How do I reactivate patients who haven't been in for 18 months or more?
Most clinics have hundreds of patients who drifted away. Many just need a reason and an easy way back.
- How many inactive patients do we have?
- What do we say to someone gone for two years?
- Can we text old patients?
Run a report of patients with no visit in 18 months or more and no future appointment. Segment by reason where you can: overdue hygiene, unfinished treatment, insurance change. Send a short, personal invitation with a booking link, follow up once, then move non-responders to a call list or a mailing. Check consent for promotional texts and emails.
Segments
| Segment | Message |
|---|---|
| Overdue hygiene | "It's been a while. Book your cleaning here." |
| Unfinished treatment | Coordinator follow-up about the plan |
| New benefit year | Coverage reminder |
| Moved away | Remove from list |
Measure it
Count reactivated patients and their first-year value. Many clinics find reactivation brings patients back at lower cost than ads.
How we look at it at ShoutEx
We pull the list, write the sequence and set up booking. Our recall guide and direct mail guide cover channels.
- One mass email.
- No consent check.
- Patients who moved still on the list.
- No tracking of who returned.
- A clean, segmented list.
- Personal messages.
- Mail for those without consent.
- Reactivations tracked.
What dentists and regulators say
Here is what dental teams and regulators say.
Implied consent from an existing relationship is generally limited to two years.
Read the CRTC FAQ →Hygienists discuss overdue patients and what brings them back.
Browse the threads →Community summaries describe recurring themes in public threads, not individual posts. Vendor pages describe vendor claims, so test them on your own calls.
Read next
Go deeper in the ShoutEx guides, or check the sources behind this answer.
We'll pull the list and run a reactivation campaign.
Book a call →Follow-up questions
How often should we run reactivation?
Quarterly works for most clinics.
Should we offer a discount?
Check your college's rules. A simple invitation often works.
When do we mark a patient inactive?
Set a rule, such as no visit in 24 months and no reply.