The dental patient journey: mapping it for new patients

The dental patient journey is every step a person takes from deciding they need a dentist to becoming a patient who comes back. For a new patient it runs through a Google search, a comparison of reviews and websites, a phone call or booking, the first visit, the treatment plan and the first recall. This guide maps those stages, shows where new patients most often drop out, sets out the rules that apply at each step, and gives you a patient journey mapping template to use with your team.

What is a patient journey?

A patient journey is the sequence of steps and contacts a patient has with a healthcare service, seen from the patient's side rather than the provider's. In hospitals the phrase usually describes a clinical pathway. In dentistry it is broader and more commercial: it includes how people find you, how easy you are to contact and how clear your costs are, as well as the care itself.

The point of thinking in journeys is that patients do not experience departments. They experience one practice. A superb clinician cannot make up for a phone that rings out, and a polished website cannot make up for a treatment plan that arrives without a price.

The nine stages of the new dental patient journey

Stage by stage: where new patients drop out

Search: being found at the moment of need

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that complete and accurate business information makes a profile more likely to show for relevant searches. The common failure here is not a bad profile but a half-finished one: missing services, out-of-date hours, no holiday closures. Our guide to local SEO for dentists covers what decides the three map places.

For NHS care, the journey often starts on the NHS website instead. The NHS tells patients they can contact any NHS dentist and ask for an appointment. In England, practices with an NHS contract must confirm their NHS website profile every quarter, including whether they are accepting new NHS patients. A profile that says yes when the answer is no creates calls you cannot help, and the reverse loses patients you could have seen.

Compare: reviews, prices and trust

Once a patient has a shortlist, reviews do much of the work. Across the 1,489 UK places we measured, the median star rating of practices in the local pack was 4.8, and 72% were at 4.6 or better. A high rating is normal among visible practices, so what tends to separate them is the number of reviews, how recent they are and whether the practice replies.

Prices are the other big question at this stage. Patients want to know roughly what a new patient examination costs and whether you are NHS, private or both. The GDC requires practices to make clear in their advertising and publicity whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private. Putting a basic price list on the website as well as in reception answers the question before the patient has to ask it.

Contact: the step most practices never measure

This is where interest turns into an appointment or evaporates. Things to check:

• Are calls answered at the times patients actually call, including first thing in the morning and lunchtime?
• Is there a voicemail or call-back route when the line is busy, and does anyone follow it up the same day?
• Do web forms and messages get a reply within a working day?
• Can a patient book from your Google profile? Google lets you add up to 10 links per category, including links to book an appointment.

Before the visit: confirmations, forms and reminders

A confirmation straight after booking and a reminder before the appointment are routine. The ICO treats messages that confirm or remind people about appointments as service messages rather than marketing, as long as they contain nothing promotional.

Medical history forms sent ahead of the visit save chair time, but they collect health data, which the ICO describes as special category data needing extra protection. Use a secure form, not an email attachment, and ask only for what you need.

First appointment: the treatment plan and the cost

The GDC's Standards for the Dental Team say you must give patients a written treatment plan before treatment starts, with a realistic indication of the cost and whether each part is NHS or private, and that you must tell patients immediately, in writing, if the plan changes. They also require a simple price list to be clearly displayed in reception. These are rules, but they are also good journey design. A patient who leaves knowing exactly what happens next and what it costs is far more likely to book the treatment.

After the visit and recall: where loyalty is won

Book the next step before the patient leaves the building. Ask for a review in a way that follows Google's policy: every suitable patient, no incentives, and no filtering for happy patients only. The GDC also expects a written complaints procedure displayed where patients can see it, so the unhappy patient has a route that is not a one-star review.

Finally, the recall. NICE recommends that the interval between check-ups is set for each patient based on their risk, from 3 months up to 24 months for adults and up to 12 months for under-18s. The journey only completes if the patient knows when they are due and finds it easy to rebook.

Patient journey mapping: how to do it in an afternoon

Patient journey mapping means walking through each stage as a patient would and writing down what actually happens. You do not need software. You need a few hours and some honesty.

1. Search for yourself on a phone. Use "dentist" plus your town and the treatments you most want. Note where you appear, who appears above you and what your profile shows.
2. Read your profile and website as a stranger. Can you tell, within a minute, whether you take new NHS or private patients, what a first visit costs and how to book?
3. Call the practice at a busy time, or ask a friend to. Note how long it takes to answer and whether the caller gets a clear next step.
4. Send a web enquiry and a message and time the replies.
5. Try to book online from a phone, if you offer it.
6. Read every message a new patient receives, from confirmation to recall, in order.
7. Ask the front desk which questions new patients ask most. Each repeated question is a gap in your website or messages.
8. Pick the three worst gaps and fix those first.

A patient journey mapping template

Copy this into a spreadsheet with one row per stage. The useful column is the last one.

Common patient journey examples in a dental practice

Most new patients arrive on one of a handful of routes, and each stresses different stages.

• Someone new to the area. No urgency, so they compare carefully. Search and comparison matter most: reviews, a clear new patient page and visible prices.
• Someone in pain. Urgent, often calling first thing in the morning. Contact is everything: whether the phone is answered and whether you offer emergency slots, and say so on your profile.
• Someone wanting a specific treatment, such as implants or aligners. They search for the treatment, not "dentist", so they need a dedicated page that answers their questions and a consultation that is easy to book.
• A family moving practices together. They need to know about appointment times around school and work, and whether children are seen on the NHS.

What are the barriers for new dental patients?

The barriers that stop people reaching a dentist tend to be the same ones that stop them reaching your practice: not knowing whether you can see them, not knowing what it will cost, anxiety, and appointment times that clash with work. The NHS itself acknowledges that patients may find it difficult to find a local dentist offering NHS appointments. Every barrier you remove from your own journey, by saying clearly who you can see, publishing prices, describing what a first visit involves and offering clear contact routes, makes you the easier choice.

How to measure the journey

Pick one number per stage and look at it monthly. Your Google Business Profile performance report shows calls, website clicks, direction requests and bookings made through a booking provider. Your phone system shows answered and missed calls. Your practice management software shows new patient appointments, treatment plan acceptance and overdue recalls. Put them side by side and the weakest stage is usually obvious.

For more on filling the top of the journey, see our guide on how to get more dental patients. If you want to see the search stage the way patients see it, the free search audit needs no email.