Practice management
Recall
Recall is the system a practice uses to bring patients back at set times for exams, cleanings and other follow-up care, sometimes called recare.
The ADA calls these visits recare appointments and says they are essential to maintaining and monitoring patients' oral health. It advises contacting patients to schedule recare appointments at the appropriate intervals. A systematic review in the Journal of the American Dental Association found weak evidence for a one-recall-interval-fits-all protocol and said clinicians may wish to consider assigning intervals on the basis of each patient's risk of developing caries. Offices track recall with software reports of overdue patients. The most common type is the hygiene recall. A steady recall system also supports patient retention.