What prospective dental patients DM about

New patient inquiries on Instagram follow predictable patterns — these are the categories worth automating:

Treatment cost (40%): "How much does Invisalign cost?", "What is the price for whitening?", "Do you have payment plans for implants?"

New patient process (25%): "How do I book a new patient appointment?", "Do you accept [insurance]?", "What should I bring to my first appointment?"

Treatment questions (20%): "How long does Invisalign take?", "Is teeth whitening painful?", "Am I a candidate for dental implants?"

Location and hours (15%): "Where are you located?", "What are your opening hours?", "Do you have weekend appointments?"

What to put in your automation knowledge base

Practice basics: Address, parking information, hours (including weekend), phone number for urgent calls.

Services offered with pricing: For each treatment, include: what it is (plain language), what it costs (or a range), how long it takes, what the process involves. Example: "Teeth whitening at our practice is $[X]. The process takes about 1 hour in-chair and most patients see [X] shades of improvement. We also offer take-home kits starting at $[X]."

New patient process: What to expect at the first appointment, how to book, whether new patients can book online, what to bring (insurance card, ID, medical history form).

Insurance and payment: Which insurance providers you accept, whether you offer payment plans, third-party financing options you work with.

Emergency guidance: For dental emergencies, direct people to call the practice directly or seek emergency dental care — automation should not attempt to handle emergency triage.

Comment-to-DM on transformation content

Before-and-after content consistently generates the highest engagement and DM inquiry rate for dental practices. When you post a smile transformation:

Caption: "This patient completed their Invisalign treatment in 14 months. Comment SMILE below and I will DM you information about our Invisalign consultations."

The automation fires: "Thanks for your interest in Invisalign! At our practice, treatment starts from $[X] and typically takes [X]–[X] months depending on your case. We offer free consultations — book yours here: [link]"

This converts content engagement directly into consultation bookings.

Off-hours automation for dental practices

Dental practices have strict opening hours — but patients think about their teeth at all hours. The Away Message is particularly valuable for dental practices because evening and weekend inquiries from people researching treatment options are high-intent leads.

Away Message:

"Our practice is currently closed — we are open [hours] [days].

Your message is saved and our team will respond first thing.

For urgent dental emergencies, please call [number] or visit your nearest emergency dental clinic.

To book online: [booking link]"

Including both the emergency resource and the booking link covers the two most common reasons someone contacts a dental practice outside hours.

Compliance note for healthcare automation

Dental practices should configure their automation to:

• Provide general treatment information, not case-specific medical advice
• Avoid making guarantees about outcomes ("whitening gives X shades of improvement" is a general statement; "we guarantee you will achieve X result" is not appropriate)
• Always direct emergency situations to calling the practice or seeking emergency care
• Recommend an in-person consultation for any question about individual candidacy

These guidelines allow automation to handle the bulk of information requests appropriately while maintaining professional standards.