Liza Choa
Quick answer
What is a dental price list funnel?
A dental price list funnel is a price list download on a dental website followed by an automatic text message that holds a conversation. In one Australian practice it produced 88 pipeline opportunities worth $340,400 in 15 weeks, and 38 of those patients booked in, worth $41,800.
Sunday evening, 5:33pm. A woman picked up her phone and texted a dental practice. Gum treatment, whitening, a few fillings she knew she needed. She wanted to know what it would cost.
17 seconds later she had an answer. Prices from $80. What the exam covers. What happens next. 10 messages back and forth, and she was booked in before the practice opened on Monday.
She came in through a dental price list funnel, which is a price list download sitting on the practice website. I want to be clear about one thing. Nobody at that practice was working on a Sunday evening. The front desk read the whole conversation on Monday morning and took it from there.
- People downloaded the price list
- 262
- Opportunities created
- 88
- Booked in
- 38
- Treatment booked
- $41,800
What they had before
262 people downloaded that price list. Every one of them got a 6 email nurture sequence. It did what email sequences do, and that is not much.
The lead magnet was never the problem. For me the problem is timing. Somebody asking you for prices is deciding right now, and email does not move at that speed.
What we switched on, and when
On 5 August 2026 the practice moved the price list follow-up across to the AI Text Receptionist™ inside SmileEngine™. Same download. Same list. One change: the follow-up became a text message, and the text could hold a conversation.
I dated that go-live off the field creation records and the order the form values appear in. Not the contact created dates. Imported records carry backdated dates, and they would have flattered this result.
What happened, 1 June to 15 September
| Stage | People | Share of the stage before |
|---|---|---|
| Downloaded the price list | 262 | – |
| Replied to the follow-up text | 63 | 24% |
| AI held the conversation | 61 | 97% |
| Opportunities created in the pipeline | 88 | 144% |
| Booked in | 38 | 43% |
88 opportunities came out of 61 conversations, and that surprised me, because a lot of people asked about more than one thing. Implants. Orthodontics. Wisdom teeth, whitening, cosmetic work, and a great deal of general dentistry.
Those 88 were worth $340,400 on our standard case value table. 38 of them booked, worth $41,800.
In plain English, a PDF and a text message accounted for 26% of everything in that practice’s pipeline.
Now, speed is the whole mechanism here. 55 of the 63 people replied on the day they downloaded. The median AI reply landed in 22 seconds. And half of all the replies, 90 out of 177, arrived when the practice was shut!
- The median AI reply
- 22seconds
- Replied on the day they downloaded
- 55of 63
- Replies that arrived when the practice was shut
- 90of 177
Frequently asked questions
What happens if somebody texts the practice at 11pm?
They get a reply. In this practice the median reply took 22 seconds, and 90 of the 177 replies arrived outside opening hours.
Do price list patients actually book?
38 of the 88 opportunities booked here, worth $41,800. Price list leads do convert lower than a normal enquiry, because they are earlier in their thinking. The point is that most of these conversations would never have started at all.
Which treatments do price list downloaders ask about?
In this practice it was implants, orthodontics, wisdom teeth, whitening and cosmetic work, with general dentistry the largest single group. The page they downloaded from is usually a good indicator of what they are after.
How long does a price list funnel take to switch on?
This practice went live on 5 August 2026 using the price list and the list of downloaders they already had. Nothing about the lead magnet changed.
Written by
Liza Choa
Liza Choa is the founder of DCRM and Practice Growth Studio, a boutique dental marketing agency working behind the scenes with some of the most respected dental practices in Australia. She has spent over a decade helping practices grow and scale.
She built DCRM after seeing the same problem in practice after practice. The enquiries were already there, but the new patient numbers did not reflect it. DCRM bridges that gap, so practices increase the return on the marketing they are already paying for.
Disclaimer: The figures in this case study reflect the results of one dental practice over a defined period, and were taken from that practice’s DCRM account at the date stated. The practice is not identified, and identifying details have been removed or generalised. Results vary between practices and depend on factors outside the platform, including enquiry volume, treatment mix, pricing, location, team capacity and how consistently the practice follows up. These figures are not a prediction, projection or guarantee of the results any other practice will achieve. Data is reported as recorded in the platform and has not been independently audited. No patient information is disclosed.
