Updated November 4, 2026Advertiser Disclosure
The short answer
A dental answering service picks up when your front desk can’t, whether that’s at 10 PM, over lunch or in the middle of a packed Monday morning. It takes the call in your practice’s name, follows your rules for emergencies and leaves your team a message by morning. For patient calls, start with the three services that state they offer a signed HIPAA agreement: Specialty Answering Service, Ruby and BuzzWisely. Abby Connect and AnswerConnect have to confirm theirs before you sign. Smith.ai states it can’t take patient information, so it only fits calls with no patient details. No service here answers every key question in public, so we don’t name a top pick.
Prices checked November 1, 2026 on each company’s own website.
Nobody buys a rank here. We place every company using our own scoring system, built on many factors, from what real customers tell us to what the contract asks of you. That’s our verdict, but yours is the one that counts. The best choice is the one that fits your company, and we’re here to help you find it.
Start with what offices really use an answering service for, what an ordinary day looks like and what the words mean.
What it’s forNights only, lunch and overflow, or every call? Find the calls you need covered and see who suits your office.
Find my fitOne table with who answers, the price to start, the HIPAA answer and our grades on what matters most.
The 5-minute briefA dental answering service keeps your phone from going unanswered when nobody at the practice can reach it. You already know how this goes. The hygienist is running behind, both lines are lit, the front desk is checking in a family of four, and the phone rings again. Or it’s 10 PM on a Saturday, your office is dark, and a mother is trying to find out whether her son’s swollen cheek can wait until Monday.
You probably aren’t looking for a new phone project. You want patients to reach a real answer, you want the urgent ones to reach you or your on-call dentist, and you want a morning that doesn’t start with a pile of voicemails. You also can’t hand patient information to just anyone, because a dental office needs a signed HIPAA agreement with any company that hears those details. That’s the question that decides this list.
This guide compares six services for dental and orthodontic offices, from a brand-new practice with one dentist to a group with several locations. You’ll find what each one costs for the minutes you’d really use, what happens when your on-call dentist doesn’t pick up, and which answers you should get in writing. If a word sounds like phone company talk, we explain it where it appears, and our list of phone words in plain English is there whenever you need it.
The 5-minute brief on dental answering services
Among dental answering services, Specialty Answering Service comes first in our order because it publishes the most detail on reaching your on-call dentist, states it offers a signed HIPAA agreement and has happy customers. Abby Connect, second, has people and AI on one plan and customers who are happy with its receptionists, but it hasn’t confirmed a signed HIPAA agreement, so get that in writing first. Ruby and BuzzWisely also state they offer one. All six let you keep your own phone number, because they take calls you forward to them. Every service bills differently, so compare the minutes you’d use and not only the starting price.
| Service | Best fit for | Who answers | Starting price | Signed HIPAA agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1Specialty Answering Service | After-hours calls and a clear on-call plan | People | $44 a month plus $1.54 a minute | Stated, plans not named |
| #2Abby Connect | People and AI on one plan | People and AI | $164 a month for 50 Abby Minutes | Ask before you sign |
| #3AnswerConnect | People around the clock at higher volume | People | $350 a month for 200 minutes | Ask before you sign |
| #4Ruby | A person’s voice on every call | People | $250 a month for 50 minutes | Stated, no added charge |
| #5BuzzWisely | Booking right into your dental software | AI | $289 a month for 775 minutes | Stated, listed on every plan |
| #6Smith.ai | Only calls with no patient information | People or AI | $150 a month for 75 AI calls | States it can’t take patient information |
Our grades for a dental office
A company’s website can tell you what it promises. It can’t tell you whether you’ll be glad you signed six months from now. So we graded each service on the seven things that decide that, the way a report card would, and we only gave a grade where we had enough to back it up.
That’s why you’ll see some dashed boxes below. Abby Connect, Specialty Answering Service and AnswerConnect now have a year of customer reviews behind Happy customers. Ruby, Smith.ai and BuzzWisely don’t have enough yet, so we won’t guess whether their customers are happy, and they show “Fewer reviews so far” under their names, which means a company’s place could move as more reviews come in. Where nothing published tells us how steady the calls are, we leave Reliable calls open too. We also leave a grade open when a company’s terms couldn’t be read. “Not enough information” never counts against a company. A Good doesn’t mean perfect, and a Poor doesn’t mean a bad company. It means this is where you should slow down and look closer before you sign.
The report card: dental offices
Grade details
Specialty Answering Service
The 100 Minute plan is $159, with no setup fee and a free trial of 14 days or 200 minutes, no card needed. Programming can cost $60 an hour for bigger changes.
Over the past year, 134 business owners reviewed it on Google, and nearly all praise friendly operators and messages that come through right. We didn’t find a dental office among them, so ask for a dental reference.
Specialty Answering Service doesn’t publish an uptime promise or a status page, and the reviews we read don’t describe dropped calls, so we leave this open instead of marking it down.
Admins can add users and limit who sees scripts or the on-call schedule, and its help center is searchable. Free onboarding, live training and a named contact aren’t published, so expect to work out setup with its team.
