Put in your own numbers and see roughly how much new-patient income goes to voicemail each year.
Existing patients usually ring back. New patients often do not: they are calling several practices and book with the first one that answers. Calls at lunchtime, early evening and when the front desk is busy are the ones most likely to be lost.
Many calculators build in big assumptions about how many calls are missed and what each patient is worth. This one starts with example numbers and asks you to replace them with your own. Your phone system or provider can usually show a week of missed calls; your practice software can tell you what a new patient spends in their first year.
Missed calls a week × 52 × the share that are new patients × the share who would have booked × a new patient’s first-year value. It is an estimate from your numbers, not a prediction.
Most phone systems show missed or abandoned calls in their call log or online portal. If you cannot find it, ask your provider for a week’s report.
Answer or text back every missed call within minutes, cover lunch and after hours, and make it easy to book online. Our Virtual Front Desk does the text-back and after-hours answering for UK practices.
The headline number is free. We email the full breakdown and a free report on what ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude say when patients near you ask for a dentist. We store your email and website to send them.