Blogs · July 2026
Do dental and veterinary practices need the same AI setup?
The brain is the same. What changes is the diary, the fees, the questions people ring about, and where the line to a human sits.
The short answer: the platform underneath is the same for both. One knowledge base, four channels, booking into the system you already run. What actually differs is the shape of the day: a dental practice lives or dies by the recall list and the no-show rate, while a veterinary practice is judged on whether an owner can reach a person when something is wrong at 9pm. Pick the setup built for your world, because the details are where this either works or annoys people.
What is identical
- One knowledge base. Your treatments or services, your fees, your opening hours, your policies. Every channel answers from it, so the phone at 9pm says the same thing as reception on Tuesday.
- Four channels. Voice, chat, email and social, switched on one at a time or all at once.
- It books into your system. It reads real availability and writes the appointment in. Nothing to rip out.
- It never gives clinical advice. In either practice. Admin only, and anything clinical or urgent goes to a person on your team.
What genuinely differs
| Dental practice | Veterinary practice | |
|---|---|---|
| The money question | What does a check-up or an implant cost, do you take NHS patients | What does a consult cost, what will this treatment run to |
| The pressure point | Recalls slipping and no-shows eating the diary | Owners not being able to reach anyone, especially out of hours |
| The anxious caller | The nervous patient who has put it off for years | The frightened owner with a sick animal |
| The urgent call | Toothache and pain, which needs a clinician | A collapsed or injured animal, which needs a vet now |
| The obligation | Your own duty of care | Under the RCVS Code, you must provide or arrange 24 hour emergency first aid and pain relief |
| What the agent chases | Overdue recalls, reminders, no-show recovery | Repeat bookings, reminders, the out-of-hours line |
Why the dental setup leans on recalls
Two things drive a dental diary: people who do not come back, and people who do not turn up.
The published figures are thinner than the industry pretends. There is no national England figure for missed dental appointments, and you should be wary of anyone quoting one. The strongest number that can actually be sourced is from Wales, where 9.4% of NHS dental appointments were lost to patients not attending, which the Welsh Government put at roughly three and a half hours of clinical time per practice per week.
The demand is there. Around one in five people who tried to get an NHS dental appointment did not get one, and only 32% of the UK public say they are confident they can access dental care at all. So the dental setup is weighted towards chasing: recalls, reminders and refilling the gap the moment it appears.
Why the veterinary setup leans on reach
For a vet practice the problem is not the recall list. It is that owners are trying to reach you and cannot.
Owners have very little to go on before they choose. The Competition and Markets Authority found 51% considered only one practice when choosing a vet, and that fewer than 40% of practices publish prices on their websites. So they ring. And when they ask why they would prefer a large group, the top answer was appointment availability at 55%, ahead of price.
Meanwhile the profession is under real strain: in the RCVS 2024 survey, 49% of vets named stress as a top work-related issue and 46% named the affordability of care, up from 30% in
- So the veterinary setup is weighted towards being reachable: answering, quoting from your
published fees, booking, and getting an urgent caller to a human fast.
So which do you need?
- You run a dental practice: start with the dental site. Voice and recalls first, usually. See HealthCentre for dental practices
- You run a veterinary practice: start with the veterinary site. Voice and the out-of-hours line first, usually. See HealthCentre for veterinary practices
Same brain either way. The difference is what it is trained on and what it chases.
Frequently asked questions
Is it the same product for dental and veterinary practices?
Yes. The same platform, the same knowledge base model and the same four channels. What changes is the information it is trained on, the questions it expects, and what it is set to chase.
Does it give clinical advice in either practice?
No, and it must not. It handles the admin: booking, fees, hours, policies, reminders and recalls. Anything clinical, and anything urgent, goes to a person on your team.
Can it book into our practice management system?
Yes. It reads real availability and writes the booking in, alongside the system you already run.
How long does it take to go live?
Most practices are live in two to six weeks, starting with one channel and adding the rest.
Sources
- Welsh Government, citing NHS Business Services Authority, January 2023. 9.4% of NHS dental appointments in Wales lost to non-attendance, about 3.5 hours of clinical time per practice per week. https://www.gov.wales/over-100000-extra-dental-appointments-year-missed-appointments-continue-bite
- NHS England, GP Patient Survey dental statistics, July 2025. 78% of those who tried to get an NHS dental appointment were successful. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/patient-surveys/gp-patient-survey/gpps-dental-statistics/gp-patient-survey-dental-statistics-january-to-march-2025-england/
- General Dental Council, Views and Experiences of Dentistry, August 2024. 32% of the UK public are confident in their ability to access dental care. https://www.gdc-uk.org/news-blogs/news/detail/2024/08/01/gdc-publishes-new-research-on-the-public-s-experiences-of-dentistry
- Competition and Markets Authority, How people purchase veterinary services, 2025. 51% of owners considered only one practice; appointment availability was the top reason (55%) for preferring a large group practice. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a3e676567402152f553cc3/How_people_purchase_veterinary_services_-_Demand.pdf
- Competition and Markets Authority, final decision on the veterinary market investigation, March 2026. Fewer than 40% of practices publish prices on their websites. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-concludes-market-investigation-with-major-reforms-to-veterinary-sector
- Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Surveys of the Professions 2024. 49% of vets named stress a top work-related issue; 46% named affordability of care, up from 30% in 2019. https://www.rcvs.org.uk/about-us/news-and-views/news/surveys-of-the-professions-2024-reports-published
- Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Code of Professional Conduct, supporting guidance on 24 hour emergency first aid and pain relief. https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/code-of-professional-conduct-for-veterinary-surgeons/supporting-guidance/24-hour-emergency-first-aid-and-pain-relief/
See it answer for your own business
Tell us how you run, and hear it answer live, built around your own information.