Scripts

The new-patient phone script: six questions to ask first, before "when works for you?"

By the ClinicEcho team · Updated November 4, 2026 · For US med spas and dental practices

Most new-patient calls go straight from "hello" to "when works for you?" and the practice pays for it twice: in appointments booked into the wrong slot, and in patients who never arrive. Six questions, in order, with a script line for each, and the close that fills the gap in your schedule instead of adding to it.

A new patient's first experience of your practice is a phone call handled between a check-out and a ringing second line. In Tebra's June 2025 survey of 3,964 US adults, 82% of patients give a provider one or two chances before moving on, and the call is usually the first. It is also the only impression for a while: in the ADA Health Policy Institute's October 2023 poll, new patients waited about 14 days for an appointment at established practices and about 25 days at practices owned by dentists who graduated in the previous decade. Here is a script for that call, built around six questions that come before the one most desks ask first.

Why "when works for you?" comes last

Booking before asking costs the practice twice, and the ADA's polling puts a number on both. In the Health Policy Institute's April 2023 poll of 807 dentists, 81.3% named no-shows and cancellations inside 24 hours as the biggest hurdle to a full schedule, and 37.9% said not enough patients were making appointments. A call that jumps to the calendar produces both: a 60-minute new-patient slot given to someone who needed a 20-minute limited exam, no mobile number for the confirmation, and a patient who arrives to find her plan is not accepted. Ask six things first and the appointment is the right length, with the right person, who already knows what it will cost.

Question 1: "What's going on? Is anything hurting right now?"

The first question sets the appointment type and screens for an emergency before the desk gets lost in insurance.

"Thanks for calling [practice], this is [name]. Tell me what's going on; is anything hurting or broken right now, or is this a check-up?"

Pain, swelling, bleeding, a broken or knocked-out tooth, or trauma switches the call to your emergency path: screen for breathing and spreading swelling first, give only the dentist-approved comfort lines, and book the first urgent slot; our emergency protocol has the trigger list. Everything else maps to a slot type: a comprehensive new-patient exam, a limited exam for one problem, or a consult for the treatment they named. The type decides the length.

Question 2: "When did you last see a dentist, and do you know where your x-rays are?"

"When was your last dental visit, roughly? And if you had x-rays there, we can request them so we don't repeat any; do you remember the office name?"

The answer decides whether to book a full series of x-rays or request a transfer, and how to speak to the caller. "About six years," with an apologetic laugh, is common; the reply that books is "that's fine, the first visit is just a look and a plan."

Question 3: "Do you have dental insurance, and which plan?"

The question desks dread, and the one most callers are really asking. Take the plan name and member ID, say what is true about that plan in one sentence, and never quote a coverage percentage before the benefits check.

"Do you have dental insurance? Which plan? [In network:] Good, we're in network with [plan]; bring your card and we'll verify your benefits before you come in. [Out of network or none:] We're not in network with [plan], but most PPO plans still pay part of the cost here and we file the claim for you. The new-patient exam with x-rays is $[fee], and you'll get a written estimate before any treatment."

The last sentence is a requirement as well as a reassurance: in February 2023 CMS confirmed to the ADA that dental providers must give uninsured and self-pay patients a good faith estimate under the No Surprises Act. The answers for PPO, DHMO and self-pay callers are in our insurance scripts; load those three plan lists before anyone picks up the phone.

Question 4: "Is there anything we should plan around for your visit?"

Not a medical history; the written health form does that, and HIPAA's minimum-necessary standard covers requests for information as well as disclosures. One open question catches what should change the booking.

"Is there anything we should plan around, like a medical condition, dental anxiety, trouble with stairs, or a language you'd rather we use?"

Anxiety books a morning slot and a note for the hygienist; a wheelchair books the ground-floor operatory; a Spanish speaker books the day your bilingual assistant is in. A medical condition is written down for the dentist, with no clinical follow-up from the desk.

Question 5: "Who else in the house needs a dentist?"

"Do you have kids or a partner who'd want to come in too? We can book the family on the same morning so it's one trip."

A new-patient call is usually a household choosing a practice. Asking turns one appointment into two or three, and a family block is harder to no-show than a single slot. If a child around seven comes up, that is the age for a first orthodontic look; our orthodontic scripts cover it.

