Dental appointment reminder text templates for a Belgian practice
These dental appointment reminder text templates cover the messages a Belgian practice sends every week: the confirmation at booking, the reminder two days before and on the day, the answer when an appointment is cancelled, the waiting-list offer, the recall for a check-up, the note to a new patient about the identity card, and the message after a missed appointment. Each one is written to fit in a single SMS once the placeholders in square brackets are filled in, names no treatment, and invites a reply, because a reply is what turns a no-show into a cancellation you can still refill. Copy them, adjust the tone to your practice, and read the five rules near the end before you send.
Tilcao is the operating system for dental practices in Belgium: its AI receptionist answers patient calls and WhatsApp messages in Dutch, French and English, and books, moves and cancels appointments in the practice’s own software, confirming and reminding so that fewer chairs sit empty.
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Appointment confirmation text, sent at booking
Send it straight after the appointment is made, and make it a message the patient can answer. A confirmation that invites a reply turns a would-be no-show into a cancellation that arrives days early, and a slot you hear about on Monday can still go to someone else on Thursday.
It carries the practice, the date, the time and the way out. It does not carry the treatment. The same text works as an e-mail: put the date and time in the subject line too, so the patient never has to open it. If your practice applies electronic third-party payment, add the identity card line from the new-patient text further down.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| At booking | Hello [first name], you're booked at [practice name] on [date] at [time]. Can't make it? Reply here and we'll find another time. |
Appointment reminder texts: two days before and on the day
Send the main reminder two days before the appointment, when a no still leaves time to offer the slot to someone on the waiting list. Add a short one on the morning itself for appointments booked months ago, such as a check-up. A reminder an hour before arrives too late to refill anything.
On WhatsApp a reminder is a message the practice starts, so outside the 24-hour window that follows the patient’s last message it can only go out as a template Meta has approved in advance. Submit the reminder once as a template, and it can then go to any patient who has opted in.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| 2 days before | Hello [first name], a reminder of your appointment at [practice name] on [date] at [time]. Can't come? Reply here and we'll move it. |
| On the day | Good morning [first name], see you today at [time] at [practice name]. Running late or can't come? Reply here or call [phone]. |
When a patient cancels, or the practice has to
Answer quickly, thank the patient, and offer two concrete times rather than asking them to ring. Two options are easier to answer than an open question. Then release the old slot at once, because this is the moment it can still go to the waiting list.
The same shape works when the practice has to cancel, because the dentist is ill or a room is out of use: say so plainly, apologise once, and put the two new times in the same message.
| Who | Text |
|---|---|
| Patient | Sorry, I can't make it on Thursday. |
| Practice replies | Thanks, [first name], we've cancelled [date]. Would [option 1] or [option 2] suit you? Reply 1 or 2, or suggest a time. |
| Practice cancels | Hello [first name], sorry, we have to cancel [date] at [practice name]. Would [option 1] or [option 2] suit you? Reply 1 or 2. |
Waiting-list text when a slot opens
This is the message that fills the gap. Send it the moment a slot opens, to the patients on your list whose treatment fits its length, and give the place to the first one who answers yes. Put that rule in the message, so nobody feels misled, and tell everyone who answers afterwards that the place has gone.
When you put a patient on the list, ask whether you may text them about an opening and on which channel. On WhatsApp that opt-in is a requirement of Meta’s own policy, and the patient has to know it is your practice they are agreeing to hear from.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| Offer | Hello [first name], a place just opened at [practice name] tomorrow at [time]. Would you like it? Reply YES. The first reply gets it. |
| First yes | It's yours, [first name]: [date] at [time] at [practice name]. See you then. |
| Too late | Thank you, [first name]. Someone replied just before you, so the place has gone. You stay on our list and we'll text you at the next opening. |
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform: businesses must obtain opt-in before messaging people on WhatsApp
Recall text for an adult check-up
A recall goes to a patient who has no appointment and should have one, so it is a different message from a reminder. In Belgium an adult recall has a concrete reason behind it. From the age of 19, a patient who had reimbursed dental care in the previous calendar year stays in the mondzorgtraject, the trajet de soins buccaux, and keeps the better reimbursement. Skip a calendar year and their own share goes up for treatments such as fillings, root canals and extractions.
That makes the autumn the natural moment to recall adults who have not been in since January. Name the calendar year, never an amount: amounts change, and RIZIV/INAMI publishes them.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| Recall | Hello [first name], it's time for your check-up at [practice name]. A visit before 31 December means better reimbursement next year. Reply to book. |
RIZIV/INAMI on the mondzorgtraject / trajet de soins buccaux, checked September 2026
Recall text for a child’s check-up
For children the rhythm is the half-year, not the calendar year. Under 18, two preventive oral examinations are reimbursed per calendar year, provided they fall in two different semesters, so a recall set to six months after the last visit regularly lands on the wrong date. Send it at the start of each half-year to the parents of children who have not been in during that half.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| Child recall | Hello [first name], time for [child's name]'s check-up at [practice name]. Under 18, two check-ups a year are reimbursed, one per half-year. Reply to book. |
New patient text: bring the identity card
A first visit needs one line more than a confirmation. From 1 October 2026, dentists who apply electronic third-party payment must verify the patient’s identity at every contact, with an eID, an electronic foreigner card, a Kids-ID or an ISI+ card. If your practice applies it, put the identity line in this text and in every confirmation, because a patient who arrives without a card delays the rest of the morning. If it does not, leave the line out.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| New patient | Welcome to [practice name], [first name]! See you [date] at [time]. Please bring your eID or residence card (Kids-ID or ISI+ for a child). |
Text after a missed appointment
Keep it neutral and kind, and make a new appointment the easiest thing in it. Something may have gone wrong on the patient’s side, and a message that opens with a fee or a reproach is the one nobody answers. If your practice has a written policy on missed appointments, it belongs in the confirmation, before the appointment, not here.