You can call 1-866-688-8912, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, or use chat. Its help center is open to anyone, though no response time is published.
It runs month to month, you give written notice before your next billing date, and no cancellation fee is listed. A number it assigns you can’t leave with you.
For a dental answering service, this one spells out the on-call steps: operators answer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can reach your staff with up to 10 outbound calls. It states it offers a signed HIPAA agreement. What happens to your patient messages after you cancel isn’t published.
Grade details
Abby Connect
Starter is $164 a month, with no setup fee on any plan and a free trial of 14 days or 500 Abby Minutes. A payment method is required for the trial.
Over the past year, 76 business owners reviewed it on Google, and nearly all praise its account managers and its warm, accurate receptionists. We didn’t find a dental office among them, so ask for a dental reference.
Abby Connect doesn’t publish an uptime promise or a status page, and the reviews we read don’t describe dropped calls, so we leave this open instead of marking it down.
Its portal lets you give your team different levels of access, and every account gets an onboarding manager and a client success manager. There’s no setup fee, and setup is one onboarding call plus forwarding your phones.
Call (877) 303-5757 for urgent help, and a receptionist connects you to your client success manager. Its contact form is answered within 1 business day, and its help center is open to anyone.
There’s no long-term contract. You can cancel any time in your first 30 days, and after that you give 30 days’ notice. No cancellation fee is listed.
People and AI work from one plan, with English and Spanish included. Its HIPAA at Abby article says AI answering isn’t currently HIPAA-compliant, and no page we read states it signs a HIPAA agreement. What happens if your on-call dentist doesn’t pick up isn’t published.
Grade details
AnswerConnect
Entry is $350 for 200 minutes, with $49.99 once for setup. The HIPAA add-on at $40 a month brings Entry to $390.
Over the past year, 132 business owners reviewed it on Google, and most praise a quick setup and friendly receptionists. We didn’t find a dental office among them, so ask for a dental reference.
AnswerConnect doesn’t publish an uptime promise or a status page, and the reviews we read don’t describe dropped calls, so we leave this open instead of marking it down.
You can invite staff as an admin or a member, and onboarding takes about 60 minutes. Free onboarding, live training, audit logs and a searchable help center aren’t published.
Call 800-531-5828. Its contact page says 24/7/365, while a sign-up article says 7 days a week, and customers often name the account manager who helped them. No response time is published.
Its Terms set a 90-day minimum while its sales pages describe no contracts, and what you’d owe if you left inside the 90 days isn’t stated.
Live receptionists answer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with an on-call calendar for your office. No company page states whether it signs a HIPAA agreement, and how you get your data out when you leave isn’t published.
Grade details
Ruby
Call Ruby 50 is $250 for 50 minutes, about 25 calls, with no setup fees. Each call rounds up to a full minute.
No uptime percentage is promised, though its terms allow a limited credit, up to 15 days of charges or $500. Ruby published its May 2022 outage, caused by a cyberattack on a provider, and posted updates as it went.
Onboarding specialists walk you through setup with no fee, and you can change your call rules in its app. Staff roles, audit logs, live training and a searchable help center aren’t stated on the pages we read.
Call 866-611-7829, Monday to Friday, 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific, closed on six holidays. Its HIPAA page and FAQ show different hours, and no response time is published.
It’s a 30-day contract that renews every 30 days. Call or email before your next invoice date, and no cancellation fee is listed. Partly used periods aren’t refunded.
U.S.-based receptionists answer 24/7, and it offers a signed HIPAA agreement at no added charge. They can transfer calls to any number you choose, and if nobody answers, the call goes to voicemail or a written message. It has no dental page and names no dental software.
Grade details
BuzzWisely
Nectar is $289 for 775 minutes and Honey is $389, with $0 setup and a 10-day trial for $5. Taxes and any extra minutes or numbers come on top, and its Hive plan for groups is by quote.
It has a public status page listing eight parts of the service, and its log showed no incidents in the last 90 days. Its Terms promise best effort, with no uptime guarantee or credit.
Role-based access limits who sees what, and logs record logins and changes, with exports. Setup is $0 by screen share. A searchable help center isn’t published, and its setup times differ from page to page.
Billing is monthly, and the site states you can cancel anytime with no penalty. The notice period and how to cancel aren’t published, and its guarantee and Terms differ on refunds.
It books into your practice software during the call, pages the person on call with the full transcript down a chain you can change, and lists a signed HIPAA agreement on every plan. A staffed support phone line and getting your data out when you leave aren’t published. Its Terms also say it isn’t PCI compliant, so don’t take card payments through it.
Grade details
Smith.ai
AI Receptionist Pro is $150 for 75 calls, and a free AI plan covers 25 calls. Virtual Receptionists start at $300 for 30 calls.
Setup takes about 15 minutes by its own count, with no setup fee, and Pro includes dedicated onboarding and an account manager. Staff roles and audit logs aren’t published.
Its people-first service has a support line, (650) 727-6484, seven days a week, and AI Pro and up include phone support. AI support hours aren’t stated.
It states it’s “not HIPAA-compliant” and can’t take calls involving patient information, so it only suits general questions, messages and new-patient leads.
