done or pending. List patients due for a scaling, a review or a brace adjustment from the visit record, then send reminders. GullySystem’s Dental Clinic Management Software keeps plans and recalls on one patient record.
Why plans and recalls slip between visits
A treatment plan is often written on a case sheet or a billing slip. The recall date sits in a diary or a register. The balance sits in a cash book. These are separate records for one patient.
When a patient accepts only part of a plan, the rest is easy to lose. When a sitting is missed, nothing prompts a call.
The remedy is one record that holds the plan, the sittings and the next date. The desk and the dentist both open it.
Build the plan tooth by tooth
List each procedure against its tooth. Price it from the clinic’s fee list and give the patient an estimate. Where a missing tooth can be treated two ways, show both options with their own estimate.
Record what the patient accepted, whether all of it or a part. Whatever is not yet accepted stays on the plan as pending, so the dentist and the desk can raise it at a later visit.
Group lines into phases when the work is staged, such as pain relief first and a bridge later.
- Tooth and procedure
- Estimate from the fee list
- Status: accepted, done or pending
- Next step and next date
Follow multi-sitting cases to the end
Root canals, crowns, implants and braces take several visits. Each sitting is marked done, and the case carries the step that follows and the date it is due.
A missed adjustment or a post-extraction review appears as soon as its date has passed. Any dentist can pick up the case without reading earlier notes.
The clinic defines the steps and the usual gap between them. A dentist can change both for one patient. The software records the case and does not choose the clinical sequence.
Build the recall list and send reminders
Patients due for a scaling, a six-monthly review or an orthodontic visit are listed from the visit record. A patient with a pending line on the plan can be called about it.
The dentist sets the recall interval, and it can differ by patient. The desk picks a list and a message, then sends it over WhatsApp, as a text or by mail. A message can carry a link to book a slot.
Anyone who asks not to be messaged can be marked and left off the lists. The record shows which messages went out and when.
What to decide before you start
The software does not decide when a patient should return. That interval belongs to the dentist. Some patients will not come back, and the desk gets a list, not a promise.
Decide first who works the overdue list and how often. Decide which message goes for a recall and which for open treatment. WhatsApp Business rules for approved messages apply to what is sent there.
A clinic with few long plans and a small patient list can keep recalls in a diary. Whether that holds for your clinic is something the free technology audit can settle.
Recall and pending-plan tracker
Each patient takes one line, with the open procedures, the status of each, the next step and its date, the recall interval and the last message sent. Fill it for twenty patients to see how many have work pending or a recall already due.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can recall intervals differ by patient?
Yes. A dentist can set a shorter interval for a patient with gum disease and a longer one for a patient with healthy gums. The recall list reads from the interval on each record.
Can the desk call patients about treatment they have not yet started?
Yes. A pending line on the plan, such as a crown not yet started, puts the patient on a list the desk can work through by phone or message.