Trust · Performance methodology · v1.0

How we measure performance — and why every number on this site is either cited or labelled a target.

dentorb is pre-launch. We publish industry baselines from named, independent sources, and we publish our Phase-1 design targets alongside them. We do not publish customer results we don't yet have. This page is the reference standard behind every performance claim on the marketing site.

Cited or labelled

Every baseline number traces to a named, public source. Every dentorb number is labelled as a Phase-1 target.

Plain formulas

Each metric has a one-line formula. No proprietary scoring, no weighted indices, no marketing maths.

Versioned & reviewable

Methodology v1.0, last reviewed April 2026. Challenge a number — we publish corrections.

How to read each metric

Industry baseline. The published norm from independent research. Sources are named and linked.
dentorb target. A Phase-1 design target — what the system is engineered to produce, not an audited customer outcome.
Mechanism. The specific dentorb capability that makes the target plausible. No mechanism, no number.
Confidence. How robust the baseline evidence is — High, Medium or Directional.

The eight metrics

Picked because UK practice owners are graded on them — directly or indirectly — every month. Anchor links below each block deep-link from the homepage table.

Inbound call answer rate

During business hours

Definition

The percentage of inbound patient calls that are connected to a person (or capable agent) within the practice's stated business hours.

Formula

Answered calls ÷ Total inbound calls (business hours) × 100

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent published sources converge on this baseline.

Industry baseline

65–80%

Independent surveys of dental practices put the missed-call rate during opening hours between 20% and 38%. UK-focused operator data sits around 35% missed during business hours, with calls clustering at lunchtime and the morning rush.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

≥ 99%

Calls overflow to the dentorb AI receptionist after a set ring count and outside hours. The AI books, triages and transcribes — so the only calls that don't reach a competent agent are the ones the patient hangs up on.

Sources

After-hours call capture

Evenings, weekends, lunch cover

Definition

The percentage of calls received outside the practice's reception hours that are answered by a competent agent (human or AI) capable of booking, triaging or sending the right follow-up.

Formula

Answered after-hours calls ÷ Total after-hours calls × 100

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent published sources converge on this baseline.

Industry baseline

0–5%

Outside opening hours, virtually all calls hit voicemail or an IVR menu. Industry studies treat after-hours as effectively a 100% miss for traditional reception — overflow services capture a small slice, but most independent UK practices have nothing in place.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

100%

The AI receptionist runs 24/7 with read/write access to the diary, recall list and triage rules. Patients calling at 9pm get the same outcome as 9am — booked, triaged or escalated to on-call clinical.

Sources

Speed to lead

Web enquiry → first reply

Definition

The elapsed time between a prospective patient submitting a web enquiry (form, chat, missed-call follow-up) and the first meaningful reply from the practice.

Formula

Median(time of first reply − time of enquiry submission)

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent published sources converge on this baseline.

Industry baseline

≈ 47 hours (median across service businesses)

The classic Harvard Business Review / MIT InsideSales study of 15,000 web leads found leads contacted within 5 minutes are up to 21× more likely to qualify than those contacted after 30 minutes. Most service businesses replied at a median of ~47 hours; dental practices commonly trail by hours or days when reception is busy.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

< 60 seconds

Web enquiries route through dentorb's intake agent: instant SMS + email acknowledgement, AI qualification questions, and a calendar link offered before the front desk has even seen the lead.

Sources

Treatment plan acceptance

Case acceptance, by value

Definition

The proportion of recommended (presented) treatment value that patients accept and schedule.

Formula

£ value of accepted treatment ÷ £ value of presented treatment × 100

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent published sources converge on this baseline.

Industry baseline

50–60% (UK & global average); 80%+ in top-quartile practices

Independent surveys put the average dental case acceptance rate at 50–60%, with top-performing practices clearing 80%. A 2024 UK-focused patient study found 54% of patients don't follow through with treatments they were seriously considering — usually because of fragmented follow-up rather than price.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

70%+

Every treatment plan triggers a structured TCO follow-up: clear written summary, finance options surfaced automatically, multi-touch reminders, and AI-handled objection responses. No plan dies in an inbox.

Sources

Failed-to-attend (FTA) rate

No-shows + late cancellations

Definition

The percentage of scheduled appointments where the patient does not attend (FTA / DNA) or cancels too late to refill the slot.