Top 6 dental answering services for 2026
These six dental answering services each suit a different kind of office, so read the line under each name before you read the number beside it. The order is ours. It leans on what each company publishes, plus a year of customer reviews for the three services that have enough of them. Prices here are each company’s lowest paid plan.
Best fit for after-hours calls and on-call plans
Real people answer around the clock, and the company spells out how they chase down your on-call dentist, with up to 10 outbound calls. If your biggest worry is the urgent call at night, this is the one to read first.
Read on Specialty Answering ServiceBest fit for people and AI on one plan
One plan covers in-house receptionists and an AI receptionist, and its rules for canceling are among the clearest here. Calls with patient health details stay with its people, so confirm the signed agreement first.
Read on Abby ConnectBest fit for people around the clock
Live receptionists every hour of every day, at a low cost per minute once you’re on a larger plan. HIPAA is a paid add-on that can’t be undone, so read that part of its section before you switch it on.
Read on AnswerConnectBest fit for a person on every call
U.S.-based receptionists answer in your practice’s name, day and night, and the HIPAA service comes at no added charge once you opt in. It costs more per minute than anyone here, so it suits offices that care most about a warm human voice.
Read on RubyBest fit for booking into your dental software
An AI receptionist built for dental offices that books right into Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, DSN or Dolphin during the call. A flat monthly price covers far more minutes than the live plans here.
Read on BuzzWiselyBest fit only for calls with no patient information
Smith.ai states it isn’t HIPAA-compliant and can’t take calls involving patient information. It fits general questions and new-patient leads, and it shouldn’t handle your patient calls.
Read on Smith.aiHow they landed here
Our order comes from many factors. Here’s a highlight for each company, so you can see what shaped where it sits for a dental office. Ruby, Smith.ai and BuzzWisely don’t have enough recent reviews yet, so their places could move as more come in.
Dental answering service by coverage need
The right dental answering service depends on which calls you need help with and who you want answering them. A solo dentist who only needs nights covered buys something very different from a busy office that wants every call booked. Find the step below that sounds like your office. Each step assumes you’ll get a signed HIPAA agreement in place before patient calls begin.
What a call means to you: someone is in pain or worried, and your office is closed. Most of these calls can wait until morning, but one of them can’t, and you need that one to find you.
What matters most: a service that follows your own definition of urgent, a clear way of reaching your on-call dentist, and a plan for when that dentist doesn’t pick up. Clean messages waiting at 8 AM come next.
Start with: Specialty Answering Service, then BuzzWisely, because both publish what happens when the first person doesn’t answer.
Which one for you?
What a call means to you: your front desk is good, but it’s only one or two people. When they’re at lunch, checking someone out or already on the line, the next caller gets voicemail, and a new patient may simply call the next office on the list.
What matters most: calls that roll to the service only when your team can’t answer, someone who sounds like part of your office, and a plan you won’t burn through on quick questions.
Start with: Abby Connect, BuzzWisely and Ruby.
Which one for you?
What a call means to you: some of your patients are nervous about the dentist before they ever dial. A calm human voice is part of your care, and you don’t want a longtime patient talking to a computer.
What matters most: people who answer around the clock, a signed HIPAA agreement, and a price you can live with, because live minutes add up fast.
Start with: Ruby and Specialty Answering Service. AnswerConnect also fits once it confirms a signed agreement in writing.
Which one for you?
What a call means to you: most of your calls are routine, such as booking a cleaning, moving an appointment or asking if you take a certain insurance. You’d love to have those handled without anyone touching the phone.
What matters most: booking that lands on your real schedule, a flat price that doesn’t climb with each minute, and an easy way for a caller to reach a person.
Start with: BuzzWisely. For a wider look at this kind of service, see our AI Dental Receptionist guide.
Which one for you?
What a call means to you: directions and office hours don’t need a person, but a patient asking about a bill or a treatment does. You’d like each kind of call to go to the right place by itself.
What matters most: a clear line between what AI handles and what people handle, a way to choose by time of day or type of call, and a HIPAA answer that covers both.
Start with: Abby Connect, once it confirms a signed agreement in writing.
Which one for you?
How your needs change as your office grows
The calls you need covered are only half the picture. A brand-new practice and a five-dentist office live very differently, even when both just want the phone answered. Here’s what tends to change as you grow, so you buy for the office you have today.
Find your situation
The calls you need covered and the size of your office tell you what to buy. Where you are right now tells you what to do first. Most dental offices are in one of these four spots.
Looking for an office phone system and not an answering service? Our Phone Systems for Small Business guide covers those, and every service on this list needs a phone line behind it.
Free demo
Hear an answering service handle a real patient call
BuzzWisely answers every call 24/7, routes emergencies by your rules, books and reschedules right into your PMS and includes a signed BAA, with $0 setup and no contract.
Free demo, no commitment
Book a Free BuzzWisely Demo30-day money-back guarantee on Nectar Growth and Honey Unlimited.
What dental offices really use an answering service for
Dental offices use an answering service to catch the calls nobody can reach: urgent problems after hours, new patients during the lunch hour, and the reschedules that pile up on a busy morning. Few owners care how the service works. They care about what happens when the phone rings and nobody has a free hand.
