Most dental plans run on a calendar year. Whatever is left of the annual maximum on December 31 disappears, and flexible spending account balances often expire on the same date. Patients know this vaguely and forget it completely, which is why a plain reminder in the fall is the single highest yielding message a general practice sends all year.
It only works if it is honest. The version that fails is a blast to the whole list with a countdown and an urgent subject line, sent to people with nothing diagnosed and nothing to use. The version that works goes to specific patients about treatment you have already recommended, and it starts in October rather than the first week of December.
Be precise about what expires and what does not
Three separate things get confused. The annual maximum, which is the most the plan will pay in a year and usually does not roll over. The deductible, which resets and has to be met again in January. And a flexible spending account, where the employee's own money is at stake and unused funds are commonly forfeited after December 31, subject to whatever grace period or carryover the employer allows.
Get the wording right, because patients will ask the front desk and a wrong answer costs you trust. Say that plans differ, that you are happy to check their remaining benefit, and never state a specific dollar figure in a message you have not verified. Also note that some plans run on a benefit year rather than a calendar year, so those patients need a different date.
Start in October, because December is not actually available
The practical problem is capacity. December loses days to holidays, staff take time off, and the last two weeks are largely gone. A campaign launched on December 1 mostly produces frustrated patients being told there is no space, which is a worse outcome than not contacting them at all.
Work backwards instead. Send the first message in early October to the patients with the largest outstanding treatment, follow with the broader group in early November, and reserve the final reminder for people who responded but never scheduled. By the time December arrives you should be confirming appointments rather than generating them.
Segment the list into three groups with three different messages
One message to everybody is why these campaigns feel like spam. The list you actually want comes out of your practice software: patients with diagnosed treatment that was never scheduled, patients overdue for hygiene, and patients who have used little or none of their benefit this year. Those three groups need different sentences.
The first group gets a specific reminder about the treatment they already discussed with you. The second gets a straightforward recall message. The third gets a short note that their benefit year is ending and an offer to check what is remaining. Anybody who has already used their maximum or has no plan should not be contacted at all, and filtering them out is what keeps the campaign credible.
- Diagnosed but unscheduled treatment, contacted first and by name
- Patients overdue for hygiene, with a simple recall message
- Patients with unused benefit and nothing diagnosed, offered a check up
- Everyone already at their maximum, excluded from the campaign
Write it like a reminder, not like a sale
The tone that works is the one you would use across the desk. Name the treatment that was recommended, say the benefit year ends on December 31, offer to check what remains, and give two ways to book. No countdown timers, no capital letters, no suggestion that anybody needs treatment they do not need. Recommend only what has actually been diagnosed.
Length matters more than cleverness. Five sentences by text or a short email gets read, and a designed newsletter with a hero image gets deleted. Send at times a working adult can act on, and make sure the reply path is a real one, because a text reminder that cannot be replied to wastes half the responses it generates.
The capacity problem nobody plans for
If the campaign works, the phone rings in a month when you are already short staffed. Decide in advance how many extra slots you will open, whether you will run any longer days in the first half of December, and which appointment types to prioritize. Answering that in October is a scheduling decision. Answering it in December is a crisis.
Watch the inquiries as closely as the bookings. This is the month where a missed call is most expensive, because the patient has money on a deadline and every other practice in town is sending the same message. A free leak check shows where inquiries are leaking away and what to fix first, and doing that in September pays for itself in December.
Measure it so next year takes an afternoon
Track four things: how many patients in each segment were contacted, how many replied, how many scheduled, and the production booked as a result. Note which message went out on which date. Next October you will not have to rebuild anything, you will adjust the version that already worked, which is how a campaign gets better each year instead of being reinvented.
Keep the surrounding details straight too, especially your holiday hours. Claiming your listing in the Dent-OX directory is free, puts your services, hours and fees in your own words, sends patient requests straight to the front desk by email, and gets the page indexed by Google, which unclaimed records are not. Patients checking whether you are open between the holidays are ready to book.
- Patients contacted and replies received, by segment
- Appointments scheduled and appointments actually attended
- Production booked, compared with the same period last year
- Which message and which send date produced each response
The short version
- Annual maximums and FSA balances commonly expire on December 31 and do not roll over.
- Start in October, because December has fewer working days than owners expect.
- Segment into diagnosed treatment, overdue hygiene and unused benefit, and exclude the rest.
- Write five plain sentences naming the treatment already recommended, with no countdown.
- Decide your extra capacity in advance and record the results for next year.
How many patients is your practice missing?
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Frequently asked
When should we start the end of year benefits campaign?
Early October for patients with the largest outstanding treatment, early November for the broader list, and a final reminder in late November for people who responded but never booked. December has fewer usable days than it looks, so a campaign that starts in December mostly produces patients you cannot fit in.
Is a use it or lose it message pushy?
Not if it goes to the right people. Reminding a patient about treatment you already diagnosed, and offering to check their remaining benefit, is a service. It becomes pushy when it goes to everyone, uses countdowns and urgency, or implies treatment that has not been recommended. Exclude anyone already at their maximum.
What exactly expires at the end of the year?
For most plans, the unused portion of the annual maximum, which does not carry over, and the deductible resets in January. Flexible spending account balances are commonly forfeited after December 31, subject to the employer's grace period or carryover rules. Some plans run on a benefit year instead, so always check before quoting dates.
Should we offer a discount in the campaign?
Usually no. The message already has a real deadline attached to money the patient has effectively paid for, so a discount adds nothing and trains people to wait for one. Spend the effort on reaching the right segments early and on having enough appointment capacity in the first half of December.