Hygiene Recall and Recare by the Numbers

Any practice can struggle with implementing cost-effective dental patient retention strategies and ways to increase recall patients. The majority of dental patients that cancel do not reschedule, and your front desk staff don’t always have the capacity to follow up to make sure these patients come back for treatment. This means your patient retention rate is suffering and your patient attrition rate is stunting your practice growth. A better solution may be outsourcing your recall strategy to eAssist Dental Solutions platform of customized retention strategies, with achievable brand promises to boot. Keep reading to learn why these retention metrics are important, as we dive into hygiene recall and recare by the numbers.

How many patients does a dentist see in a day?

According to Dentistry IQ, the average dentist should see anywhere from 8-12 patients per day. Each one of these patients presents an opportunity for you to build your professional relationship, alleviate concerns regarding continuing treatment coverage and any new or existing problems. We need to see our patients more so that they can achieve the same winning smile we give them when they walk in through the door. Remove the perception of “routine” and “just a cleaning” from the thought processes of your team. Educate your staff to recognize the changing role of vital dental evaluation and professional teeth cleaning for the total health and wellbeing of every patient.

How many new dental patients per month is average?

When it comes to averages, your practice should be bringing in anywhere from 24-50 new patients per month. With over half  Americans having access to personal dental insurance, your practice has a greater opportunity to capitalize on treatment trends.

What is the average patient retention rate?

Patient retention is how many new patients return to your dental practice after their initial appointment. According to the Journal of the American Dental Association (ADA), the average general dentist keeps only four out of every ten patients beyond their first appointment.

This means that the majority of patients are not coming back for regular hygiene visits or treatment, resulting in stagnant monthly production and collection numbers and a schedule that resembles Swiss cheese. Your ideal patient retention rate should be at 85% or better, with nearly nine out of every ten patients coming back for their next visit.

You can start by “reactivating” inactive patients.  Inactive shouldn’t mean “don’t call.” You should also reach out to recent inactive patients (those who haven’t been seen in 18 months or longer). Many of these patients may have just missed an appointment and just fallen into the cracks. Send out a letter about restarting care, then follow up with a phone call. Many practices have had excellent results bringing inactive patients back into the practice with this strategy.

What is a hygiene recall patient in dentistry?

Your recall patients are the ones who come in for regular hygiene appointments, or maybe it’s been a few months since their last examination, but they haven’t scheduled just yet. Recall appointments are crucial to developing your long-term treatment plan for these patients, especially if they have concerns regarding their oral care.

Why should you pay attention to your hygiene recall numbers?

Here is some insight into what eAssist Dental Solutions found during initial research on recall numbers:

• The average hygiene appointment and ensuing production from the doctor’s exam leads to an average of $471 of income per visit
• A new patient will generate at least $4,500 in revenue (excluding referrals) in their lifetime with a practice
• If your practice typically sees anywhere from 25-50 new patients a month, that is $67,500-135,000 of lifetime patient revenue

eAssist’s Full Schedule recall solution can help you to realize these numbers — a premier, personalized communication service used to schedule patients on a recurring basis. We have real people providing a real service to give you peace of mind. Full Schedule helps offices welcome back patients to complete their treatment or hygiene recall appointments. The Full Schedule team can successfully increase the return rate of recall patients by up to 55%, adding up to $25,000 in monthly revenue from hygiene recall and treatment appointments for our valued clients.

How do you call a recalled patient?

Your staff initially may find it difficult to personally “cold call” patients who may not have had treatment for a while. Engage their confidence by offering a script as well as personalizing each of your recall messages for patients. An example of this could include:

“Good morning/afternoon, this is [your dentist/hygienist] from [your dental practice]. I’m calling to remind you that it’s time for your regular dental checkup and cleaning. Our records show that it’s been [date of their last appointment] since your last visit, and we want to make sure that your oral health is being taken care of.

We have some availability next [insert date(s) and time(s) that work for your schedule], and we can book your appointment for [insert preferred date and time]. If those times don’t work, we can work together to find a date and time that suits your schedule better.”

Dental scripts for new patients

Sending patients a “script” that helps to work recall is a great strategy for any office. Ensure that you are working within allowable confines of messaging and data rates if you do this. An unscheduled dental treatment text sample could look something like this:

“It’s our job to provide you with the clean and healthy smile you deserve. Let’s talk about the best times for you to come in and discuss your current treatment concerns.”

We want to remove the option of “yes” and “no” to generic reminders and instead provide a way to entice patients into giving us insight into their oral healthcare.

Effectively outsourcing your dental patient retention strategies

eAssist’s Full Schedule works to implement an effective, professional, and winning scheduling strategy for each one of your patients. Full Schedule is real people: not scripts. You’re getting a real person on the other line, along with brand promises that give you the transparency and accountability you need from us. You can talk to one of our Business Development Specialists to learn how outsourcing your hygiene recall scheduling can help you achieve the profitability and growth you are striving for — and clear the path for better patient care.