An ordinary day with a dental answering service
Here’s what all of that looks like in practice, using a made-up office with two dentists and one person at the front desk. The details change from one office to the next, but the day may feel familiar. What the service can do depends on the company and the plan, and each company’s section below tells you what’s confirmed.
Dental answering service 101
A dental answering service sits behind your phone line, not in place of it. You keep your number and your phone company, and you tell your phone to send certain calls to the service, either all of them or only the ones your team can’t reach. None of the six is sold as an office phone system, so there’s no equipment to install and no number to give up. People or software then answer in your practice’s name and follow the instructions you gave them.
The choice you’ll make is who picks up. Live services bill for a person’s time, which is why minutes matter so much. AI services bill a flat price for a large bundle of minutes. A few companies offer both on one plan.
How a call moves through a dental answering service
Live, AI or both: who answers the phone
Phone words in plain English
Answering services have their own language, and they don’t all use the same words for the same thing. These are the ones you’ll see most often when you compare dental answering services.
What every dental answering service should cover
Whatever you buy, and however small your office is, these eight things should be there. If a service can’t confirm one of them, find out why before patients start calling it.
How many minutes do you need?
Count your calls before you pick a plan, because a plan that’s too small costs far more than one that fits. Your phone company’s call log is the place to start. Look at a normal month, and separate after-hours calls from calls your team missed during the day. Ruby puts a typical call at about 2 receptionist minutes, and BuzzWisely’s 775 minutes works out to about 380 calls, so 2 minutes a call is a fair starting point. Emergency, insurance and new-patient calls run longer than a quick reschedule.
That means 25 calls a month is about 50 minutes, 100 calls is about 200 minutes, and 300 calls is about 600 minutes. Not every company counts a minute the same way. Ruby rounds each call up to a full minute, and it counts hold time and the work done after the call. Specialty Answering Service bills by the second. Most plans won’t carry unused minutes into the next month, so buy for a normal month and not your busiest one.
How to start without missing a call
If you already have patients calling you, this move is routine when you do it in this order. Your number doesn’t go anywhere, which takes most of the worry out of it.
Equipment, rules and must-dos for a dental answering service
A dental answering service needs very little equipment, and most offices already own all of it. The rules take more care, because you’re handing over calls that include patient information and, once in a while, a real emergency. Here’s what to have ready and what you can’t skip.
What you need to have
Rules and must-dos for dental offices
Dental answering service features compared
This table compares what matters most on a dental call across all six answering services, using what each company publishes. “Ask before you sign” means we couldn’t confirm that item from the company’s own pages, and it doesn’t mean the answer is no. Who answers depends on the plan you choose, so check each company’s section for the details.
| Service | Signed HIPAA agreement | People at all hours | Reaching your dentist | If nobody answers | Books into your software |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | Offered, plans not named | Yes, 365 days | Automated calls, or a warm or cold transfer | Up to 10 outbound calls down your list | Online calendar. Ask before you sign |
| Abby Connect | Ask before you sign | Ask before you sign | Your written protocol | Ask before you sign | AI into Open Dental and Dentrix Ascend |
| AnswerConnect | Ask before you sign | Yes, 365 days | On-call calendar | Ask before you sign | Ask before you sign |
| Ruby | Offered, no added charge | Yes, 365 days | Live transfer to any number you choose | Voicemail or a written message | Online calendar. Ask before you sign |
| BuzzWisely | Listed on every plan | AI at all hours | AI pages the person on call, with a transcript | Second person, manager, then voicemail | Yes, five systems listed in depth |
| Smith.ai | States it can’t take patient information | Yes, for calls with no patient information | Ask before you sign | Ask before you sign | Ask before you sign |
Dental answering service pricing at a glance
Dental answering service plans in this guide start at $44 a month plus $1.54 a minute, and busy offices on live plans can pay more than $1,000 a month. All six publish prices, though companies count differently: most sell minutes, Smith.ai sells calls, and BuzzWisely sells a large flat bundle. A starting price on its own can mislead you, because a $250 plan with 50 minutes and a $289 plan with 775 minutes are very different buys.
What each service’s starting plan costs, per month
Showing all 6 services’ lowest paid plans, with what each one includes. AnswerConnect’s HIPAA add-on is extra.
Included minutes differ widely, so our cost by office size table compares the same minutes side by side.
Plus $1.54 a minute, for very light call volume. The company suggests it for up to 74 minutes.
100 minutes, then $1.44 for each extra minute.
220 minutes, then $1.44 for each extra minute.
For busier offices, then $1.34 and $1.29 a minute. Transfers to your dentist add $0.10 a minute.
50 receptionist minutes, about 25 calls, then $5.40 for each extra minute.
100 minutes, then $4.50 for each extra minute.
200 minutes, about 100 calls, then $4.40 for each extra minute.
500 minutes, then $4.00 for each extra minute. Paying by credit card adds 3%.
