Dental Ai Receptionist

Complete AI voice receptionist system for dental practices. 12 workflows covering inbound call routing, appointment booking, reminders, no-show followup, cancellation/waitlist, after-hours capture, patient recall, FAQ handling, staff escalation, CRM sync, daily reports, and SMS reply handling.

A production-ready, 12-workflow AI voice receptionist system for dental practices. Handles inbound calls, appointment booking, reminders, cancellations, waitlist management, patient recall, and staff escalation — fully automated.

Problem

Dental practices lose revenue from missed calls, no-shows, and manual scheduling overhead. Front desk staff spend 60-70% of their time on phone calls that could be automated. After-hours calls go to voicemail and patients book elsewhere.

This system provides 24/7 AI-powered call handling, automated reminders, and intelligent patient management.

What It Does

1. Inbound Call Routing — AI answers calls, identifies intent (booking, cancellation, FAQ, emergency), routes accordingly
2. Appointment Booking — Books appointments with calendar integration and SMS confirmation
3. Smart Reminders — Sends 48h, 24h, and 2h reminders to reduce no-shows
4. No-Show Followup — Automatically follows up with patients who miss appointments
5. Cancellation & Waitlist — Handles cancellations and fills gaps from waitlist
6. After-Hours Capture — Captures calls outside business hours for next-day followup
7. Patient Recall — Proactive outreach for overdue care (cleanings, checkups)

Included Workflows

#	File	Purpose
01	01-inbound-call-handler.json	Call intake, intent classification, business hours routing
02	02-appointment-booking.json	Book appointments, calendar sync, PMS integration
03	03-appointment-reminders.json	Multi-stage reminders (48h, 24h, 2h before)
04	04-noshow-followup.json	Detect no-shows, send followup messages
05	05-cancellation-waitlist.json	Process cancellations, auto-fill from waitlist
06	06-after-hours-capture.json	Capture after-hours calls for next-day callback
07	07-patient-recall.json	Recall campaigns for overdue patients
08	08-faq-handler.json	AI-powered answers to common questions
09	09-staff-escalation.json	AI summary + alert for calls needing human attention
10	10-crm-sync.json	Sync patient data with CRM (HubSpot, PMS)
11	11-daily-report.json	Daily metrics email (calls, bookings, no-shows, etc.)
12	12-sms-reply-handler.json	Process inbound SMS replies from patients

Architecture

text

Inbound Call (Vapi AI Voice)
    |
    v
Workflow 01: Intent Classification
    |
    +-- Booking ---------> Workflow 02: Appointment Booking
    |                           |
    |                           v
    |                      Google Calendar + PMS
    |
    +-- Cancellation ----> Workflow 05: Cancel + Waitlist Fill
    |
    +-- FAQ -------------> Workflow 08: AI FAQ Response
    |
    +-- Emergency -------> Workflow 09: Staff Escalation
    |
    +-- After Hours -----> Workflow 06: Capture for Callback
    |
    +-- All Events ------> Workflow 10: CRM Sync
                                |
                                +-> Google Sheets (Call Log, Appointments, Patients)
                                +-> HubSpot CRM (optional)

Scheduled:
+-- Workflow 03: Appointment Reminders (hourly check)
+-- Workflow 04: No-Show Followup (every 2 hours)
+-- Workflow 07: Patient Recall (weekly)
+-- Workflow 11: Daily Report (once daily)
+-- Workflow 12: SMS Reply Handler (webhook-triggered)

Required n8n Credentials

Credential Type	Used For	Placeholder in JSON
Google Sheets OAuth2	Call logs, appointments, patient records	YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEETS_CREDENTIAL_ID
SMTP (Gmail or custom)	Reminders, reports, notifications	YOUR_SMTP_CREDENTIAL_ID
Google Calendar OAuth2	Appointment scheduling	Set via GOOGLE_CALENDAR_CRED_ID env
OpenAI	FAQ answer generation, call summaries	Set via OPENAI_CRED_ID env
Twilio	Voice calls, SMS messaging	Set via TWILIO_CRED_ID env

Environment Variables

bash

# Google Sheets
DENTAL_CALL_LOG_SHEET_ID=your-sheet-id
DENTAL_APPOINTMENTS_SHEET_ID=your-sheet-id
DENTAL_PATIENTS_SHEET_ID=your-sheet-id

