Book Dental Appointments from WhatsApp with Open Dental

This recipe takes a booking request on WhatsApp from first message to an appointment in Open Dental. It works out the visit type, finds open slots of the right length with the right provider, and creates the appointment and, for new patients, the patient record. Part of the Open Dental integration.

What happens today

A patient messages at 9pm: “hi can I book a cleaning, evenings or saturday better”. The front desk sees it the next morning, checks the schedule, offers two times and waits. The patient answers at lunch, one time has gone, and the thread goes on. New patients also have to be added by hand before the appointment can go in.

The flow that works

The patient says what they need. AeroChat matches it to your appointment types for the length and the provider.
It asks one question about pain or swelling. A yes goes to your team, not into a routine slot.
It finds the patient in Open Dental by name and date of birth, or collects the details for a new patient.
It reads open slots of the right length with a matching provider and offers up to three.
The patient picks one. AeroChat creates the appointment, and the patient record if needed, and sends the confirmation.

The recipe

Copy this into AeroChat

When a patient asks to book, follow these steps.

Find out what the visit is for and the days and times they prefer. Use our appointment types list for the length and the provider. Example: check-up and cleaning, 60 minutes, hygienist. New patient exam, 60 minutes, dentist.

Ask: “Are you in any pain, or do you have swelling or bleeding?” If yes, do not book a routine slot. Collect the details and hand the conversation to our team.

Ask for their full name and date of birth, and find them in Open Dental. If they are new, collect their name, date of birth, phone number and email.

Check Open Dental for open slots of the right length with a matching provider. Offer up to three times closest to what they asked for.

When they choose, check the slot is still open. Create the patient record if they are new, then create the appointment with the visit type in the note.

Send a confirmation with the date, time, provider, our address, and what to bring, for example their insurance card and a list of current medications.

Never give clinical advice or say whether a treatment is needed. Only quote prices from our price list. If they ask something you cannot answer from our documents, hand over to our team. Reply in the patient’s language.

Change the appointment types, lengths and what-to-bring list to your own before you paste it.

What to connect

Open Dental. Your office adds the customer key for the integration under Setup, Advanced Setup, API, ticks Enabled, and keeps the eConnector running. Message us first and we’ll confirm the steps for your office. Enter the keys in the AeroChat dashboard when it asks.
Your appointment types and policies. Upload your visit types, lengths, prices and cancellation policy to the AeroChat knowledge base.
Payments, if you take deposits. Airwallex is built in. HitPay and Stripe connect with your API key if you already use them. Payment links are included from the Growth plan.

Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.

Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.

What you still decide

Which visit types patients can book in chat, and which need a call.
Which providers and operatories are open to chat bookings.
Whether new patients need a deposit.
The screening question, and what goes to a person.

AeroChat follows these as written. It never books a slot Open Dental has not shown as open.

The result to expect

Patients who ask in the evening or at the weekend get a booked appointment in the same chat, and your front desk stops relaying times back and forth. Measure it with your own numbers: appointments created from chat, and bookings made outside opening hours, for a month before and after you start.

Next: appointment confirmations and rescheduling and cancellation with Open Dental. See also the dental recipe for appointment booking.

Book your first appointment in chat

Paste the recipe, connect Open Dental, and message your own number asking for a cleaning next week.

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