Dental Practice SOP Templates.
Ready-to-use systems for running a dental practice, from the first phone call to the next recall. Open any of them free. No login needed.
Built around the flow Ashburn Children's Dentistry mapped live with Dave, after more than 20 years of looking after families.
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Mapping a dental practice's client flow, live
Dr Lynda Dean-Duru and Dr Krystle Dean-Duru, a mother and daughter, run two practices in Northern Virginia. The main one, Ashburn Children's Dentistry, has looked after children and families for well over 20 years. In this episode Dave maps its client flow with them, stage by stage.
Their first answer, asked who their dream patient is: expectant mums and mums of children up to three, because that is when the practice can make the biggest difference.
The teeth tell a story about their kids.
The Critical Client Flow
Your whole practice on one page
This is Ashburn's own flow, drawn from the call. Asked where it breaks first, the answer was leads: more of the right families. Second was the intake forms, starting with a short qualifying form they do not have yet.
- Pick the patient you can help most. Ashburn designs every step around one family: health-minded parents with a baby or toddler, not whoever happens to call.
- Explain how you practise before anyone books. A discovery call tells parents what the first visit covers, so nobody arrives expecting a quick look at the teeth.
- Get the paperwork done before the visit. Forms, insurance details and introductory emails go out between the first call and the first appointment, so the visit is spent on the child.
Where to start
Start where patients slip away
Don't try to write all 45 at once. The pack's own list starts at the first phone call. Ashburn starts one step earlier, with where new families come from.
Biggest return
Where Ashburn is focusing
Dental practice SOP templates, by department
Each one is a full standard operating procedure: what triggers it, who does it, the steps, the templates and how you know it is done. They are written for a general and family private dental practice in Australia, doing fee-for-service work for adults and children, with one to three dentists, hygienists and a reception and admin team. A children's-only or specialist practice like Ashburn will use them as a starting point rather than a description. Every highlighted gap is a place to swap in your own tool, role, regulator or number. A two or three person practice can read every role as a hat rather than a headcount.
The Patient
The client flow, from first hearing about you to the next recall.
Referrals and Reputation
How new patients first hear about you, and how to stop word of mouth, Google and social running on autopilot.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Inquiry and Qualification
Treat the first call or form as a conversation: urgent or routine, a fit for the practice, and how they plan to pay.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.New-Patient Booking and Pre-Visit Onboarding
Book the first visit, send the intake and medical history forms and confirm insurance before they walk in.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Treatment Plan Presentation
Show what you found, recommend, talk cost before asking for a decision, and record consent the same day.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Recall and Preventive Maintenance
Bring each patient back at their own interval, with a reminder sequence that runs to the end before anyone gives up.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Welcome and Check-in · Comprehensive Exam and Diagnostics · Treatment Delivery · Referral and Reactivation
Marketing
Being easy to find and easy to trust.
Reviews and Reputation Management
Ask for reviews at the right moment and answer every one without ever discussing a patient's treatment in public.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Website and Google Business Profile
Keep hours, team, services and prices right on the shopfront most patients see before they ever call.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Advertising and Professional Standards Compliance · Growth Channel Strategy Review · Patient Education and Content Library
Sales
Fair fees, and following up the patients still deciding.
Treatment Plan Follow-Up for Undecided Patients
Treat "let me think about it" as an open conversation, with a set follow-up instead of a forgotten file.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Fee Schedule and Annual Price Review
Set the fee for every item and review it once a year against what it really costs to deliver.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Payment Plans and Finance Options
Operations
The clinic floor, run the same way every day.
Sterilisation and Infection Control
How every instrument is cleaned, packaged, sterilised, tested and stored between patients, written down step by step.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Chair and Column Scheduling
Buffer time, emergency slots and fewer idle chairs, so the appointment book earns its keep and not just looks full.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Clinical Records and Imaging Storage · Complaints and Feedback Handling · Dental Lab Case Tracking · Equipment Maintenance and Servicing · Inventory and Consumables Ordering · Medical Emergency Response (Chairside) · Practice Management System Administration · Radiography and Radiation Safety
Finance
Collecting what the work earned.
