Answering service for dental practices. No patient left on hold.
Front desks juggle check-ins, insurance calls and a ringing phone. When a call goes unanswered, a new patient often calls the next practice. Wenly answers every call in your practice's name, takes appointment requests and messages, and emails your team in 30 seconds. It never diagnoses, and it never says a visit is booked unless it can be confirmed.
Or call the live demo line: (512) 555-0142
Missed-call scenarios
Three calls dental practices can't afford to miss
Scenario 1
A patient knocks out a tooth at 7pm
A parent's teenager took a ball to the mouth at practice and a front tooth came out. The clock is running.
Without an answer
The office closed at 5. The parent gets a recording and has to guess what to do. Time matters, so they go to the ER or another dentist.
With Wenly
Wenly takes the name and number first, marks the call urgent, and tells the caller to keep the tooth moist in milk and to seek care within the hour. It doesn't diagnose. After hours it also points them to an urgent dental clinic or the ER if symptoms get worse, and your team gets a priority email.
Scenario 2
A new patient searches “dentist near me” at lunch
Someone new to town needs a cleaning and a checkup. They call three practices from their car during lunch.
Without an answer
Your front desk is with patients and both lines are ringing. The third call goes to voicemail. New patients rarely wait.
With Wenly
Wenly takes the name, the callback number, whether they are a new or existing patient, the reason for the visit and preferred days and times. It never says a visit is booked. It tells the caller your team will call back to confirm.
Scenario 3
A parent calls at 8am Monday about a weekend toothache
The toothache started Saturday. The parent has waited through the weekend and needs an appointment first thing.
Without an answer
Monday at 8am is when the phones are busiest and the front desk is just opening. The call gets lost among a dozen voicemails.
With Wenly
Wenly separates severe pain, swelling and fever from routine cleanings, and flags the urgent ones for your team's first callback.
The call and the text
What the caller hears, and what you get
The caller hears your company's name and a short line saying the call is answered automatically and may be recorded. You get the lead as a text.
Wenly
“Thanks for calling Riverside Family Dental. This call is answered automatically and may be recorded. I can take an appointment request or a message. What can I do for you?”
Caller
“Hi, I'd like to book a cleaning. I'm a new patient.”
Wenly
“Happy to take that down. Can I have your full name? Please spell the last name.”
Caller
“Maya Chen. C-H-E-N.”
Wenly
“Thanks, Maya. Is the number you're calling from the best one to reach you?”
A fictional business and caller. The wording is tuned to each company.
What Wenly asks for
- Whether the caller is a new or existing patient
- Name (last name spelled out) and callback number, confirmed
- The reason for the visit, in the caller's own words
- Preferred days and times
- Whether it is routine, urgent or an emergency
- Anything else your practice asks us to collect
Urgent rules
Urgent calls and safety rules for dental practices
We set these with you at setup, starting from the defaults for your trade. Wenly is not a substitute for 911. When anyone is in danger, callers are told to call 911.
Safety first
Trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling spreading to the eye or neck, heavy bleeding that won't stop, chest pain, signs of a stroke, or a serious head or jaw injury
Wenly says: “That sounds like it needs emergency care right now. Please hang up and call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.” Then it ends the call.
Urgent
Severe tooth pain, a knocked-out or broken tooth, facial swelling without breathing problems, fever with tooth pain, or a lost filling or crown with pain
Wenly takes the name and number first. During office hours the call transfers to your team if you have set that up. Otherwise your team gets a priority email. After hours, if symptoms get worse, the caller is pointed to an urgent dental clinic or the ER. For a knocked-out tooth: keep it moist in milk and seek care within the hour.
Wenly never diagnoses and never suggests medication doses. It never takes card numbers: billing questions get a callback from your billing team.
What you get
24/7 answering service for dental practices
Phone plans start at $29 a month with 150 minutes. Starter is $99 with 500 minutes.
Answered in seconds, trained for your trade.
Wenly picks up when you can't, greets callers in your company's name, and asks what your trade would ask.
On Done-for-you, Pro and Founding, a real person on our team reviews every lead.
A real person on our team reviews every lead after delivery and corrects unclear details.
A weekly “jobs saved” report.
Calls answered, leads captured, urgent calls caught, and what those leads are worth to you. Proof, every week.
Guarantee: If we don't catch at least 10 leads you'd have missed in your first 30 days, you don't pay.
No long explanations. Try it for 30 days, and if it doesn't catch the jobs voicemail was losing, it's free.
The numbers
What missed calls cost dental practices
Starting values are examples for this trade, not averages. Change them to match your business.
What are missed calls costing you?
The starting numbers are examples, not averages. Change them to match your business.
Lost to missed calls
You could be losing about $7,583 a month.
That is about $91,000 a year, from about 11 jobs a month.
5 calls a week × $700 × 50% × 4.33 weeks a month.
Wenly Starter is $99 a month. At your average job, winning back 1 job a month covers it.
Start free for 7 daysQuestions dental practices ask
Can it book appointments?
Wenly doesn't connect to practice management software like Dentrix or Open Dental yet, so it can't see or change your schedule, and it never says a visit is booked. It takes the request: name, number, new or existing patient, the reason and preferred times. Your team calls back to confirm.
Is Wenly HIPAA compliant?
We don't make HIPAA compliance claims on this site. Wenly is built to take scheduling requests and messages: name, number, reason for the visit and preferred times. It doesn't ask for medical history, and it never diagnoses. If your practice needs a business associate agreement (BAA) before patient calls go live, tell us at the start. We won't switch on live patient calls until that is settled.
What happens with a dental emergency?
For anything life-threatening, such as trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling spreading to the eye or neck or heavy bleeding, it tells the caller to hang up and call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. For severe tooth pain, a knocked-out tooth or facial swelling without breathing problems, it takes the name and number first and flags the call urgent for your team.
Will it give medical advice?
No. It never diagnoses and never suggests medication. For a knocked-out tooth it gives one safety instruction: keep the tooth moist in milk and get care within the hour.
Can it answer insurance questions?
Only from what you give us, like which insurance plans you accept. If the answer isn't in your info sheet, it says your team will call back.
How does the cost compare with missing calls?
Starter is $99 a month. At a $700 first-year value per new patient, one new patient you would have missed covers it more than twice over. And if we don't catch at least 10 leads you'd have missed in your first 30 days, you don't pay.
Keep reading
How it works for you
How it compares
- Wenly vs hiring a receptionistWenly vs hiring a receptionist: the real cost of one person, why 24/7 takes four, and what a receptionist does that Wenly doesn't.
- What a missed call actually costs a home-service businessOne formula, one calculator and ten worked examples for what missed calls cost a home-service business, plus a way to find your real number this week.
Related trades
Hear it answer. Then start free.
On business plans: If we don't catch at least 10 leads you'd have missed in your first 30 days, you don't pay.