12 of the best dental apps for dentists

Today, patients have a lot of options when it comes to dental providers, making it critical for dentists to market and manage their practices effectively. It’s more important than ever to keep bringing in new patients while retaining those you currently have, which is why many dentists are turning to digital tools to modernize their practices and maintain connections with patients.

Which tools should you consider implementing? Experts recommend the below dental apps to get the most bang for your buck.

12 dental apps that may work for your dental practice

1. Solutionreach

Solutionreach is a robust customer relationship management (CRM) platform that lets you keep all patient information in one place. Justin Bosco, president of Form + Function, says this solution is great for helping dentists activate recare, the process of ensuring patients return to your practice for follow-ups and routine visits.

Solutionreach features automated call reminders, appointment reminders through email and text, two-way texting, automated review requests through email, and even online scheduling. One downside, however, relates to marketing.

Bosco says, “The solution tends to push patients into a dental practice’s internal portal to review their visits. This is great for getting insights about the patient experience, but you lose the search engine optimization (SEO) benefit from patients providing their commentary on public review sites like Healthgrades, Yelp, etc.”

2. RevenueWell

Bosco says RevenueWell is an alternative to Solutionreach because it can also help activate recare and has a lot of the same features, including appointment reminders and automated call reminders. “Overall, it’s less robust than Solutionreach,” he says, “but some dentists may appreciate RevenueWell’s features” — such as appointment and review requests.

Instead of allowing patients to directly schedule appointments — like with Solutionreach — patients can request appointment times. This gives the dentist more control and visibility over their schedule. Plus, dental practices can send patients review requests via email and text. “Text is important for inspiring action with patients,” Bosco says. “It’s usually their preferred method of contact.”

3. Swell

Like RevenueWell, Swell enables appointment requests — patients can indicate what day and time they’d like an appointment, and the dentist can approve accordingly. But where this dental app really shines is with its focus on generating patient reviews and monitoring your practice’s online reputation.

“On top of that, Swell’s interface is more modern than older players in the market like Solutionreach and RevenueWell,” says Bosco.

Swell’s automated text messages ask patients to leave reviews on Google, Facebook, and other social media and review sites. Part of what makes Swell so effective is the ability to send personalized review requests.

One of Bosco’s dental clients has used Swell with great success: “After only a few months of using this solution, Oak Tree Dental is on track to surpass all local competitors in number and quality of reviews.”

4. LocalMed

Strictly an online appointment scheduler, LocalMed could be a good fit for you if you’re on a tight budget. Bosco says this solution is quite affordable and easy to use. It also integrates with a number of frequently used practice management systems — like Dentrix and Eaglesoft. “My only gripe is that the interface could be more user friendly,” he says.

5. Dynamic Dental Scheduling

Dynamic Dental Scheduling is scheduling optimization software that overlays a practice’s existing scheduling system. It helps dentists identify production goals for the year and understand the correct mix of dental procedures needed to hit those goals. “Predictable workflow and cash flow are important to dentists, and this solution addresses those concerns,” says Bosco.

For example, Dynamic Dental Scheduling ensures dentists don’t have too many intensive or lengthy procedures scheduled too close together. It also helps avoid appointment overruns, which could delay subsequent dental procedures and checkups.

6. CallRail

While not created specifically for dentists, CallRail is still a relevant marketing solution for the dental industry. CallRail uses dynamic number insertion, which is a snippet of code you can place on a website that will display a different phone number depending on a visitor’s traffic source. This means a visitor coming from a Facebook ad and a visitor coming from an organic Google search will see two different numbers.

The ability to display different numbers based on traffic source is important for dental campaigns. “With dental marketing campaigns, it’s essential to understand where patients are discovering our clients’ practices. CallRail and similar solutions that use dynamic number insertion make it easy to attribute calls to specific campaigns,” Bosco explains.

7. Kleer

Kleer is a dental app practices can use to manage their subscription-based membership plans, which consist of whatever treatments you desire — for example, a plan may include an exam, an x-ray, and discounts on more expensive procedures.

The platform makes it easy for practices to create plans, register members, collect payments, and analyze their program performance. Bruce Hogan, CEO of SoftwarePundit, says Kleer’s best feature is the auto renewal of patient memberships. “This helps dentists build a recurring revenue stream, collect membership payments on time, and reduce patient churn.”

8. Doctible

Doctible is a patient engagement platform that dental practices can use to attract new patients and communicate with existing patients. This app offers numerous features, including appointment scheduling, appointment reminders, online forms, payment collection, and review generation. Hogan says one of the best features of Doctible is its two-way patient communicator, which dentists can use to streamline one-on-one patient interactions.

9. Simplifeye

Simplifeye is a 24-7 chat service that dental practices can use to engage patients who visit their websites. The platform comes with a web chat app and a team of trained chatters — a unique feature among similar solutions. This allows you to fully outsource the management of your web chat to Simplifeye, which allows your staff to focus on in-office operations.

“Overall, Simplifeye helps its customers improve the conversion rate of their website traffic and more efficiently acquire patients online,” says Hogan.

10. Dentalk

Dentalk is a dental diagnosis and patient education app. It contains visual communication tools that help dentists explain various dental diseases, treatment procedures, and hygiene methods to patients.

Albert Lee, founder of Home Living Lab, says Dentalk’s videos and illustrations are accurate yet simple enough that a layperson can understand what their dentist is trying to convey to them. “With this app, dentists are better equipped to present complex treatment plans to patients, engage in clearer discussions, and achieve more desirable outcomes,” he says.

11. Enlive Dental

Enlive Dental is a complete digital solution that helps offices streamline their workflows by enabling patients to check in and fill out forms digitally. Patients can fill out forms prior to their appointment or upon arrival at your office.

Dr. Todd Bertman, founder and lead dentist at Advanced Dental Arts, likes the fact that Enlive Dental uploads information entered by the patient directly into his office’s practice management system. “This saves us a lot of time and eliminates our need to individually enter the patients’ demographics from a paper form. It’s also secured to protect patient privacy and prevent tampering,” he says.

12. Weave

Weave is primarily touted as a communication tool — providing the ability to call, email, and text customers — though it also includes payment collection and scheduling features. Dr. Bertman has used the app for a few years and appreciates how it ties in nicely with other dental solutions he uses and how it helps his team stay connected to patients.

For example, Weave allows patients to text the front desk to confirm upcoming appointments or ask questions about post-operation instructions or anything else. If the front desk is unable to answer a question, one of the dentists can address it. Dr. Bertman says this ultimately creates more accountability and improved communication between patients and staff.

“I can also monitor the communication between staff and patients by listening to voicemails or reviewing messages,” Dr. Bertman explains. “But what I like most about Weave is that my entire office staff can use it from their individual phones, which is quite convenient. Overall, it’s a great tool for both intraoffice and patient communications.”