50 Abby Minutes, then $3.29 each. A minute with a person uses one Abby Minute.
100 Abby Minutes, then $3.29 each. A minute with AI uses half of one.
200 Abby Minutes, then $2.99 each.
500 Abby Minutes, then $2.76 each. Every plan has no setup fee.
775 minutes, about 380 calls, or $2,890 a year with two months free. The rate past 775 minutes isn’t published.
Unlimited under its fair-use policy, or $3,890 a year. Minutes past 1,200 a month are $0.24 each.
Your first phone number is free, and extra numbers are $5 a month each.
Full features, and it rolls into your chosen plan unless you cancel.
200 minutes, then $2.50 each. A $49.99 setup fee applies.
300 minutes, then $1.85 each, listed with no setup fee.
400 minutes, then $1.85 each. A $49.99 setup fee applies.
On top of any plan. Spanish answering is an add-on too, from $30 a month.
25 calls a month, with a card required at signup.
75 calls, then $2.50 a call. Live agent help adds $3 a call when a caller asks for it.
30 calls answered by people, then $11.50 a call.
90 and 300 calls. Booking appointments adds $1.50 on every call.
Other plans
For several locations and franchises, with minutes shared across offices and one combined invoice.
For the largest users. Going past 1,000 Abby Minutes in a billing period may move you to a custom plan at $2.76 a minute.
Offered on both the AI and the people-first service, for very high call volume with no patient information.
Dental answering service cost by office size
Here’s what the same minutes cost across the five services that bill by the minute, using the smallest published plan that covers them. These figures are for a month with no extra minutes, before taxes and add-ons, and AnswerConnect’s figures include the $40 HIPAA add-on, since a dental office would need it. Smith.ai bills by the call, so it isn’t shown. As a rough guide, a startup may use about 100 minutes, an established office about 200, and a busy office 500 or more.
| Service | 100 minutes | 200 minutes | 500 minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | $159 100 Minute | $269 220 Minute | $649 500 Minute |
| Ruby | $395 Call Ruby 100 | $720 Call Ruby 200 | $1,725 Call Ruby 500 |
| Abby Connect | $329 Essential | $599 Professional | $1,380 Growth |
| BuzzWisely | $289 Nectar | $289 Nectar | $289 Nectar |
| AnswerConnect | $390 Entry with HIPAA | $390 Entry with HIPAA | $835 550 minutes with HIPAA |
Calculated from each company’s published plan prices. Abby Connect’s minutes assume people answer, because its HIPAA handling is for human receptionists. Ruby rounds each call up to a full minute, so short calls use more of a plan than they’d use elsewhere.
Free demo
Compare what full coverage would cost your practice
BuzzWisely answers every call 24/7, routes emergencies by your rules, books and reschedules right into your PMS and includes a signed BAA, with $0 setup and no contract.
Free demo, no commitment
Book a Free BuzzWisely Demo30-day money-back guarantee on Nectar Growth and Honey Unlimited.
Dental answering service reviews
Customer reviews should be a big part of choosing a dental answering service, and for these six services the past year gives us a small and uneven picture. Most of what we found comes from Google Maps, plus a few reviews on G2, and almost none of it comes from dental offices. So we’re not showing star ratings on this list, and that gap doesn’t count against any company. What we can show is up to six cards per service that sum up, in our own words, what customers wrote in the past year. Each card names the reviewer, the month and the site, and links back so you can read it for yourself. Each service also gets a full write-up, with plain answers on contracts and canceling and the questions to settle before you sign.
People answering every hour, with a clear path to your dentist
Specialty Answering Service answers the question that keeps dentists up at night: what happens when a patient is in pain at 2 AM? Live operators answer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and you set the emergency rules. Operators screen the call, then reach your on-call dentist one of three ways. With a Reach, the operator hangs up and the system calls or texts your staff down a list, up to 10 outbound calls. With a Warm Patch, the operator stays on the line and connects the caller, with up to two tries. With a Cold Patch, the operator transfers the caller and leaves the call.
It’s also the lowest cost per minute among the live services here. The 100 Minute plan is $159, and its dental page states English and Spanish staff and a sample dental script. By its own figures, about 88% of calls are answered within about 20 seconds. The company states it offers a business associate agreement that both sides can sign, and it lists no HIPAA fee.
A HIPAA account does change how the service works, and you’ll want to know that up front. Call recordings are turned off, so you can’t play back a disputed call. Patient details stay in the portal or mobile app and aren’t sent by email or text. Canceling or rescheduling through Google Calendar can’t be turned on.
Not the best fit if: you want your answering service booking straight into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft. Operators work from an online calendar, and no page names dental software, so an AI service such as BuzzWisely may suit you better.
Specialty Answering Service customer reviews
From Google Maps, all from the past year. Each card opens the review where it was posted.
Ask before you sign: which plans include the HIPAA agreement, whether it must be signed before the free trial takes patient calls, and which company name goes on it. Also ask whether Economy’s $44 includes any minutes, how a HIPAA account reschedules a visit, what happens to patient messages after you cancel, and what operators do with a life-threatening call. Its Terms state that it doesn’t offer 911. When a trial ends unpaid, your forwarding number is disconnected, so stop forwarding first, and don’t advertise a number it assigns you, because that number can’t leave with you.
