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How to send recall and appointment reminder texts that fill your hygiene schedule

Where to start this week, how to let your practice software take it over, and what it looks like when recall runs itself.

From Thor at Boldwright

Time
30 to 45 minutes
Cost
Usually part of your texting tool
Works with
5 dental systems, or a phone
Skill
Settings in your practice software
An office manager standing in a break room making a call, coffee mug on the counter.
Working the recall list by phone takes an afternoon. A text with a booking link reaches everyone on it at once.

Glad the post brought you here. Six-month recall is some of the most valuable work a front desk does, and some of the hardest to keep up with. The list keeps growing, calls go to voicemail, and there's always someone standing at the counter who needs you more.

Texts help with both halves: getting patients booked, and getting them in the chair once they are. In a study at a dental school in India, patients who got two texts, one 24 hours before and one on the morning of the visit, arrived on time 79% of the time, against 36% of patients who got no text (206 patients, 2010). A review of 26 clinic studies found that patients who got reminders attended 67% of appointments against 54% without, and that more than one reminder did better than one.

One honest note. It doesn't work everywhere. A public dental outpatient clinic tracked 46 months of data and found text reminders made no real difference to missed appointments there. So set it up, then watch your own numbers.

Below are three levels. Start wherever your office is today. Each one is a real step forward.

  1. GoodA weekly recall text from the office phonePull the list of patients due, text each one your booking link, follow up once.Your part: about an hour a week, depending on the list.Start here
  2. GreatYour practice software sends itRecall texts with a booking link, a confirm text the day before, a short note the morning of. Set once.Your part: 30 to 45 minutes once, then answering replies.Set it up in your system
  3. BestRecall runs itselfTexts stop the moment a patient books, confirmations land in the schedule, a cancellation gets offered to someone who wanted an earlier time, and you see the numbers monthly.Your part: replies that need a person. Getting here takes real setup work.See what that looks like

Rather we set it up for you?

This is part of the Boldwright starter package. We set up the recall texts, the follow-up and the appointment reminders in your practice software, in your office's words, in a week or less.

Have Boldwright set it up

$297 setup, then $70 a month once you've seen it work. No contract. Cancel by text.

Step 1

Before you start

Four things to settle once, ideally with whoever runs the front desk.

  • Get your online booking link. Each system below can give you one. If yours doesn't, the recall text can ask patients to reply and you book them. That's slower, but it still works.
  • Decide your follow-up gap. If a patient doesn't book after the first recall text, when does the second go out? Two weeks is a reasonable place to start. Stop after two texts and move them to a call list.
  • Check which patients have a mobile number and text consent on file. Open Dental, for one, skips patients marked Text OK = No. Fix missing numbers and permissions at check-in, one patient at a time.
  • Keep texts to names, times and the office. Leave treatment details out of texts. This isn't legal advice, so ask whoever handles compliance for your office.

Step 2

Write your texts

Fill in your details once and the texts below update. Nothing here leaves your browser. Paste the wording into the matching template in your system.

When they're due

The link does the booking. The reply option catches patients who would rather not use a website.

About two weeks later, if they haven't booked

One follow-up, then stop. Patients who don't answer two texts are the ones to call.

Day before: confirm

"Reply C" only updates your schedule in systems that read replies, such as Open Dental eConfirmations, Weave, Curve and RevenueWell. Use the confirm wording your system expects.

Morning of

This is the second text the dental-school study used. It's short, and it gives a patient running late a number to call instead of just not showing.

Good

Text your recall list by hand each week

This works, and it's a solid start for a small office. Block out the same hour each week and work the list.

  • Pull your recall list once a week: patients due in the next two weeks with no appointment booked.
  • Text each one the recall message from the office phone. If you use Google Messages on Android, touch and hold Send to schedule texts for a better time of day.
  • Mark who you texted and the date. A shared spreadsheet is fine. Two weeks later, text the ones who didn't book, once.
  • Call the rest. By then the list is short.

