The recall list is 127 names long and the front desk has stopped scrolling. Behind it is a bigger, quieter list: the patients who have not been in for 18 months and no longer get a reminder at all. This page puts a figure on that second list.
How the estimate is worked out
Take the number of inactive patients. Multiply by the share who book when contacted. Multiply by the average production of a first visit back. That is the first-visit revenue. For the yearly figure, add what a patient who returns typically produces over the following twelve months, times the share who stay.
In words: first-visit revenue equals inactive patients, times response share, times production per returning visit.
Worked example: 600 inactive patients, 8 percent book, $240 for the first visit back (an exam, radiographs and a cleaning at a typical fee schedule). 600 times 0.08 is 48 patients. 48 times $240 is $11,520 on the first visits. If half of them keep their next hygiene visit and produce another $400 in the year, that is 24 times $400, or $9,600 more.
The calculator
Where each number comes from
Inactive count: pick a cut-off, usually 18 months since the last completed visit, and exclude patients who moved, died or asked not to be contacted. In Open Dental the patient table holds the status; the Recall list and a last-visit filter give the count. Dentrix’s Continuing Care module and Eaglesoft’s recall reports both let you set a date range far enough back to catch them.
Response share: the honest default is low. Count last time you ran a reactivation call or mailing: contacted versus booked. If you have never measured it, start at 5 to 10 percent and replace it after one campaign.
First-visit production: pull the fee for an adult prophy, a periodic exam and bitewings from your fee schedule, and remember a long-absent patient often needs a full series.
Reading the result
The number is an estimate of found revenue. It becomes recovered only when the visit is booked, completed and paid in your practice software. Compare it with the cost of the effort: a staff member’s hours on the phone, postage, or a mailing service.
Calibic’s Smart Recall (LIVE) ranks overdue and inactive patients by how likely they are to say yes, using appointment history and benefits, so the front desk starts with the names most worth a call. Contacting them from inside Calibic is ROADMAP. The connection is read-only. See Smart Recall, the recall rate benchmark guide, or the no-show cost calculator.