Read more Specialty Answering Service reviews on Google Maps. We didn’t find Specialty Answering Service on G2, Capterra or TrustRadius, and none of these reviews come from dental offices.
In-house receptionists and an AI receptionist, with one bill
Abby Connect suits an office that wants people and AI working from the same plan. Its receptionists work in-house in Las Vegas, and you choose what happens by type of call or time of day. A minute with a person uses one Abby Minute, and a minute with AI uses half of one, so routine calls stretch your plan. English and Spanish are included on every plan. The AI books directly into Open Dental and Dentrix Ascend, and each client gets a client success manager.
HIPAA is where you’ll want to look closely. Abby Connect includes HIPAA-compliant call handling on every plan, for its human receptionists only, and its Healthcare page keeps AI to calls with no patient health information. So on patient calls, you’re paying the full human rate, and direct booking into your software belongs to the AI side. No page we read states whether Abby Connect signs a business associate agreement, so that’s your first question.
On the plus side, its rules for canceling are among the clearest here, with a free trial of 14 days or 500 Abby Minutes and no setup fee. You write the protocol for urgent calls during onboarding, including who’s on call at each hour and how to reach them.
Not the best fit if: you’re counting on half-price AI minutes for calls that involve patients. That saving only reaches calls with no health details, so an office with mostly patient calls should price its plan at the full rate.
Abby Connect customer reviews
From G2 and Google Maps, all from the past year. Each card opens the review where it was posted.
Superior AI Receptionist That Exceeds Expectations
Ask before you sign: whether Abby Connect will sign a HIPAA business associate agreement, and whether it covers its AI receptionist and the third-party companies that make its transcripts and summaries. Also ask who answers a patient at 2 AM or on Christmas Day, because its Terms list set hours for people and name seven holidays while other pages state 24/7. Then ask what happens if your on-call dentist doesn’t pick up, how the 22-day guarantee works alongside the strict no-refund wording in its Terms, and what a receptionist tells a caller who needs 911.
Read more Abby Connect reviews on Google Maps and G2.
Live receptionists at any hour, with HIPAA as a paid add-on
AnswerConnect is built around real people answering at any hour. Its receptionists work in shifts across U.S. time zones, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and it describes the service as “No voicemail, no bots.” The cost per minute doesn’t change after hours. Entry is $350 for 200 minutes, Growth is $395 for 300 minutes, and on larger plans you get a lower rate per minute than most live services here. By its own figures, 99% of calls are answered within one to four rings.
For a dental office, the HIPAA option needs a careful read. It’s a paid add-on at $40 a month, which brings Entry to $390, and once you add it, it can’t be reversed. With it on, you can’t use call recordings or call transcription, so you can’t listen back to an urgent call. No company page states whether AnswerConnect signs a business associate agreement, on any plan.
Each account sets its own rules for urgent calls. Client Services turns on an on-call calendar, where each entry has a time range, a number of tries and a contact. If no phone number is chosen in an entry, the call becomes a message. Setmore scheduling software comes included, and Spanish answering starts at $30 a month. In very busy periods, calls may go to team members in Canada or the UK.
Not the best fit if: you want to try a service before you commit. There’s no free trial, and its Terms set a 90-day minimum, so Specialty Answering Service or Abby Connect may be easier to test.
AnswerConnect customer reviews
From G2 and Google Maps, all from the past year. Each card opens the review where it was posted.
Effortless Process Makes Everything Easy
Mid-Market (51‑1000 emp.)
The app and setup were incredibly seamless. We own a small landscaping company and will be away for an extended period of about three weeks, so we decided to bring them on to help. I honestly couldn’t believe how smooth the experience was—from the initial sales calls, to onboarding, to getting everything set up and running.
The whole team was professional, organized, and easy to work with. We were up and running much faster than expected, and the process exceeded my expectations every step of the way.
We’re extremely happy with the service and would highly recommend it to other small business owners.
Ask before you sign: whether AnswerConnect will sign a business associate agreement before you add the option you can’t undo. Also ask what you owe if you leave inside 90 days, what happens after the final on-call try fails, whether an on-call transfer needs the $40 Live Operator Relay add-on, whether calls that go to Canada or the UK leave out HIPAA accounts, and what happens to your messages after you leave. Its one line on 911 is that it’s “not a substitute for emergency services,” so ask what receptionists tell a caller who needs help.
Read more AnswerConnect reviews on Google Maps and G2.
U.S.-based receptionists, with a HIPAA agreement at no added charge
Ruby suits an office that wants every caller greeted by a person. Its receptionists are U.S.-based, answer 24/7 including holidays, and work in your practice’s name, in English or Spanish, with no extra charge for nights or weekends. By Ruby’s own figures, calls are answered in under 10 seconds on average, and they don’t have to be every call: you can forward all of them, some of them, or only the ones you don’t pick up.
Ruby offers a HIPAA service with a signed business associate agreement at no added charge, and the wording on its pricing page puts it on all listed plans. It’s something you opt into, and a team member brings you the agreement after you complete the online service agreement. Once you’re on it, messages and caller details stay in the Ruby app and portal and aren’t emailed or texted.
