AI chatbot for dental clinics: a practical setup guide

Step 1: approve public sources and safety boundaries

Ask the practice owner or clinical lead to approve the patient, insurance, location, hours, and contact pages that may inform answers. Keep records, symptoms, diagnoses, and insurance identifiers out of public sources. Have the clinic privacy lead review its notice and any health-data collection before launch.

Write the urgent route first: no diagnosis or triage; show the clinic-approved phone and emergency instructions. Do not route a potential emergency into a form that nobody checks during opening hours.

Step 2: write the pages reception needs

Create a new-patient page that lists forms, identification, arrival timing, and how reception confirms a visit. On a separate insurance page, name only plans the clinic has approved for publication and clarify that coverage varies by policy and treatment.

Sample knowledge pages: “New patient visit: forms and what to bring”; “Insurance plans we currently list”; “Clinic hours, parking, and how to reach reception.” Use the real clinic's details and assign an owner to review changes.

Step 3: configure requests and staff handoff

On Starter and Pro, set the booking request fields to the minimum reception needs, such as visit type, preferred date, name, and callback method. MivoChat does not sync a clinic calendar or confirm a slot, so label the form as a request. Avoid asking for medical history in public chat.

Choose a named receptionist to monitor the web inbox or connected Telegram group. Decide how routine requests are handled after closing and which phone route handles urgent concerns.

Step 4: test an example conversation (fictional business)

Visitor: “I’m new. What should I bring?” Chat: “Please complete the new-patient form and bring photo ID. Reception will confirm your visit after checking the requested time.” Visitor: “Do you take Example Health Plan?” Chat: “Example Health Plan is listed on our insurance page. Call reception to confirm your individual coverage.”

For “My face is swelling and I’m in severe pain,” the assistant must not assess urgency. It should show the clinic's approved immediate phone and emergency instructions. Ask the clinical lead to approve that wording verbatim.

Step 5: launch with a review loop

Test new-patient, insurance, routine booking, and urgent-symptom messages from a phone. Verify that requests arrive with reception, away mode does not hide urgent instructions, and no response presents a requested date as confirmed.

Check visitor ratings and Insights weekly. If people keep asking what to bring or which plans are listed, clarify the approved page; do not widen the assistant into medical advice.

Keep a source register with each connected page, its clinical or administrative approver, and its last review date. Ask the office manager to revisit hours and phone instructions after staffing changes, and ask the clinical lead to reapprove insurance or patient guidance after policy changes. Limit inbox access to staff who need it, follow the clinic’s retention policy for contact details, and never copy a patient-specific conversation into a public answer source.

Before the clinic adds a new service, change to a holiday schedule, or replaces a phone provider, update the relevant public page and retest the exact answer. Reception should know how to mark a request received and when to call back, while the privacy owner should confirm that any collected name, email, or phone number is handled under the clinic’s published notice. A short staff rehearsal at the start of a shift helps keep the urgent route visible and avoids implying that a chatbot reviewed a patient’s condition.

Frequently asked questions