Question 6: "How did you hear about us?" and the details

"Last thing before we find a time: how did you hear about us? And can I take your full name, date of birth, a mobile number, and an email for the forms? Is it all right if we text you the forms link and a reminder on that number?"

"How did you hear about us" tells you which ad or referral produced a patient, and only works if the desk asks every time and writes it in the chart; our call-tracking guide shows how to match it against the phone number. The texting question is worth asking out loud. The FCC's 2015 ruling under the TCPA treats a patient giving a phone number to a healthcare provider as prior express consent for calls and texts about their care, and exempts appointment reminders from consent altogether if they are free to the patient, carry the provider's name and number, contain no marketing, run to at most one a day and three a week, and honour a STOP reply. Asking anyway, and noting the answer, keeps the consent clean.

Now: "when works for you?" done properly

An open calendar invites "let me check and call you back," which is a lost patient. Offer two times that fit the slot type from question 1, with the length and the price attached.

"For a first visit we set aside about an hour for x-rays, the exam and a cleaning if the dentist says it's fine the same day. I have Tuesday at 8:10 or Thursday at 2:30; which is better? [Booked.] You're set for Thursday at 2:30 with Dr. [name]. I'm texting you the forms now; they take about ten minutes. Bring your insurance card and a list of any medications. The exam and x-rays are $[fee] if your plan doesn't cover them, and we'll have your benefits checked before then. If anything changes, give us 24 hours notice so we can offer the time to someone else."

Three things in that close do the work: two choices rather than an open question; the forms sent while the caller is still on the line; and the 24-hour notice stated as a courtesy, the moment to mention a deposit if you take one. The ADA's first-visit guidance adds the last touch: greet the new patient by name on arrival, which only works if the name was taken down correctly on the call.

The after-hours version

The same call arrives at 12:30 and 6:40 pm, when most desks are at lunch or gone; our lunch-gap guide shows how to count yours. Whatever answers then, a service or an AI receptionist, should run the same six questions from the same lists. Then run the after-hours call test as a new patient with a chipped tooth and a plan you do not take, and read the transcript next morning. If it shows the slot type, the plan name, the source and a booked time, the script is working. If it says "caller requested an appointment," it is a voicemail with better manners.

Put it on one card

Print the six questions and script lines on one page for the desk, slot types and lengths on the back, and review yesterday's new-patient calls against it in the morning huddle for two weeks. Then watch three numbers from your own phone log and schedule: new-patient calls that end in a booked time, booked patients who arrive, and charts with a source and a mobile number. Our cost per booked patient guide covers the first two.

Hear what your patients would hear

ClinicEcho's AI receptionist is answering a demo dental practice right now. Call it, ask about an appointment, try to book. Then request a free audit and we'll call your own clinic after hours and show you what happens.

Call the demo: (602) 536-0014Get a free audit

Frequently asked questions

How long should a new-patient call take?

Four to six minutes when the six questions are asked in order and the desk offers two times rather than an open calendar. Longer calls usually mean the insurance question turned into a coverage debate, or the caller was asked to spell everything the forms will collect anyway.

Should the front desk collect the full medical history on the phone?

No. Ask one open question about anything that should shape the visit, such as a medical condition, anxiety or mobility, and leave the rest to the written health history. HIPAA's minimum-necessary rule applies to what is collected as well as what is shared, and a caller on a lunch break will not read out a medication list.

What if the caller only wants a price?

Give the new-patient exam fee and the range for the treatment they named, with "the exam sets the exact fee," then ask question one anyway: what is going on. Most price-only callers have a problem they have not mentioned yet, and the problem is what books.

Can an AI receptionist run this script?

Yes, from the lists you give it: emergency triggers, in-network plans, fees, the slot types and their lengths. ClinicEcho asks the six questions, screens for emergencies, books into your real new-patient slots, texts the forms link and sends you a transcript within a minute. $497 a month, 14-day free trial, BAA signed before the first call. Hear it on (602) 536-0014.

Sources

Read next

"Do you take my insurance?" scriptsQuestion 3 in full: PPO, DHMO and self-pay versions. After-hours emergency protocolWhere question 1 goes when the answer is "it hurts." Dental call tracking setupTurning "how did you hear about us" into a report.