Dental Technology Glossary

A2P 10DLC

A2P 10DLC is the system US mobile carriers use to authorize business text messages sent from regular 10-digit phone numbers. Before a dental practice can send automated SMS to patients, it must register its brand (the business identity) and campaign (the specific use case, such as appointment reminders or review requests) with the major carriers through a registration process managed by the Campaign Registry.

Messages sent without proper A2P 10DLC registration are increasingly filtered, blocked, or delayed. Fines for non-compliance can reach $10 per message. Every legitimate patient communication platform handles this registration on behalf of its customers.

Appointment Confirmation

Appointment confirmations are typically sent 24-48 hours before the scheduled time and include a one-tap reply option (usually "C" to confirm or "R" to reschedule). Confirmed appointments update automatically in the practice management system, reducing no-shows and freeing front desk staff from making reminder calls.

Modern platforms work from the practice's supported practice-management system so confirmations reflect current appointment data and push confirmation status back without any manual data entry.

Appointment Reminders

Distinct from confirmations (which ask the patient to verify attendance), reminders simply notify the patient that their appointment is coming up. Best practice is a two-touch system: a confirmation request 24-48 hours before, followed by a same-day reminder a few hours before the visit. This combination can reduce no-show rates by 40-50% compared to no reminders at all.

A/R (Accounts Receivable)

In dental practices, A/R accumulates when insurance pays less than expected, when patients don't pay at checkout, or when balances are billed after the fact. The standard benchmark is to keep A/R over 90 days below 18% of total outstanding — anything higher signals a broken collections workflow.

A/R is typically broken into aging buckets: 0-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, and 90+ days. The older the balance, the less likely it is to collect, which is why proactive automated statements and text-to-pay workflows dramatically outperform paper-only collections.

Brand Registration

Brand registration is the first step in A2P 10DLC compliance. The practice (or its platform provider) submits information including legal business name, EIN, website, and contact details to The Campaign Registry. Once approved, the brand can register one or more campaigns under that identity.

Campaign Registration

After brand registration, each distinct messaging use case must be registered as a campaign. Common campaign types for dental practices include appointment reminders, review requests, and billing notifications. Each campaign has its own sample messages, opt-in flow, and approved content types.

Campaigns are assigned to a messaging service, which then handles actual message delivery. A practice can run multiple campaigns simultaneously (for example, appointment reminders in one campaign and billing statements in another) but cannot mix unrelated content within a single campaign without risking carrier blocks.

DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)

DSO is a key efficiency metric for revenue cycle management. A practice that collects most balances within 15 days has a DSO of around 15. A practice with significant 60+ day A/R will have a much higher DSO. Reducing DSO directly improves cash flow without increasing revenue.

DRM (Dentist Referral Marketing)

DRM covers the systems specialty practices use to monitor which general dentists refer cases, how many cases per month, case types, production value, and trend direction. The goal is to retain existing referrers and strengthen relationships with under-performing ones — defending the referral base rather than cold outreach.

DRM tools work from referring-doctor data drawn from the practice's supported practice-management system, replacing the manual spreadsheet work many practices rely on.

Related: SendVyte AI Receptionist

Google Business Profile (GBP)

Formerly called Google My Business, the Google Business Profile is the single most important marketing asset for any local service business, including dental practices. It displays the business name, hours, phone number, website, photos, and — critically — the star rating and reviews.

When a patient searches for a specialist after being referred by their GP, the GBP is usually the first thing they see. A well-maintained profile with a high star rating, recent reviews, and responsive replies converts referrals into booked appointments.

HIPAA Texting

HIPAA-compliant texting is often misunderstood. HIPAA does not prohibit SMS to patients — it requires that practices obtain patient consent to communicate via text, avoid including protected health information (PHI) in message content when unnecessary, and use appropriate safeguards.

In practice, sending "Your appointment is tomorrow at 10am, reply C to confirm" is HIPAA-safe. Sending "Your root canal biopsy results are positive for infection" in an SMS would not be.

Messaging Service

A messaging service is a container that holds one or more phone numbers and is linked to one active A2P 10DLC campaign. All messages sent through that service share the same campaign registration, compliance rules, and sender pool.