Formula

(FTA + late-cancellation appointments) ÷ Total scheduled appointments × 100

Confidence

High confidence. Multiple independent published sources converge on this baseline.

Industry baseline

15–20% UK average

UK dental practice FTA rates typically sit between 15% and 20% of scheduled appointments. Published research (BDJ, BMJ Open meta-analysis) shows structured SMS reminder programmes reduce non-attendance by 38–50%. A practice losing ten appointments per week at £120 each forfeits £60,000+ a year — before knock-on effects.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

< 8%

Three-touch reminder cadence (SMS + email + AI confirm-call), risk-scored slots get extra confirmation, and an automated waitlist refills cancellations within minutes — without reception lifting the phone.

Sources

Lapsed-patient reactivation

24-month dormant list

Definition

The percentage of patients who have not booked in the last 24 months who are successfully re-booked into a clinical appointment within a defined campaign window (typically 90 days).

Formula

Re-booked dormant patients ÷ Total contacted dormant patients × 100

Confidence

Medium confidence. Reasonable evidence base, but published numbers vary by sample.

Industry baseline

5–10% typical · 30%+ achievable with structured campaigns

Most practices either don't run reactivation or rely on a single SMS blast — recovering 5–10% at best. Multi-channel campaigns (SMS 98% open rate; phone 40–60% conversion of connected calls) routinely exceed 30% recovery in published case studies.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

25%+

Dormant lists are segmented by clinical risk and last visit. The recall agent runs a structured SMS → email → AI call cadence with personalised offers, then hands warm replies straight into the diary.

Sources

Chair utilisation

Booked clinical hours ÷ available chair hours

Definition

The proportion of available clinical chair time that is booked with revenue-generating treatment, measured monthly per surgery.

Formula

Booked clinical hours ÷ Available chair hours × 100

Confidence

Medium confidence. Reasonable evidence base, but published numbers vary by sample.

Industry baseline

75–80% perceived ceiling (UK)

HMDG's Private Practice Barometer 2026 (715 UK clinic owners) found practices stall around the 75–80% utilisation mark — owners report feeling 'full' well before the chairs actually are, because gaps from FTAs, late cancels and recall lag don't refill in time.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

≥ 85%

The dentorb diary engine watches for white space, automatically offers it to waitlisted patients first, and surfaces hygiene/recall pull-forward suggestions to lift utilisation past the 80% plateau.

Sources

Onboarding time

Signed → first patient touchpoint live

Definition

Elapsed calendar days between contract signature and the first live patient touchpoint running through dentorb (e.g. AI receptionist live, recall campaign sent).

Formula

Date of first live patient touchpoint − Date of contract signature (calendar days)

Confidence

Directional. Internal commitment or limited public data — treat as directional.

Industry baseline

30–90 days (legacy stack switches)

Switching practice management or layered comms vendors typically takes 30–90 days due to data migration, training and phone-number porting. dentorb sits alongside the existing PMS rather than replacing it, which collapses the path-to-live.

dentorb Phase-1 target

Target

≤ 14 days

dentorb integrates with your existing PMS (Dentally, SOE, R4) rather than replacing it. Onboarding is structured as a 14-day plan: discovery, integrations, scripting, dry-run, go-live — dentorb runs the project.

Sources

[1]Internal Phase-1 commitment. Verified against published rollout timelines for legacy dental software vendors (typically 30–90 days for full migrations).— Vendor onboarding references, 2025

Limitations & what we won't claim

No audited customer results. dentorb is pre-launch. Every dentorb number on this site is a Phase-1 design target, not an audited outcome. When we have published case studies, they will appear with sample sizes and time windows attached.
UK-first sample bias. We weight UK sources where available. Where we cite global benchmarks (case acceptance, speed-to-lead), we say so.
Headline ranges, not point estimates. Where independent sources disagree, we publish the range — not the most flattering number.
Mechanism > magic. If we can't name the specific system component that produces a target outcome, we don't publish the target.

Challenge a number

If you think a baseline is wrong, a source is weak, or a target is unrealistic, write to us. Methodology updates are versioned and published — corrections are credited.

Submit a correction Security & data governance