AI Receptionist for general dental practices
Every new patient call answered. Every checkup booked. Zero missed appointments.
Ava is the AI receptionist for dental practices that answers every inbound call, confirms NHS or private, and books the appointment — before your competitor's voicemail even picks up.
Miss just one new private patient call per day and you lose £800–£3,000 in lifetime value each time — roughly £20,000–£90,000 in unrealised revenue every month.
The short answer
The problem
You're mid-examination. The phone rings at reception. Your receptionist is checking out another patient. The caller waits 90 seconds, then hangs up and dials the practice down the road.
What Ava does
Ava answers every inbound call, confirms NHS or private, books the checkup, check-in, or hygienist appointment directly into your calendar, and sends an SMS confirmation — all while your team focuses on patients in the chair.
A new private patient at a general dental practice is worth £800–£3,000 over their lifetime. Miss one call a day and that's £20,000+ in lifetime value lost monthly.
How does Ava handle a general dental practice's calls?
Ava picks up on the first ring, greets the caller in your practice name, works out whether they want NHS or private, then books a checkup, hygienist visit or new-patient consultation directly into your diary and sends an SMS confirmation. No hold music, no voicemail.
She reads your live calendar, so she only offers slots that are actually free. When a caller wants Tuesday at 4, she books Tuesday at 4, writes it into Dentally or SOE Exact, and the slot disappears from the available list in real time. There's no double-booking and no callback queue.
For routine traffic she handles the lot: checkups, scale-and-polish, denture reviews, cancellations, reschedules. Your front desk stops being a switchboard and goes back to looking after the people standing in front of them.
Calls she can't or shouldn't close, like a clinical complaint or a query only the principal can answer, she captures in full and routes to the right person with a written summary. The caller is told what happens next, so nobody is left wondering.
Why do general dental practices miss so many calls, and what does each one cost?
Most misses happen during checkout, when a single receptionist is processing a payment and the second line rings out. Around 40% of calls also arrive outside opening hours. A missed new-patient call costs £800–£3,000 in lifetime value, so the maths turns ugly fast.
A typical single-site practice fields 40–60 calls a day. At lunch, school run and the post-5pm rush, two or three can ring at once. The caller who hits voicemail rarely leaves a message, they just dial the next practice on Google.
The expensive misses are the new private patients. NHS recalls will mostly call back, but a private enquiry comparing three practices books with whoever answers. Lose one a day and that's £20,000 to £90,000 of unrealised lifetime value a month walking next door.
Ava removes the leak entirely. She takes the overflow line and the out-of-hours line at the same time, so there is no scenario where a paying patient reaches dead air.
Does Ava book straight into our practice management software?
Yes. Ava integrates with Dentally, Software of Excellence (Exact), Carestream R4, iSmile and Curve Dental. She reads availability and writes confirmed appointments back into the diary in real time, so reception sees the booking the moment the call ends.
The integration is two-way. Ava doesn't just dump a message for someone to type up later, she creates the appointment against the right practitioner, room and treatment type, the same way a trained receptionist would.
If you run a legacy or bespoke system, our team builds a custom link during the 48-hour setup. Where a live API isn't available, Ava books into a shared calendar and pushes a structured summary so nothing is rekeyed by hand.
Every booking, capture and confirmation is logged, so you keep a clean audit trail for both clinical governance and your own missed-call reporting.
Is Ava compliant with UK dental data and GDC expectations?
Yes. Ava is UK GDPR compliant and ICO registered, and we sign a Data Processing Agreement before any patient data is handled. She identifies herself as an AI receptionist on every call and records are kept lawfully for quality and training.
Patient data captured during a call, name, date of birth, contact number, treatment interest, is processed under a documented lawful basis and stored on UK or EU infrastructure. You stay the data controller, we act as processor under the DPA.
Ava never claims to give clinical or medical advice, which keeps you on the right side of GDC and CQC expectations. She books, captures and escalates. Anything clinical goes to a clinician.
Because she discloses she's AI and explains calls may be recorded, you meet the 2026 transparency expectations without your team having to remember a script.
£800–£3,000
Lifetime value of a single new private patient
Figures already used in this page; UK dental industry estimate
~40%
Share of practice calls that arrive outside 9–5 opening hours
UK dental industry estimate
24/7
Hours Ava answers, with no shift cover or sick days
avacallai service definition
The difference
Voicemail takes a message. Ava books the appointment.
What callers ring about
Every general dentistry call, handled.
- New patient registrations
- Checkup and hygienist bookings
- NHS vs private enquiries
- Appointment cancellations
Hear it in action
This is what your callers hear.
- Good morning, Maple Dental — how can I help you?
- Hi, I'd like to register as a new patient please, private.
- Wonderful — welcome. Can I take your name and date of birth to get you set up?
- It's Sarah Patel, 14th March 1988.
- Thank you Sarah. I have a new patient consultation available this Thursday at 2pm or Friday at 10:30am — which works better for you?
Before you choose
What to look for in an AI receptionist for general dentistry.
Real two-way PMS integration
Insist it writes confirmed bookings back into Dentally, SOE Exact, Carestream R4 or iSmile, not just emails a message. Anything less still leaves your team doing the data entry.
NHS and private routing
A general practice needs the receptionist to triage payment type up front. Check it can confirm NHS list status and convert suitable callers to private without sounding pushy.
Brand-voice training
Patients should not be able to tell the difference in warmth from your best receptionist. Ask to hear the voice trained on your own greeting and tone before you commit.
GDPR and a signed DPA
For patient data you need a written Data Processing Agreement, ICO registration and UK or EU data residency. Treat any provider that can't supply these as a non-starter.
Common questions
Everything you’re wondering.
Can Ava distinguish between NHS and private patient enquiries?
Yes. Ava asks whether the caller is looking for NHS or private treatment and responds accordingly — quoting your current NHS availability or routing to private booking as appropriate.
Can Ava handle appointment cancellations and reschedules?
Yes. Ava takes the cancellation, releases the slot, offers alternative times from your live calendar, and sends an updated confirmation — reducing no-shows and filling gaps automatically.
What about new patient registrations?
Ava captures the patient's name, date of birth, contact number, and whether they're NHS or private, and books their new patient consultation. Your reception team gets a summary before the visit.
Is this compliant with dental practice data requirements?
Yes. Ava is fully UK GDPR compliant, ICO registered, and we provide a Data Processing Agreement before any patient data is handled.
Will Ava work alongside our existing receptionist or replace them?
Either. Most practices run Ava as overflow and out-of-hours cover, so reception keeps the face-to-face work and Ava catches the calls they can't reach. She handles the second line and every call after 5pm without you hiring a second person.
How long does setup take and will it disrupt the practice?
Typical go-live is within 48 hours. We train Ava on your greeting, scripts, fees and calendar, connect to your PMS, then test against real call scenarios before she goes live. There's no downtime to your existing phone line.
Does Ava sound robotic to patients?
No. Ava uses natural conversational speech and is trained on your practice's tone. She discloses she's an AI receptionist, which patients accept readily, then handles the booking as warmly as a good front-desk team member.
Pricing
Ava pays for herself on call one.
A new private patient at a general dental practice is worth £800–£3,000 over their lifetime. Miss one call a day and that's £20,000+ in lifetime value lost monthly. Plans from £397/mo. One recovered job a month covers it — everything else is pure upside.
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