# Google Calendar
DENTAL_CALENDAR_ID=your-calendar-id

# Clinic Details
DENTAL_CLINIC_NAME=Your Dental Practice
DENTAL_CLINIC_PHONE=[phone]
DENTAL_CLINIC_EMAIL=[e-mail]
DENTAL_CLINIC_ADDRESS=123 Main St, Your City
DENTAL_EMERGENCY_PHONE=[phone]
DENTAL_DENTIST_PHONE=[phone]
DENTAL_STAFF_EMAIL=[e-mail]
DENTAL_OWNER_EMAIL=[e-mail]

# Vapi AI Voice
VAPI_API_KEY=your-vapi-key
VAPI_API_URL=https://api.vapi.ai
VAPI_REMINDER_ASSISTANT_ID=your-reminder-assistant-id
VAPI_NOSHOW_ASSISTANT_ID=your-noshow-assistant-id
VAPI_WAITLIST_ASSISTANT_ID=your-waitlist-assistant-id
VAPI_RECALL_ASSISTANT_ID=your-recall-assistant-id

# Twilio
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER=[phone]
TWILIO_CRED_ID=your-n8n-twilio-credential-id

# n8n Infrastructure
N8N_WEBHOOK_BASE=https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook
GOOGLE_CALENDAR_CRED_ID=your-n8n-google-calendar-credential-id
OPENAI_CRED_ID=your-n8n-openai-credential-id

# Optional (CRM / Practice Management)
HUBSPOT_API_KEY=your-hubspot-key
PMS_API_URL=https://your-pms.com/api
PMS_API_KEY=your-pms-key

Google Sheets Schema

Call Log

Column	Type	Description
call_id	text	Unique call identifier
caller_phone	text	Caller's phone number
caller_name	text	Patient name (if identified)
intent	text	booking / cancellation / faq / escalation / after-hours
timestamp	datetime	Call timestamp
duration	number	Call duration in seconds
summary	text	AI-generated call summary
outcome	text	booked / cancelled / answered / escalated / captured

Appointments

Column	Type	Description
appointment_id	text	Unique ID
patient_name	text	Patient full name
patient_phone	text	Phone number
service_type	text	cleaning / checkup / filling / crown / etc.
date	date	Appointment date
time	text	Appointment time
status	text	confirmed / reminded / completed / no-show / cancelled
showed_up	boolean	Whether patient attended
reminder_48h	boolean	48h reminder sent
reminder_24h	boolean	24h reminder sent
reminder_2h	boolean	2h reminder sent

Patients

Column	Type	Description
patient_phone	text	Primary key
patient_name	text	Full name
email	text	Email address
last_service	text	Most recent service type
last_visit	date	Most recent visit date
recall_status	text	due / notified / scheduled / completed
total_visits	number	Lifetime visit count

Quick Start

1. Prerequisites

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted)
• Vapi.ai account (AI voice calls)
• Twilio account (phone number + SMS)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials
• Google Calendar API access

2. Create Sheets

Set up 3 Google Sheets with the schemas above: Call Log, Appointments, Patients. Optionally add Waitlist, Escalations, After-Hours Queue, and Daily Reports sheets.

3. Configure Vapi Assistant

Create a Vapi assistant with your dental practice's greeting, business hours, services, and FAQ responses.

4. Import Workflows

Import all 12 JSON files into n8n. Replace all YOUR_* placeholders and set environment variables.

5. Activate

Activate workflows in order: 01 first (inbound handler), then the rest. Test with a phone call to your Vapi number.

Use Cases

1. Solo dental practices — Replace or augment front desk with 24/7 AI receptionist
2. Multi-location dental groups — Centralized call handling across clinics
3. Dental service organizations (DSOs) — Scalable patient communication
4. Orthodontic practices — Long appointment cycles benefit from recall automation
5. Dental IT providers — Offer AI receptionist as a managed service to clients

Revenue Potential

• For practices: Reduce missed calls by 80%+, no-shows by 30-50%
• As a service: Charge $500-1,500/month per dental practice
• Per-call pricing: $1-3 per handled call

Requirements

• n8n v2.4+ (self-hosted recommended)
• Vapi.ai account ($0.05-0.10 per minute)
• Twilio account ($0.0075 per SMS)
• Google Sheets + Calendar API credentials
• Optional: HubSpot CRM, Dentrix/Eaglesoft/OpenDental PMS