Great

Let your practice software send it

If your office uses one of the systems below, it can already do this once it's switched on. Each of them can send recall texts and appointment reminders by text once you set it up. Each set of steps comes from that vendor's own help pages.

An office manager at his desk working on a laptop, with a headset and a mug beside him.
One sitting at the front-desk computer. After that, it runs every day.

Jump to your app

Open DentalWeaveNexHealthCurve DentalRevenueWell
Open DentalBuilt in

Texting needs Integrated Texting ($5 a month per location plus 4 cents per outgoing US text, per Open Dental's fees page). Web Sched Recall, which adds the booking link, is $75 a month per location. eReminders are free on support. eConfirmations are $25 a month per location.

  1. Recall texts: go to eServices Setup, Recall. Under Send Text Messages Automatically To, choose Patients with wireless phone (unless Text OK = No).
  2. Set the follow-up in Setup, Appointments, Recall: Initial Reminder is the days between the first and second text, and Max # of Reminders caps it. Set it to 2.
  3. Edit the wording in the same window: double-click the message for the reminder number and mode (for example WebSched Text). Use [URL] for the booking link.
  4. Reminders: go to eServices Setup, Automated Messaging, Activate eReminders. Click Add Confirmation for the day-before confirm text and Add eReminder for the morning-of text. Set Days and Hours and choose Text under Contact Methods.
  5. In the confirmation text, put [ConfirmCode] where the patient's reply goes. "Reply [ConfirmCode] to confirm" becomes "Reply C to confirm".

A reply of C marks every appointment that patient has that day as confirmed. The patient has to reply with the code only.

Open Dental's manual describes recall texts from the due date onward. It doesn't say whether the first text can go out before the due date.

Checked against Open Dental help docs, October 2026.

WeaveBuilt in

Recall Reminder auto-messages are only in the Plus Pro, Plus Elite and Plus Ultimate bundles. Appointment reminders are in every bundle except Core Essentials.

  1. Click the Settings icon at the top right, then Messaging, Manage Auto-Messages, Create Auto-Message.
  2. Name it (for example "6-Month Recall"), choose Recall Reminder as the type, set the timing in days or weeks from the due date, and choose Text Message.
  3. Write the text and add your scheduling link from Dynamic Fields. Click Create Auto-Message, then switch it on.
  4. Repeat with type Appointment Reminder for the day-before and morning-of texts. Each timing is its own auto-message.

Weave reads a C, a thumbs-up or another positive reply and updates your practice software. It won't send a recall text to a patient who already has a future appointment.

Checked against Weave help docs, October 2026.

NexHealthBuilt in

The booking link in recall texts needs NexHealth's Scheduling product. The custom recall template has to be turned on by NexHealth Support.

  1. Open Recalls in the left sidebar. Pick a sequence or click + Add Recalls Sequence.
  2. Change the timing with the pencil next to the gray Next action tile, add or remove messages with +, and edit each message with its pencil icon. Switch it ON.
  3. For reminders, go to Reminders, pick an Appointment type, edit the sequence the same way, click Preview, then Save and exit, and toggle it on.

NexHealth's default reminders go out 7 days and 2 days before. Change them to the day before and the morning of if you want the timing above. Texts are capped at 425 characters.

Checked against NexHealth help docs, October 2026.

Curve DentalBuilt in

Text campaigns need Curve GRO. Without GRO, Curve sends email reminders only.

  1. In Curve Hero, switch to GRO with the Application switcher, then Templates, Add template, Text Message. Write your recall and reminder texts.
  2. Go to Campaigns, Add campaign, Recare. Click Add time-point for the due date and another for two weeks after, attach your text template, then Finish and Activate.
  3. Do the same with Add campaign, Appointment Reminder for the day-before and morning-of texts.

Curve's help pages don't show a booking-link field for recall texts. Paste your self-scheduling link into the template by hand. You'll find it under Administration, Online Self Scheduling.