| When | Text to copy |
|---|---|
| Same day | Hello [first name], we missed you today at [time] at [practice name]. We hope all is well. Shall we find a new time? Just reply and we'll suggest a few. |
Five rules before you send
Five rules decide whether a text arrives in one piece, is read the way you meant it, and gets an answer.
- Stay inside the GSM alphabet. One SMS holds 160 characters from the GSM 7-bit alphabet. A single character outside it, such as the curly apostrophe ’, ë, ê or œ, switches the whole message to UCS-2, where one SMS holds 70, so the same text goes out as two or three parts. Use the straight apostrophe ' as the templates above do, and remember that a first name such as Zoë or François does the same once it is filled in.
- Leave the treatment out. Date, time and place are all a reminder needs, and GDPR data minimisation, Article 5(1)(c), asks for no more than the purpose needs. What the appointment is for is health data under Article 9, and a text shows up on a lock screen that other people see.
- On WhatsApp, use an approved template and an opt-in. A message the practice starts outside the 24-hour window after the patient’s last message has to be a template Meta approved in advance, and the patient must have agreed to hear from your practice.
- Write in the patient’s language. Record it once per patient and use it every time. In Brussels, do not send every text in both languages to everyone: it doubles the length and tells the patient you did not know who they were.
- Make cancelling easier than not coming. Every text should accept a reply in the same thread, from a number somebody reads. A text sent under a sender name rather than a number cannot be answered at all. And if cancelling means a phone call during opening hours, patients choose silence.
| Character | In the GSM alphabet | Not in it, so avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Apostrophe | ' straight | ’ curly, which phones and word processors insert on their own |
| E with accent | é è É | ê ë È Ê |
| Other accents | à ù ì ò ä ö ü ñ Ä Ö Ü | â î ô û ï À |
| C cedilla | Ç, as the standard’s table shows it | ç: the Unicode mapping reads that position as ç, SMS platforms differ, so avoid it |
| Ligatures | æ Æ ß | œ Œ |
| Punctuation | " and - | “ ” « » and long dashes |
What Tilcao does with these messages
Tilcao sends these messages for the practice, in each patient’s own language and on the channel that patient reads. It reads the replies. When a patient cannot come, it moves or cancels the appointment in the practice’s own diary, then offers the freed slot to the waiting list in the order the practice has set, until someone says yes. The practice approves the texts, the timing and how often a patient may be contacted, so what goes out is what you wrote, and a patient who asks not to be contacted again is not. Tilcao is pre-pilot, so there are no measured results to quote here.
Questions practices ask
When should a dental practice send an appointment reminder?
Two days before is a good default for the main reminder: late enough to be remembered, early enough that a cancellation can still go to the waiting list. Add a short text on the morning itself for appointments booked months ago, such as a check-up. A reminder an hour before the appointment comes too late to refill the slot.
Should we send appointment reminders by SMS or WhatsApp?
By whichever the patient reads, recorded per patient. An SMS reaches any mobile phone and needs no app. On WhatsApp, a message the practice starts outside the 24-hour window after the patient’s last message must be a template Meta has approved in advance, and the patient must have opted in to hear from your practice.
What should a dental appointment reminder text say?
The practice name, the date and time, and an easy way to answer: reply to this message to move or cancel. Add the identity card if your practice applies electronic third-party payment. Leave out the treatment, and keep it within one SMS of 160 characters from the GSM alphabet.
Can a reminder text mention the treatment?
Better not. The message needs a date, a time and a place, and GDPR data minimisation asks for no more than the purpose needs. What an appointment is for is health data under Article 9, and a text appears on a lock screen other people can see. Write “your appointment” and let the patient ask if they want the detail.
How should a dental recall text be worded?
Short, friendly and with a reason. For adults in Belgium the reason is the mondzorgtraject, the trajet de soins buccaux: from 19, reimbursed dental care in the previous calendar year keeps the better reimbursement, so a check-up before 31 December matters. For children under 18, two preventive oral examinations are reimbursed per calendar year, one in each semester. Point to the rule, never to an amount.
Is an appointment reminder the same as a recall?
No. An appointment reminder, afspraakherinnering in Dutch and rappel de rendez-vous in French, concerns an appointment the patient already has. A recall, rappel de contrôle or relance in French, concerns a patient with no appointment who is due for a check-up. Belgian practice software uses rappel for the first sense, which is why the two get mixed up, and they need different texts.
What should we send when a patient does not turn up?
A short, kind text the same day that offers a new time, without a fee or a reproach. The patient may have had a real problem, and the aim is a new appointment, not an argument. If your practice has a policy on missed appointments, state it in the confirmation, before the appointment.