AI Voice Agents Reshape Dental Practice Call Centers

A new wave of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is transforming how dental offices field incoming phone calls. So-called “voice agents” powered by advanced language models can now handle routine tasks like scheduling appointments, reducing staffing burdens for live operators.

According to a recent industry report, the global contact center AI market could swell to nearly $3 billion by 2028, up from $2.4 billion in 2022. Around half of call centers plan to adopt some form of AI within the next year to streamline operations and reduce costs.

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Low-Code Platforms Fuel Adoption

Startups like Retell AI are fueling this shift by offering low-code platforms that allow practices to easily create customized voice agents. The company’s co-founder Evie Wang said:

“Companies with heavy call center operations, looking to scale quickly without the constraints of human contact center agents, are highly receptive to adopting effective AI voice agent solutions. This approach not only reduces their overall costs but also decreases wait times.”

Dental providers seem keen to capitalize on the potential efficiency gains. Telehealth company Ro, which offers remote dentistry services, has already implemented Retell’s technology.

However, the trend also raises concerns around data privacy and whether advanced language models can truly offer the empathy and judgment that dental issues sometimes require. Wang acknowledged the technical hurdles:

“We don’t view AI voice agents as mere toys…but rather as tools that can offer substantial value to businesses and replace complex workflows.”

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Continued Refinement Ahead

While Retell’s voice quality may not be state-of-the-art yet, Wang says the team remains focused on optimizing latency and edge cases like interrupted conversations. Overcoming these challenges could help make AI voice agents a mainstay for dentistry’s front office.

“With the advent of LLMs and breakthroughs in speech synthesis, conversational AI is getting good enough to create exciting use cases,” Wang stated. “We’re trying to make it easy for developers to build, test, deploy and monitor AI voice agents, ultimately to help them achieve production readiness.”

As the technology matures, the debate around AI’s role in healthcare is sure to intensify. Dental practices may need to carefully weigh increasing efficiency against maintaining a human touch.