The trade-off is the price of a person’s time. Call Ruby 50 is $250 for 50 minutes, about 25 calls, and each call rounds up to a full minute, including hold time and the work done after the call. Ruby itself typically suggests message-taking only in the late-night hours, and limits on how long it dials cell phones, so talk through how that fits an on-call dentist.
Not the best fit if: your calls add up to hundreds of minutes a month. At 200 minutes, Call Ruby 200 at $720 costs more than twice what Specialty Answering Service charges for about the same time.
Ruby customer reviews
From G2 and Google Maps, all from the past year. Each card opens the review where it was posted.
Exceptional Support and Seamless Client Experience
Mid-Market (51‑1000 emp.)
On Google, the only Ruby review in the past year was this complaint.
Ask before you sign: what a receptionist does when a caller needs 911, because that isn’t published. Also ask whether Ruby can book into your practice software, how recordings, AI transcripts and after-hours voicemail work on a HIPAA account, when HIPAA coverage starts compared with your first forwarded call, and how you’d get a copy of your data when you leave, because its documents differ on that.
Read more Ruby reviews on Google Maps and G2. Only two Ruby reviews from the past year turned up on these sites, and neither comes from a dental office.
Flat monthly pricing, with booking right on your schedule
BuzzWisely is an AI receptionist for dental offices, and it’s the one to look at if you want calls turned into booked visits without anyone touching the phone. It answers every call at any hour, takes several at once, and books, reschedules or cancels right into your practice software during the call. It lists deep connections with Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, DSN and Dolphin, and it names Curve, RevenueWell, Lighthouse 360, Tab32 and Adit with less detail. How deep the connection goes varies by plan.
For urgent calls, you set the on-call schedule and the rules. The AI sorts the call, then books it or pages the person on call with the full transcript. If that person doesn’t answer, the default chain moves to a second person, then a manager, then voicemail, and you can change that order. Its dental page states that anyone who asks for a human gets one. Nectar covers 775 minutes, about 380 calls, for a flat $289, and Honey at $389 is unlimited under a fair-use policy, with minutes past 1,200 a month at $0.24 each. See every plan in our BuzzWisely Pricing guide.
BuzzWisely’s Terms state that it has no 911 support and isn’t for emergency use, and they leave any “dial 9-1-1” notice for you to set in your script. Its dental page describes sorting urgent calls under your rules. Read those together, and treat BuzzWisely as a way to reach your on-call dentist and never as an emergency line.
Not the best fit if: your office depends on clinical judgment on the phone. BuzzWisely’s own dental page names workflows that need clinical triage on every call, such as oral surgery emergencies, as a poor fit, and some long-time patients may simply prefer a person.
BuzzWisely customer reviews
We haven’t found a BuzzWisely listing on the review sites we use, so there’s nothing to show here yet.
Ask before you sign: whether a signed agreement and HIPAA Mode are in place on your plan and during the $5 trial, because some of its pages state you have to request one. Also ask how the 30-day guarantee works alongside Terms that call fees non-refundable, what happens past 775 minutes on Nectar, whether texts cost $0.02 each or come included, how much notice canceling takes, and whether you can take your data with you. If you want outbound recall calls, ask how those fit its fair-use policy.
People or AI, for general questions and new-patient leads
Smith.ai stays on this list for one narrow job. It states that it works with dental practices on calls with no patient information, such as answering common questions, taking messages, qualifying new-patient leads and transferring calls. If you want help with those and your own team or another service handles the rest, it can fill that gap. Practices that need HIPAA support are told to talk to its team before starting.
It sells two services. The AI Receptionist starts with a free plan of 25 calls, and Pro is $150 for 75 calls. Virtual Receptionists uses people, 24/7 with no holiday closure, starting at $300 for 30 calls. Both bill by the call, so a long call costs the same as a short one, but add-ons on the people-first plans apply to all your calls. Booking at $1.50 a call comes to $45 a month on Starter. Spanish is available on both.
Not the best fit if: any of your calls touch appointments, treatment or billing, which is most of what a dental office hears. For those calls, compare the other services on this list.
Smith.ai customer reviews
From G2, all from the past year. Each card opens the review where it was posted.
24/7/365 Phone Answering That Keeps Appointments Booked
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Professional Call Handling with Accurate Lead Intake
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
24/7 Support with Great Communication and Proactive Updates
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Answers every call, sounds like my own front desk
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Responsive Customer Service You Can Count On
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Ask before you sign: for anything you plan to send it, ask Smith.ai in writing whether a business associate agreement is available. We couldn’t confirm its contract terms, so also ask about renewal, price rises and your data after you leave, how it handles a caller who needs 911, and which dental software it connects to, if any.
Read more Smith.ai reviews on G2. These reviews come from law firms and other businesses, not dental offices, and we didn’t find Smith.ai on Google Maps.
Other options we considered for your dental office
A dental answering service isn’t the only way to stop missing calls, and these options came up alongside the six on this list. We haven’t graded them against the services above. If none of the six feels right, one of these may be worth a look, and each of our guides below explains who it suits.
