Around 35% of calls to dental front desks are missed.

AI receptionist for dental practices

An AI receptionist for dental practices is a voice agent that answers your practice phone, website chatbot, and email. It books check-ups and hygiene appointments, answers patient questions from a knowledge base your team updates, takes messages, and transfers genuine dental emergencies to a person when configured, handling many calls at once.

In short

Answers the practice phone, website chatbot, and email on your existing number, with no busy tone.
Books check-ups, hygiene, and new-patient appointments, and transfers genuine emergencies to a person when configured.
Runs fully automatic or in approval mode, live in minutes, from £49 a month.

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A dental treatment room, with the chair, overhead light and instrument tray ready for the next patient.

Withheld number

Answered by Kalvo

Live02:14

Kalvo

...that does sound like a dental emergency. I am putting you through to the on-call dentist now.

Transferred to on-call dentist

Photo: Kari Bjorn Photography, Unsplash

around35%

of calls to dental front desks are missed, despite 6 hours a day on the phone

Source: Arini (Y Combinator W24)

An empty dental treatment room, with the chair, overhead light and instrument tray ready for the next patient.

In the practice

The phone rings while your team is at the chair.

Photo: Kari Bjorn Photography, Unsplash

What is an AI receptionist for dental practices?

An AI receptionist for dental practices answers your phone, website chatbot, and email on the number patients already call. It books appointments, answers questions from a knowledge base your team writes in plain language, takes messages, and transfers genuine emergencies to a person when configured. It handles many calls at once, with no busy tone. Your front desk is on the phone for much of the day, so calls slip to voicemail while the team is with patients at the chair or in the diary. Kalvo picks up every call, on your existing number, either by pointing the number at Kalvo or by a divert when reception cannot answer. It runs fully automatic, or in approval mode where suggested bookings and messages wait for a team member to confirm. You update the knowledge base yourself, in plain language, so opening hours, fees, parking, and which treatments you offer stay current without a developer.

How does it handle out-of-hours dental emergencies?

Out of hours, Kalvo answers calmly and works out whether the caller has a genuine dental emergency, such as severe toothache, a knocked-out tooth, or facial swelling. When you have configured it to, it transfers those callers to the on-call dentist. Otherwise it takes a clear message and books the patient in. You decide what counts as an emergency and where genuine ones go, so a patient in real pain reaches a person rather than a voicemail. For everything else, Kalvo records the patient's name, number, and what is wrong, then leaves it ready for the team first thing. Because it answers every call at once, a rush of evening or weekend calls never returns a busy tone. Nervous callers hear a steady, unhurried voice that tells them what happens next, which matters most when someone is in pain and worried late at night.

Can it handle new-patient calls and bookings while the front desk is busy?

Yes. While your front desk is mid-call or with a patient, Kalvo answers new-patient enquiries and books check-ups and hygiene appointments straight away, on your existing number. Dental front desks miss around 35% of inbound calls, so having a second voice that never rings busy keeps those patients from slipping away. Callers can book, reschedule, or ask about fees, availability, and what a first visit involves, and Kalvo answers from the knowledge base your team keeps current. It writes bookings into your practice diary, and in approval mode a team member confirms each one before it lands. The website chatbot and email work the same way, so a new patient filling in a form at 9pm gets a real answer and a booked slot, not a queue for the morning. WhatsApp is coming soon. Your team keeps the calls that need a human and hands the routine ones to Kalvo.

How does it treat nervous or anxious patients?

Kalvo speaks in a calm, natural voice and never rushes. It listens, answers plainly, and repeats details like appointment times so an anxious patient feels heard rather than processed. There is no hold music, no busy tone, and no pressure. Patients can take their time, and the tone stays steady throughout. Many people put off dental care because calling feels stressful. A voice that stays unhurried, explains what happens at a visit, and confirms the next step can be the difference between a patient booking and a patient hanging up. You control the words. In the knowledge base you can set how the practice describes nervous-patient appointments, sedation options, or a gentle first consultation, and Kalvo uses your language, not generic script. If a caller would rather speak to a person, it takes a message or transfers when you have set that up, so no one is ever stuck with the machine.

Emergency cover

You set what counts as an emergency.

Choose the hours Kalvo may put a live caller through to your team, and the words that send a caller straight to the on-call dentist whatever the time. Outside those hours, and for everything that is not urgent, Kalvo takes a clear message and books the patient in.

The Kalvo call-transfer settings. Transfer to a human is enabled, limited to a weekly schedule, with emergency keywords that transfer a caller immediately regardless of the time.

Handling patient calls

What happens to what a patient says.

Calls are not recorded

Kalvo does not record or store call audio. Each call is written up as a text transcript, and that transcript is what your team reads in the dashboard.

Your team writes the answers

Everything Kalvo tells a patient comes from a knowledge base your team writes and edits in plain language, so fees, opening hours and treatments stay as the practice states them.

Urgent callers reach a person

You decide the hours a live caller can be put through, and the words that count as an emergency and transfer straight away. Everything else becomes a message for the morning.

Common questions

Can we keep our existing practice number?

Yes. Kalvo works on the number patients already call. You either point the number at Kalvo, or set up a divert so calls reach Kalvo only when the front desk cannot pick up. Nothing on your printed material, website, or Google listing needs to change, and patients notice no difference.

What happens with an emergency out of hours?

When configured, Kalvo transfers a genuine dental emergency, such as severe pain, a knocked-out tooth, or swelling, to your on-call dentist. You decide what qualifies and where those calls go. For non-urgent calls it takes a message and books the patient in, so nobody urgent is left waiting on voicemail.

Does it book into our practice system?

Yes. Kalvo writes appointments into your practice diary so check-ups, hygiene visits, and new-patient slots appear where your team already looks. You can run it fully automatic, or in approval mode where each booking waits for a team member to confirm before it is added, keeping the diary under your control.

How is patient data handled?

Patient data is handled under UK GDPR. Kalvo processes calls, messages, and bookings to run the service you have asked for, and you stay in control of what the knowledge base holds and where messages go. We are a Channel Islands company and treat patient information with the care dental records require.

How much does it cost?

Three plans: Starter at £49 a month for 100 minutes, Growth at £99 for 400 minutes, and Pro at £199 for 1000 minutes. Choose by how many call minutes your practice handles. You can go live in minutes on your existing number, and move up a plan as call volume grows.

Put Kalvo on your dental front desk

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