Patients can reply Yes or Confirm, and the appointment shows as Confirmed on the scheduler, as long as the template includes the Appointment Confirmation variable.

Checked against Curve Dental help docs, October 2026.

RevenueWellBuilt in

RevenueWell has no built-in booking-link field. Add your link as a Custom Merge Field first.

  1. Add your link: Settings, Managed Communications, Custom Merge Fields, Create New Merge Field. Paste the URL and click Save & Exit.
  2. Recall: click Campaigns, Create Campaign, Automated Campaign. Choose Before or After an Event with the Recall Date trigger, set the days, add an SMS Text Message and write it with your link field. Click Schedule & Activate.
  3. Reminders: Settings, Managed Communications, Appointment Confirmations. Set the First Reminder for the day before and the Same Day Reminder for the morning, with Delivery Method set to text. Use Edit Message to change the wording.

A reply of C syncs back to your practice software, but only within 72 hours of the automated message.

Checked against RevenueWell help docs, October 2026.

Using Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Lighthouse 360 or Solutionreach? We couldn't read their help pages from outside, so we haven't listed steps we couldn't check. Look for recall and appointment reminder settings in your system, and use the texts from Step 2 as the wording.

Best

Recall runs itself

This is the version that asks the least of your team: the front desk only touches the replies that really need a person. It's within reach for a small office, and it isn't one setting. It takes connecting the pieces and watching the first month closely.

Here's what the fully automatic version does:

  • Patients get the recall text when they're due, with your booking link, and one follow-up if they don't book.
  • Texts stop the moment they book. Weave, for one, won't send a recall text to a patient who already has a future appointment.
  • Confirmations land in the schedule. A reply of C updates the appointment in systems that read replies, such as Open Dental, Weave, Curve and RevenueWell.
  • A cancellation gets offered to patients who asked for an earlier time, so the chair doesn't sit empty.
  • You see the numbers each month: recall booked, confirmed, missed. If they don't move, you change the timing.

How small offices get there: the practice software does a lot of this already. The gaps are usually the cancellation list and the monthly numbers, and joining it all up. That's what the Boldwright starter package sets up for you, in your office's words.

Step 4

Check it worked

An office manager straightening the cushions on the chairs in a calm, empty waiting room.
Count it for two months: recall bookings, and how many booked patients actually came in.
  • Create a test patient with your own mobile number and a recall due date of today. Wait for the recall text and tap the link. It should open your booking page, not a login screen.
  • Book a test appointment for tomorrow. Check that the confirm text arrives, then reply C and check that the appointment shows as confirmed in your schedule.
  • Check that the morning-of text arrives with the right time and office phone.
  • Write down this month's numbers before you switch it on: recall appointments booked, and missed appointments. Compare after two months. If nothing has moved, change the timing before you give up on it.

If something's off

Common snags

Patients reply with questions instead of booking

That's a good sign, it means they're reading. Decide who watches replies during office hours so nobody waits long for an answer.

Replying C didn't confirm the appointment

Your system may expect a different word, or only read replies to its own automated texts. Open Dental needs the code alone. RevenueWell only reads replies within 72 hours of the automated message.

Some patients aren't getting texts

Check their mobile number and their text permission in the patient record. Systems skip patients who haven't agreed to texts.

Won't patients find it annoying?

Two recall texts and two appointment texts per visit is a light touch. After the second recall text, a friendly call works better than a third text.

Is it okay to text patients?

Text only patients who agreed to texts. Keep them to names, times and the office, honor STOP replies, and ask whoever handles compliance for your office. This isn't legal advice.

Want recall and reminders running on their own?

We're a small, new shop in Denver, and this is the kind of thing we set up for people: the recall text with your booking link, the follow-up, and the confirm and morning-of texts, set up in the system you already pay for, in your office's words. Your front desk gets the afternoon back.

Talk to Boldwright

Starter package: set up in a week or less. $297 setup, then $70 a month once you've seen it work. No contract. Cancel by text.