HICAPS and Dental Insurance Billing and Claims
Claim health fund cover at the chair, chase what does not pay in full, and match the terminal to the day's billing.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Patient Account Follow-Up and Debt Recovery
Chase a patient's own unpaid gap, fee or missed instalment once treatment is done, politely and on a set rhythm.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Accounts Payable · Monthly Financial Review and Forecasting · Payroll, including Associate and Contractor Arrangements · Practice Insurance, Registrations and Indemnity Calendar
Human Resources
Hiring well and keeping everyone registered.
Recruitment and Onboarding
Hire and induct dentists, hygienists, assistants and front desk, so each one starts confident from day one.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Clinical Credentialing, Registration and CPD Tracking
Keep every clinician's registration, indemnity and CPD current, because a lapse stops them treating that day.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Performance Conversations and One-to-Ones · Rostering, Leave and Time Management · Systems Champion Program · Team Courtesy and Culture Standards
Management
The rhythm that lets the owner-dentist step back from the front desk.
KPI Tracking and Scorecards
A small set of clinical, patient and financial numbers, reviewed weekly and monthly while there is time to act.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Team Meeting Rhythms
A short huddle before the first patient and a weekly team meeting, so the day's plan is not only in the dentist's head.
Open the system → Opens in systemHUB. No login needed.Also in the full pack (get them with a free trial): Dental Board Compliance and Regulatory Register · Risk and Clinical Governance · Strategic Planning · Succession and Practice Continuity
Case study
A junior clinician as Systems Champion
At the end of the call, Dave's advice to Ashburn is to find a Systems Champion: often a junior clinician who wants to learn how the business works. Lime Therapy, an allied health practice of about 40 people in rural Australia, did exactly that. Owners Renee and Matt Kelly picked Kaleb, an occupational therapist early in his career, and gave him protected time each week with no patients booked.
He starts with the Critical Client Flow, then sits down with whoever knows each job best. His first win was the admin team, written down so new starters and students on placement can go to the systems instead of the one busy person who knows. When the practice was later sold, the buyer did not need Renee tied in, because the systems carried it.
Get the whole pack in systemHUB
45 systems for a general and family dental practice: 9 that carry a patient from first hearing about you to their next recall, 36 that run the practice around it, plus 39 templates and 9 AI assistants. Start a free trial and ask our team to load the pack into your account.
Start free trialFAQ
Common questions
What should a dental practice SOP include?
What triggers it, who is responsible, the numbered steps in order, the scripts, forms or checklists used along the way, and a definition of done so anyone can tell it has been completed.
Do I need a systemHUB account to read them?
No. Every system on this page opens as a public page with no login. You need an account to copy them, edit them and assign them to your team.
Are these written for a children's practice like Ashburn?
No. The pack is written for a general and family private practice in Australia that sees adults and children, with one to three dentists. A children's-only, specialist or multi-site practice can use it as a starting point. Anything that depends on your country, state or registration body, such as HICAPS and health fund claiming, is flagged for you to swap in your own.
Do these templates tell me how to treat patients?
No. They are workflow documents: who does what, in what order, and how you know it is done. Clinical decisions stay with your clinicians, and standards for infection control, radiation safety, consent and patient records come from your regulator.
What is a discovery call in a dental practice?
Ashburn Children's Dentistry's name for the first conversation with a new family. A team member hears what is going on, explains how the practice works, and books the first visit in person, a comprehensive assessment, so parents know what to expect.
What is a Critical Client Flow?
The handful of stages every patient moves through, from first hearing about you to coming back for their next visit, on one page. It shows where patients slip away and which systems to build first.
These systems are workflow documents, not clinical, legal or regulatory advice. Clinical standards, infection control, radiation safety, consent and privacy requirements are your practice's to confirm with your registration body and the regulators where you work.