Hygiene recall

Definition

The system that brings patients back for cleanings, which fills the calendar and feeds the rest.

Why It Matters

A working recall system is the closest thing dentistry has to recurring revenue, so its size and reactivation rate say whether the patient base is active or quietly aging out. Ask how many patients have been seen in the last eighteen months rather than how many are in the system, because the difference between those two numbers is the honest patient count. The gap is also the first growth available to a new owner, and it costs a phone call.