Dental practice: answering well when a patient calls because they are in pain

A patient in pain may call at any time, including at weekends, and sometimes without being a patient of the practice. They want to know one thing: when and where they can get relief. The quality of the reception depends on how clear the answer is, not how long.

The receptionist’s role is to listen, collect the relevant information and apply the practice’s rules: offer a slot, put the patient on a callback list, or tell them about the on-call arrangements. It is not for them to assess the seriousness of the situation themselves.

The urge to reassure sometimes leads to suggesting a painkiller, a mouthwash or waiting until Monday. That is not reception’s role: what the receptionist may or may not say must be set out in writing by the dentist, and anything to do with diagnosis or treatment is the dentist’s responsibility.

Discretion is also part of the framework. In France, the dental surgeons’ code of ethics requires practitioners to ensure that the people assisting them are instructed in their obligations of professional secrecy and comply with them (Article R4127-207 of the Public Health Code). What the patient describes on the phone is covered.

The practice benefits from deciding in advance what it offers a patient in pain: slots reserved each day, a callback list, care limited to the practice’s own patients or open to all. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional health agency (ARS) lists, among the situations that may require urgent care, intense or persistent pain, signs of infection such as an abscess or swelling, and major dental trauma, for example a fall or a blow resulting in broken teeth.

It is up to the dentist to turn these situations into instructions for reception. The receptionist applies the rule and passes the request on: they do not sort cases based on their own judgement.

Taking part in the on-call service is compulsory for dental surgeons in France, unless exempted by the departmental council of the Order (Article R4127-245 of the Public Health Code). Articles R6315-7 to R6315-10 organise out-of-hours dental cover on Sundays and public holidays in each département, provided in particular by self-employed dental surgeons, associate dentists and dentists employed by health centres. Its principles are set out in regional specifications adopted by the director general of the regional health agency.

Access to the on-call dentist may be through a telephone regulation service staffed by dental surgeons, reachable on 15 and, where applicable, on 116 117 (the French number for out-of-hours medical care), or through an alternative arrangement entrusted to the Order with a dedicated number. In June 2025, France’s National Order of Dental Surgeons pointed out that Decree No. 2025-152 of 19 February 2025 extends the on-call obligation to all practitioners who still have a clinical practice. Hours vary: the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ARS indicates that on-call cover most often runs from 9 am to 12 noon, with variations between départements. Check how cover is organised in your département and include it in your instructions.

France’s Public Health Code organises out-of-hours dental cover only on Sundays and public holidays (Article R6315-7), with hours set locally: weekday evenings and nights are not part of the scheme. For a life-threatening emergency, the numbers are 15, for the SAMU (the French emergency medical service), and 112, the European emergency number. Your after-hours message should therefore state three things clearly: when the practice reopens, how to reach the Sunday on-call service in your département, and that in a life-threatening emergency callers must dial 15 or 112.

One page is enough: the rule for taking care of patients in pain, the exact wording for Sunday on-call cover, the night message, and the information to collect (name, phone number, whether or not they are a patient of the practice, how long the pain has lasted, what the patient describes, when they are available). Reread it whenever the arrangements in your département change.

Alyas answers 24 hours a day based on the information the practice gives it, including the on-call instructions you write, collects the caller’s contact details and message, and can book an appointment if your Google Calendar or Cal.com calendar is connected; for other software, compatibility is checked case by case. It relies only on what you give it: include no medical advice. Alyas is not certified as a health data host (HDS, the French certification for hosting health data), a point to factor into your own assessment. The trial is free for 10 days, with no credit card required.