Our Verdict on choosing a dental answering service
There’s no single right dental answering service for every office, but there is a clear way to choose. Start with the signed HIPAA agreement, because nothing else matters until that’s in place. Specialty Answering Service, Ruby and BuzzWisely all state they offer one, and each suits a different office: Specialty Answering Service for reaching your on-call dentist at a lower cost per minute, Ruby for a person’s voice on every call, and BuzzWisely for booking right into your dental software at a flat price.
Abby Connect and AnswerConnect may suit you well too, once either one gives you that agreement in writing. Smith.ai is only for calls with no patient information. Whichever way you lean, test it before you trust it. Call it at night, pretend to be a new patient, and let your on-call dentist miss the call on purpose. Then read the agreement, the rules for canceling and the price for extra minutes. Most offices don’t get hurt by a missing feature. They get hurt by the 2 AM call nobody planned for.
What a dental answering service does well
- Patients reach a helpful voice after hours, over lunch and during the morning rush.
- Urgent calls follow your rules to your on-call dentist.
- You keep your own number and your own phone company.
What to plan for
- A signed agreement belongs in place before patient calls begin.
- Live minutes add up fast, so count your calls first.
- Your own phone line handles 911, not the service.
Quick math: what a dental answering service can pay back
Using Specialty Answering Service’s 220 Minute plan at $269 a month, and an example of $200 for each new-patient visit.
In this example, two booked new-patient visits a month more than cover the plan. The $200 is only an example, so use your own number.
Dental answering service FAQs
How much does a dental answering service cost?
Plans in this guide start at $44 a month plus $1.54 a minute for Specialty Answering Service, $164 for Abby Connect, $250 for Ruby, $289 for BuzzWisely and $350 for AnswerConnect, before its $40 HIPAA add-on. For about 200 minutes a month, expect roughly $269 to $720, depending on the service. Smith.ai bills by the call and can’t take patient information.
Is a dental answering service HIPAA compliant?
It can be, but the word on a web page isn’t enough. Your office needs a signed business associate agreement with the service. Specialty Answering Service, Ruby and BuzzWisely state they offer one. Abby Connect and AnswerConnect sell HIPAA handling, and neither publishes whether it signs an agreement, so ask before you sign. Smith.ai states it can’t take patient information.
What happens if my on-call dentist doesn’t answer?
That depends on the service, so ask before you sign. Specialty Answering Service’s system can work down your list with up to 10 outbound calls, and its Warm Patch tries up to two before telling the caller no one was available. BuzzWisely’s default chain moves to a second person, a manager and then voicemail. The other four don’t publish this answer.
Can a dental answering service book into my practice software?
Some can. BuzzWisely books into Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, DSN and Dolphin during the call. Abby Connect’s AI books into Open Dental and Dentrix Ascend, and its people take messages or use Calendly. Live services usually work from an online calendar that needs no login, so ask how booking will work with your system.
Can an answering service handle a 911 emergency?
Don’t count on it. Specialty Answering Service and BuzzWisely state in their Terms that they don’t offer 911, and AnswerConnect states it’s no substitute for emergency services. Ruby, Abby Connect and Smith.ai don’t publish an answer. Your own phone line handles 911, so add a plain line to your script telling callers with a life-threatening problem to hang up and dial 911.
Is AI or live answering better for a dental office?
It depends on your patients and your calls. AI answers at once and costs less at high volume, and it can book into your schedule. People bring judgment and a voice that nervous patients often prefer, and you pay for their time. Many offices use AI for routine calls and people for sensitive ones, if the HIPAA agreement covers both.
Do I need an answering service if I have a front desk team?
Many strong front desks still use one for lunch breaks, sick days, nights and busy mornings. One person can only be on one call at a time, and the patient standing in front of them comes first. Forwarding only busy or unanswered calls gives your team a backup without taking the phones away from them.
Can I keep my practice phone number?
Yes. All six services can work from calls you forward, so your number stays with your phone company. Be careful with any extra number a service gives you. Specialty Answering Service’s assigned numbers can’t leave with you, for example, so keep advertising your own number.
Can I try a dental answering service before I commit?
Several offer a way to try. Specialty Answering Service has a free trial of 14 days or 200 minutes, Abby Connect has a free trial of 14 days or 500 Abby Minutes, and BuzzWisely has a 10-day trial for $5. AnswerConnect has no free trial. Before a trial takes real patient calls, ask whether your HIPAA agreement is already in place.
Does a dental answering service work for orthodontists and oral surgeons?
Yes, with different needs. BuzzWisely lists Dolphin, which many orthodontic offices use. Oral surgeons get more urgent calls, so a person on the line matters more, and Specialty Answering Service’s Warm Patch keeps an operator with the caller. BuzzWisely’s own dental page names oral surgery emergencies as a poor fit.
Can the service answer in Spanish?
Most can. Ruby and Abby Connect include English and Spanish on every plan, and Specialty Answering Service states English and Spanish staff. BuzzWisely lists Spanish and other languages on all plans. AnswerConnect sells Spanish answering as an add-on from $30 a month.
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