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Fill short-notice dental cancellations from an ASAP list

Open Dental's Web Sched ASAP texts patients who want an earlier visit a link to claim an opening. From about $13£10€12A$19C$18 a month in texting fees.

At a glance

  • What it costs$13–33£10–25€12–30A$19–48C$18–47 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$430–860£323–647€385–769A$621–1,242C$608–1,216 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

A hygiene patient cancels the afternoon before and a 60-minute chair sits empty. If 4 gaps like that a week stay unfilled at an assumed $250£188€224A$361C$353 a visit, that's about $4,300£3,233€3,847A$6,208C$6,078 a month of lost production (4 x $250£188€224A$361C$353 x 4.3).

What the AI does

Patients who say they'd come in sooner go on Open Dental's ASAP list. When a slot opens, staff choose Text ASAP List on the open time, and Web Sched ASAP sends those patients a text or email with a link to take it and move their visit. Texts go out in staggered batches, only during your eServices sending window, and no patient gets more than 2 a day by default. It costs $20£15€18A$29C$28 a month, or nothing extra with Web Sched Recall. HIPAA: sign Open Dental's Business Associate Agreement before using eServices, and keep the wording to the time and a link.

A worked example

An illustrative example built from typical figures, not a named business.

A three-chair practice in Tampa with one dentist and two hygienists runs Open Dental and averages 4 short-notice cancellations a week. It already pays for Web Sched Recall, so ASAP adds only texting.

Before

4 empty slots a week: about $4,300£3,233€3,847A$6,208C$6,078 a month of production lost

After

1 to 2 of them refilled from the ASAP list each week

What it's worth

About $430£323€385A$621C$608 a month in profit, against $13£10€12A$19C$18 to $33£25€30A$48C$47 in fees. Refilling 1 to 2 cancellations a week at $250£188€224A$361C$353 is $1,075£808€962A$1,552C$1,520 to $2,150£1,617€1,924A$3,104C$3,039 of production (x 4.3); at an assumed 40% margin, that's $430£323€385A$621C$608 to $860£647€769A$1,242C$1,216. Fees: $5£4€4A$7C$7 for texting plus about 200 texts at 4¢, and $20£15€18A$29C$28 more if the practice doesn't have Web Sched Recall.

How to set it up

  1. Sign Open Dental's Business Associate Agreement and confirm the office is on support with the eConnector installed.
  2. Turn on Web Sched ASAP and Integrated Texting, and set the eServices sending window to sensible hours.
  3. Add patients to the ASAP list whenever they say they'd take an earlier time, and note which providers and times suit them.
  4. When a slot opens, right-click it and choose Text ASAP List, then check the schedule a few minutes later to see who took it.
  5. Run one test with a staff member's appointment before using it with patients, so you see exactly what the patient gets.

What goes wrong

  • Nothing goes out on its own: someone has to send from the open slot. On a busy morning that step gets forgotten, so make it one person's job.
  • Open Dental's manual doesn't say how two patients answering at once is handled. Test it and watch the first few openings closely.
  • Patients who opt out of ASAP messages for an appointment stop getting them. Respect that and don't phone them about every opening.
  • A list nobody updates goes stale fast. Remove patients once they've been moved or no longer want an earlier time.

Was this idea useful?

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Last updated October 18, 2026.