Each phone number can only belong to one messaging service at a time, and each messaging service can only have one active campaign. This creates architectural constraints for practices running multiple use cases — a single combined campaign covering all use cases is often simpler than trying to separate them.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)

MMS extends SMS to support media attachments. In dental contexts, MMS is used for patients sending pre-op or post-op photos to their practice, for insurance card images, and for practices sending visual instructions (such as tooth-brushing diagrams or product recommendations).

MMS requires a messaging service provider that supports media, and carriers may charge slightly more per MMS than per SMS. Most modern patient communication platforms support both formats transparently.

Operatory

Practice management systems track operatories and link them to appointments. Assigning appointments to specific operatories lets staff visualize room utilization, prevent double-booking, and plan the day more efficiently. The operatory view is one of the most useful scheduling features but is often underutilized by front desk staff.

Opt-In / Opt-Out

Opt-in is the explicit patient consent required before a practice can send automated text messages. Acceptable opt-in methods include signing a paper form at the front desk, checking a box on an online booking form, or replying "YES" to an initial SMS. The practice must keep records of consent.

Opt-out is the equally important ability for patients to stop receiving messages. Every automated SMS must include instructions on how to stop (typically "Reply STOP to opt out"), and the system must honor opt-out requests immediately and permanently. Failure to honor opt-outs violates TCPA and can result in significant fines.

Payment Link

The practice sends the patient a text message containing a secure, one-time payment URL. The patient taps the link, lands on a branded payment page showing the amount owed, and pays from their phone.

Text-based payment requests remove the steps a paper statement requires — opening mail, finding a card, and calling the office or mailing a check. SendVyte charges a 1% platform fee on text-to-pay payments processed through SendVyte; standard processor fees are charged separately by the processor.

Related: SendVyte pricing

Referring Doctor

In referral-driven specialty practices, referring doctors are the primary source of new patients. Each referral is linked to the patient record in the PMS, which (in theory) allows the practice to track referral volume by doctor over time. In practice, this data is often difficult to extract and analyze without specialized tools.

Tracking referring doctor performance — by case count, trend direction, case type, and production value — is the foundation of effective referral marketing. Practices that don't measure cannot manage.

SMS (Short Message Service)

SMS is the basic text messaging system supported by all mobile phones. A single SMS message is limited to 160 characters; longer messages are split into segments. SMS does not support images, video, or other media — that requires MMS.

In the dental context, SMS is the default channel for appointment reminders, confirmations, review requests, and payment links because it has near-universal patient reach (over 99% of cell phones support SMS) and a very high open rate (over 98% of SMS messages are opened, most within 90 seconds of delivery).

Merchant of Record

When a practice collects patient payments through SendVyte, the practice holds its own account with a supported payment processor. The practice is the merchant of record: funds settle directly into the practice's own bank account, the practice keeps full visibility and control over its payments, and SendVyte never takes custody of patient funds.

SendVyte charges a 1% platform fee on text-to-pay payments processed through SendVyte. Standard processor fees are set and charged separately by the processor. This structure differs from payment processing bundled into practice-management software, where the practice may have less direct control over its own merchant relationship.

Text-to-Pay

Text-to-pay is the general category that includes payment links and similar systems. The common pattern: the practice sends a balance notification via SMS, the patient taps a link or replies with payment intent, and the transaction completes without requiring a phone call, paper statement, or office visit.

The power of text-to-pay is speed. Where paper statements may take weeks to produce a payment (if at all), text-to-pay resolves balances within minutes of sending the message.

Two-Way Texting

Traditional SMS marketing is one-way: the business sends, the customer reads. Two-way texting creates a conversational channel where patients can ask questions, reschedule appointments, or request information simply by replying to a text. The replies land in a shared inbox that staff monitor throughout the day.

Two-way texting has become a significant part of dental front desk workflow, gradually replacing phone calls for routine patient communication. A single staff member can handle 5-10 text conversations simultaneously where they could only handle one phone call at a time.

Webhook

Webhooks are the plumbing that makes modern software integrations work. When a patient replies to an SMS, the messaging provider sends a webhook to SendVyte's API announcing the incoming message. When a patient payment succeeds, the payment processor sends a webhook so the practice's balance is updated. When a Google review is posted, a webhook could trigger an AI reply draft.

Practices don't need to understand webhooks directly, but they're worth knowing about because they explain why modern platforms feel "instant" — there's no polling or manual refresh, just a continuous stream of events flowing between systems.