Implant guides
What to record after an implant consult. A treatment coordinator checklist.
For treatment coordinators, office managers and dentists at practices that present implant and full-arch treatment.
Before the patient leaves, write eight things in your practice management system (PMS), apart from the clinical note.
- What they said: their concern, in their own words.
- What you presented: the plan, the fee and the financing discussed.
- What happens next: what the team promised, the next step and its date, and who owns it.
- Who else decides, and how the consult ended.
Why it gets written at the consult
The person who makes the follow-up call is not always the person who sat in the consult. They can only work from what was written down.
Dental A Team’s follow-up tips tell the caller to document conversations in the patient notes and to look at them before each call.
A note that reads “pt will think about it” gives the caller nothing to open with. A note that reads “worried about being without teeth at work; wants to ask her husband; call Thursday after 5” gives them an opening line.
The checklist
Write these eight things before the next patient sits down. The first four record what was said; the last four record what happens next.
- 1. The concern, in the patient’s words
- Write what they said, in quotes if you can. “Price objection” is a label. “Said the monthly payment is too much until her spring bonus” is something the caller can answer.
- 2. The plan and fee as presented
- Which option or options the dentist presented, the total you quoted, what it includes, and how long the estimate stands. The next caller should never quote a different number by accident.
- 3. The financing discussed
- Which payment options the office offered, whether the patient started an application, and the result if you know it. Record the lender’s name, and leave the terms in the lender’s documents.
- 4. What the team promised
- “Send the written estimate.” “Check whether insurance covers the extractions.” “Ask the lab about the timeline.” Each promise needs a name and a day.
- 5. Who else decides
- A spouse, an adult child, a second-opinion dentist. Write the person’s role and whether they were in the room. If they weren’t, the next step may be a visit for both of them.
- 6. The next step and its date
- What the patient agreed to, the date, and how they want to be reached: call or text, and the time of day.
- 7. One owner
- One named person owns the next contact. Write a person’s name, not “front desk”.
- 8. How the consult ended
- Pick one: scheduled, deposit taken, thinking it over, needs more information, referred out, declined.
ACT Dental’s guide to unscheduled treatment follow-up puts the patient’s primary concern and goals on its list of things to assess. It asks for notes that end with a reason for return, and a reminder in the practice software on the agreed day.
A sample entry
- Concern
- “I can’t be without teeth for my job. I talk to customers all day.”
- Plan and fee
- Upper full-arch, option A, [fee as quoted], estimate good until [date].
- Financing
- [Lender] discussed; application not started.
- Promised
- Send the healing timeline with temporary teeth (TC, by Wednesday).
- Also decides
- Spouse, not at the consult.
- Next step
- Call Thursday after 5 pm; the patient prefers a call to a text.
- Owner
- [TC name].
- How it ended
- Thinking it over; wants the spouse at the next visit.
Write it while you still remember the patient’s exact words.
Where to keep it
Keep the note in your PMS, where the next caller will find it, and apart from the clinical note. The dentist writes the clinical note. Keep both out of texts, personal phones and side spreadsheets.
The ADA’s guidance on patient records says the patient’s financial records, such as ledger cards, insurance benefit breakdowns and claims, are not part of the clinical record and should be kept separately.
In Open Dental, use the patient’s Commlog. On other systems, ask your vendor where a note about fees and financing belongs.
This checklist covers coordination only. It does not define what the clinical record or informed consent require.
Check your next 10 implant consults
Pull your next 10 implant consults and count:
- How many name one owner for the next contact?
- How many have an agreed next step with a date?
- How many have both?
If few have both, the follow-up problem starts in the consult room. Once the note is right, unscheduled treatment follow-up covers who owns the list, when to stop and how to count each stage.
Questions
- Who writes the note, the coordinator or the dentist?
- Whoever runs the fee and scheduling part of the consult writes this note. The dentist writes the clinical note.
- Isn’t the treatment plan enough?
- The plan says what treatment was proposed. It doesn’t say why the patient hesitated, who else decides or what you promised, and those are what a follow-up call needs.
- What if the patient won’t say why they’re hesitating?
- Ask what is in the way, and write down what they say, even if it’s “I need to think.” Add who asked and what was offered, so the next caller can open from there.
- How long should we keep calling?
- That depends on the patient’s date and your office’s schedule. The note should always hold the next date, so the case never sits with no plan.
- Do we need software for this?
- No. A consistent note in the PMS works. Software can save the typing, but the eight items are the same either way.
About HelloAugust
Drafting the note from the recorded consult
With August, your TC asks for the patient’s consent, then records the consult on an iPhone, an Apple Watch, an Android phone, or the Mac and Windows desktop apps.
August drafts notes from the recording. The person who recorded checks them before they are saved to the patient’s record.
In Open Dental, the reviewed summary goes to the patient’s Commlog. On other systems, what can be written depends on your PMS, version and connection.
Checked against
Sources
The practices and patients in the examples are made up.