Yes. Missed Call Text Back in GoHighLevel sends a text to a caller the moment a call goes unanswered, and a dental office can word it so it names the practice, tells emergencies where to go, and says nothing about the caller's teeth or health. The bottom line: the text should work for every kind of caller, from a patient who wants a cleaning to someone with a knocked out tooth, without asking anyone to describe a symptom by text.
Why dental calls need emergency routing
Dental practice guides agree on where the line falls. Swelling that affects breathing or swallowing, bleeding that will not stop, a suspected broken jaw, or swelling with a fever needs a hospital emergency room or 911. A knocked out permanent tooth is the one dental problem where minutes matter: guides citing the American Association of Endodontists say reimplantation has the best chance within about 30 minutes, with outcomes declining after an hour, and that the tooth should be kept moist in milk. Severe pain without those signs is urgent and should be seen the same day or within about 24 hours. These come from dental practice guides, not from a clinical standard, so the practice's own dentist should write the triage wording.
A missed call at 7 p.m. may be someone with a toothache, and it may be a parent whose child just lost a tooth. The text cannot diagnose, but it can give the right next step for the callers who are in trouble, and a callback number for everyone else.
The text
| Include | Leave out |
|---|---|
| The practice name and that you missed the call | Any tooth, condition, or procedure |
| For breathing or swallowing trouble, bleeding that will not stop, or a broken jaw, call 911 | Any advice beyond that line |
| For a knocked out tooth or other dental emergency, call [on call number] now | A diagnosis or a promise of an appointment time |
| Office hours, and that someone will call back | The caller's name or insurance |
| Reply STOP to stop messages | Marketing or an offer |
What the rules ask for
HHS's Omnibus Rule commentary, as quoted by Holland and Hart, says covered entities may send unencrypted messages if they have warned the individual of the risk and the individual prefers it, which is why the missed call text should be generic. The FCC's healthcare exemption allows treatment related messages from HIPAA covered entities under conditions, including no marketing content, a 160 character limit, one message a day, an easy opt out, and immediate honoring of opt outs. A missed call text that offers a whitening deal would fall outside it.
GoHighLevel's help portal says accounts are not HIPAA compliant by default, and that HIPAA Compliance is a paid upgrade, $297 a month as an account wide add on, that must be enabled for the agency and then configured for the sub accounts that need it. Third party guides add that the add on provides a business associate agreement, encryption, audit logging, and multi factor authentication, that the practice also needs its own agreement with the agency, and that GoHighLevel itself recommends avoiding protected health information in SMS and email even with the add on. Whether the AI features are covered by the agreement is a question to put to HighLevel in writing before any patient data reaches them.
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Decide with your privacy officer whether to buy the HIPAA add on, and sign the agreements before any patient texts go out.
- Complete A2P brand and campaign registration.
- Go to Settings, then Phone System, then Voice, and open Voicemail and Missed Call Text Back for the main number.
- Turn on Missed Call Text Back and write the message from the table, using the on call number only if it is staffed.
- Turn on Call Connect so voicemail is not counted as answered.
- Build a workflow with the Call Details trigger for missed inbound calls that creates a callback task due in 15 minutes during office hours, and at opening time after hours.
- Turn on Stop on Response and send replies to the front desk.
Worked example
For example, a three chair office that misses 40 calls a month and reaches 14 of those callers by text or callback within the hour keeps 14 patients or new patients in the process (40 times 0.35). We did not find a verified, peer reviewed missed call rate for dental offices, and vendor surveys quote large numbers we could not confirm, so count your own for two weeks first.
Mistakes to avoid
- Naming a tooth or condition. A lock screen can show it.
- Adding an offer. That leaves the healthcare exemption.
- Listing an on call number nobody answers. Test it.
- Asking the caller to describe symptoms by text. A call is better.
How this was handled before
Dental offices let calls go to voicemail and returned them the next morning, or used an answering service that took a message. A text in seconds gives the caller a next step while they still have the phone in their hand.
What to measure after launch
Track missed calls, replies to the text, callbacks within an hour, and emergency calls reached by the on call dentist. Test the on call number weekly and read the texts for any health detail.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Have the dentist approve the emergency wording and the privacy officer approve the text. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
Can a dental office text a caller who may not be a patient?
A generic text about the missed call, with no health details, is lower risk, but confirm with your privacy officer and keep A2P registration and opt out handling in place.
What should the text say about emergencies?
Direct breathing, swallowing, and uncontrolled bleeding problems to 911, and give the on call number for other dental emergencies. The dentist should approve the wording.
Does the HIPAA add on matter?
GoHighLevel's help portal says accounts are not HIPAA compliant by default and the add on is $297 a month.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.