Dental recall SMS and email templates for Australia

What a recall message must contain

The ACMA's guidance on marketing messages says you need consent first, and each message must identify you, contain your contact details and make it easy to unsubscribe.

• Consent. Express consent (a form, ticked box, phone call or face to face) is more reliable than inferred consent. Keep a record of who agreed, when and how, because proving it is up to you.
• Identification. Give your name or business name and correct contact details, kept correct for at least 30 days after sending.
• Opt-out. Every commercial message needs a clear unsubscribe option: honoured within 5 working days, free, no more than a standard text charge, working for at least 30 days, with no login or extra personal details. An alphanumeric SMS header generally cannot receive replies.

The ACMA says appointment reminders are generally not spam, but its pages do not say whether a recall counts. Ask your own adviser; see our Spam Act guide.

What RecallQ adds, and what you write

• One placeholder. RecallQ replaces only [Practice Name], typed exactly like that. The portal will not save wording without it; an SMS lacking it gets your practice name and a colon at the front.
• SMS. RecallQ adds “Reply STOP to opt out” on its own line and sends only to Australian mobile numbers.
• Email. RecallQ sets the subject as your sender name, a colon, then “Your dental recall is due”. The footer shows your sender name, ABN, physical address and an unsubscribe link; no recall email is sent without them. An opening “Hi,” becomes “Hi” plus the patient's first name when one is on file.

SMS templates

Each uses plain characters (the portal rejects curly quotes, dashes and emoji), names the practice, asks for one action and makes no offer or health claim. Each is 114 characters or fewer counting [Practice Name] as 15, leaving room for a practice name of 38.

Not always sent as written. On the Pro plan, with billing active, RecallQ's AI may reword an SMS recall using your template as a style guide, or add the patient's first name, so the text can differ from your wording and the preview. The practice name is always included. SMS on other plans, and all email, are not reworded by AI.

SMS 1: First recall

[Practice Name] here. Your dental check-up is due. Please call us to book a time that suits you.

SMS 2: Second nudge

[Practice Name] here. Just a reminder that your dental check-up is due. Please call us when you're ready to book.

Create it as a second rule with a later timing, and check who has booked first: RecallQ cannot see bookings in your practice software.

SMS 3: Long overdue

[Practice Name] here. We haven't seen you for a while and your check-up is overdue. Please call us to book a time.

SMS 4: Reply to book

[Practice Name] here. Your dental check-up is due. Reply YES and our team will call you to arrange a time.

Use only if someone will call back. A whole-message YES creates a pending booking on the Today page. On Pro, AI may leave out Reply YES.

Email templates

RecallQ writes the subject, so write only the body. Elsewhere, start the subject with your practice name.

Email 1: First recall

Hi,

Your dental check-up with [Practice Name] is due.

Please call us and we will find a time that suits you.

Kind regards,
The team at [Practice Name]

Email 2: Overdue

Hi,

We haven't seen you at [Practice Name] for a while, and your check-up is now overdue.

If you would like to book, please call us and we will find a time that suits you. If you have already booked, please ignore this message.

Kind regards,
The team at [Practice Name]

Practical tips

• Timing. Recall SMS go out only between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm in your practice's time zone (Sydney by default, or Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or Hobart), and anything scheduled outside it is held (Terms, clause 9.5). Portal send times run from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
• Opt-outs. A whole-message STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, CANCEL or OPTOUT opts a patient out of SMS at once. Each email has a visible unsubscribe link and a List-Unsubscribe header that mail apps use for their unsubscribe button. Emailed requests to unsubscribe@recallq.com.au are actioned by a person within 5 business days, per the Privacy Policy. Record phone or in-person opt-outs in the portal.

Using the templates outside RecallQ

Add what RecallQ would: your practice name, contact details and a working opt-out (an SMS sender that cannot receive replies cannot take a STOP). Emails should also show your legal business name or ABN and an unsubscribe link.

How RecallQ uses templates

A recall rule is a channel, timing, send time and your wording. RecallQ includes five ready-made templates to start from; edit them or write your own. The live preview shows your wording, not any Pro AI rewording. Recalls go only to patients with recorded consent for that channel and no opt-out, and only for practices with an active or trialing subscription; consent and opt-outs are checked again when each message sends. See how RecallQ works and SMS vs email patient recalls.

Sources

Checked on 30 September 2026.

• ACMA, Avoid sending spam (updated 29 November 2024): https://www.acma.gov.au/avoid-sending-spam
• ACMA, Dealing with spam (updated 29 August 2025): https://www.acma.gov.au/dealing-with-spam