The new patient phone call: a script for what to ask, and in what order

It is 12:40 on a Tuesday. Your front desk is at lunch, and a woman who moved to town three weeks ago is sitting in her kitchen with a list of four dental offices her neighbor recommended. She calls the first one. If someone answers, says their name, and offers her a cleaning next Thursday at 9, she will book it and stop calling. If the phone rings out, she moves to the second name on the list.

That is the whole job of a new-patient call: turn a stranger who is comparing practices into a name in your schedule, before she hangs up. Everything below — the order of the questions, the exact words, what to leave for later — exists to make that happen in about five minutes, with a caller who feels looked after rather than processed.

Why the order matters

New callers decide quickly. The first ten seconds tell them whether they reached a real office; the first minute tells them whether anyone is listening. A call that opens with "date of birth?" feels like a form. A call that opens with "what brings you in?" feels like a conversation — and the answers to the form questions come more easily once the caller trusts you.

The order also protects the one thing that matters most: urgency. A caller who mentions swelling or pain in the second minute needs a different path from someone who wants a routine cleaning, and you only find that out if you ask why they are calling before you ask for their insurance.

The script, step by step

Placeholders are in square brackets. Read it a few times, then say it in your own words — callers can hear when someone is reading.

Step 1 · Greet (about 10 seconds)

Answer by the third ring, say the practice name first and your own name second. Smile while you say it; it changes the sound of your voice more than you would expect.

Step 2 · Find out why they are calling (about 30 seconds)

Let them talk. Write down the reason in their own words — "my crown came off," "I haven't been to a dentist in five years and I'm nervous" — because that note is what your dentist will read before the visit, and it is far more useful than a category.

Step 3 · Check for urgency

If they mention pain, ask three short questions. You are not diagnosing anything — you are deciding which kind of appointment to offer and how soon. Your dentist should decide in advance which answers mean "same day," which mean "first available," and which mean the call goes to them now.

If a caller describes trouble breathing or swallowing, or swelling that is spreading, tell them to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. That line belongs in every front-desk script, and it is not a judgment the person at the desk should have to make alone.

Step 4 · Take the details that book the visit (about one minute)

Only what you need to put them in the schedule and reach them again. Read the phone number back — a wrong digit is the most common reason a booked new patient becomes unreachable.

"How did you hear about us?" is the only marketing question worth asking on the call. Ask every time and write the answer down exactly — "Google," "my neighbor Ana," "the sign on Main Street." After three months it will tell you which of your marketing actually brings patients.

Step 5 · Answer the insurance question honestly

Almost every new patient asks "do you take my insurance?" — and it is the question most likely to get a confident wrong answer. "Take" can mean in-network, out-of-network with reimbursement, or simply "we'll file the claim," and coverage for a specific treatment depends on a plan the caller usually can't describe.

The safe pattern: confirm only what you know for certain (whether you are in network with that carrier), take the carrier name, and promise to check the rest before the visit.

What not to say: "you're covered," "that should be free," or any percentage. If the visit then costs something, the patient remembers the promise, not the plan's fine print.

Step 6 · Offer two times, book, and close

Never ask "when are you free?" — it hands the caller a blank calendar and invites "let me check and call you back." Offer two specific options. If neither works, ask which day of the week usually does.

When the caller hesitates

"Let me think about it" usually means one of three things: cost, fear, or a schedule problem. Ask, gently, which one — the answer tells you what to say next.

• Timing: offer the earliest morning or latest afternoon slot, or put them on a short-notice list.
• Cost: tell them the price of a new-patient exam and that treatment is always discussed before it's done.
• Nerves: say so out loud — "lots of our patients feel that way" — and offer to note it for the dentist.

If they still want to wait, take their number and ask permission to follow up: "Would it be all right if I called you on Friday?" Then call on Friday.

Six calls that don't follow the script

Most first calls fit the six steps. These six don't, and they are the ones front desks remember for the wrong reasons.

A parent calling for a child

Take the child's name and date of birth, and the parent's name and number as the contact. Ask whether this is the child's first dental visit — first visits for small children are usually shorter and scheduled at a different time of day, and your dentist will have a preference.

“How much is a cleaning?”

Price shoppers are still new patients. Give the real price of a new-patient exam and cleaning if you have one, explain in one sentence what it includes, and move straight to a time. Refusing to quote a price sounds like hiding one.

“Can I get in today?”

Ask why first. A broken tooth or swelling goes through your urgency path; a routine cleaning "as soon as possible" gets the earliest regular slot and a place on the short-notice list.

A second opinion

Callers who have been told they need major treatment elsewhere are often anxious about cost or trust. Book a consultation rather than a cleaning, and ask them to bring or request their X-rays and treatment plan, so the visit isn't spent repeating images.

A caller who speaks Spanish when no one at the desk does

Don't put them on hold to find someone. Say, in simple Spanish, that someone will call back in Spanish, take the number, and make sure it happens the same day. A caller left on hold in a language they don't understand almost always hangs up.

The caller who just wants to ask a question

Answer it — parking, hours, whether you see children — and then offer a time anyway. People often call "just to ask" because booking feels like a commitment; a friendly offer of two times turns a question into a visit more often than you would think.

How to tell whether your calls are working

One number tells you most of what you need: of the calls from new patients this week, how many ended with a booked appointment? Keep a tally at the desk for two weeks — a simple mark for every new-patient call, and a second mark when it ended in a booking. Then look at the ones that didn't.

• Most of the misses happened at lunch or after 4 p.m.? That's a coverage problem, not a script problem.
• Calls were answered, but ended with "we'll call you back"? Practice step 6 until offering two times is automatic.
• Lots of "I'll think about it"? Listen for which of cost, timing or nerves comes up most, and prepare the answer to that one.

Review it again a month later. A front desk that sees its own numbers improves faster than one that is told to "convert more calls."

Phone habits that make new patients book

The script carries the words. These habits carry the tone — and new patients judge the tone before they judge the words.

1. Pick up by the third ring. It is the standard most front desks set, and it leaves no time for a caller to wonder whether anyone is there.
2. Say the practice name first. It confirms they dialed the right number before anything else.
3. Ask before you hold. "Can I place you on a brief hold?" — and wait for the answer. Come back within a minute, even if only to say you're still checking.
4. Use their name once or twice. Not in every sentence; that sounds like a sales call.
5. Don't talk to the waiting room while you're on the phone. If someone walks up, a hand signal can wait; the caller can't see it.
6. Repeat the important numbers. Phone, date, time. Errors there cost you the patient.
7. Answer in the caller's language when you can. If you can't, say so kindly and find someone who can — or arrange a call back in Spanish the same day.
8. Close with what happens next. Forms, what to bring, how long the visit takes. Uncertainty is what makes people cancel.

When nobody can pick up

Lunch, the end of the day, two lines ringing at once — some first calls will reach no one. Two things limit the damage. A voicemail greeting that sounds like a real office and promises a call back (ten ready-to-record greetings are in dental office voicemail greetings), and a habit of returning every missed call within the hour, starting with numbers you don't recognize. What those unanswered calls are worth is worked through in how much missed calls cost a dental practice.

What to do tomorrow

1. Print the six steps and put them next to every phone at the front desk.
2. Ask your dentist to write down which urgency answers mean same day, first available, or "put the call through to me."
3. Write your in-network carriers on one card, so nobody has to guess.
4. Start recording "how did you hear about us?" for every new patient, word for word.
5. Pull last week's missed calls from unknown numbers and call them back.

Dentovox handles this call when your team can't: it answers in English or Spanish, asks the same questions in the same order, records urgent symptoms as an urgent callback request for your team, and books the visit straight into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft during the call, with the caller's reason written onto the appointment. You can hear it do exactly that on the demo line at (201) 690-2609, or see how the AI receptionist works.

Frequently asked questions

What should a dental receptionist ask a new patient on the phone?

Their reason for calling, whether there is pain, swelling or bleeding, their full name, mobile number and date of birth, how they heard about the practice, their insurance carrier's name, and which of two offered times suits them. The full medical history, member ID and signed policies can wait for the intake forms.

How long should a new patient phone call take?

Usually four to six minutes. Longer calls tend to be collecting details the intake forms will collect anyway; shorter ones often skip the urgency check or end without a booked time.

How should the front desk answer “do you take my insurance?”

Confirm only what you know for certain — whether you are in network with that carrier — then take the carrier name and promise to check benefits before the visit. Avoid saying a treatment is covered or quoting percentages on the call.

What if a new patient won't book on the first call?

Ask gently whether it is timing, cost or nerves, and answer that specific concern. If they still want to wait, ask permission to follow up on a specific day, and then call on that day.

Should new patient calls be answered in Spanish?

Where a meaningful share of callers speak Spanish, yes. A caller who can't explain why they are calling in their own language often hangs up and tries another office. The Spanish lines in this script mirror the English ones step by step.