The cheapest full-arch case a practice will ever start is usually one it has already presented. The patient sat in the chair, saw the scan, heard the plan, and said they'd think about it. Then nobody called.
Most practices have more of these than they think, and almost none have counted them. This post is about finding the full-arch cases already in your chart, and about being honest about what that list can and can't do.
If you want the general version, which covers both reports for any specialty, I wrote it up in the money already inside your practice. This one is specific to full-arch.
Why full-arch plans go unscheduled
A full-arch plan is a big decision. It's a large number, it's surgery, and it changes how someone eats, speaks and looks. Saying "I need to think about it" is a reasonable response. It isn't a no.
What usually happens next is nothing. The front desk has a full day of patients who did schedule. The coordinator means to follow up and the week gets away from them. Six months later the plan is still sitting in the system, presented and unscheduled, and the patient's teeth haven't improved.
That's not a failure of anyone in particular. It's what happens when follow-up depends on someone remembering. The result is a list of people who already know your practice, already met the doctor and already heard the case, and nobody has spoken to them since.
The two lists worth pulling for full-arch
Presented and unscheduled full-arch plans. Pull every full-arch or multi-implant plan presented in the last twenty-four months that never got scheduled. Add up the presented value, then discount it hard in your own head. A plan presented eighteen months ago is not the same as one presented last week. Even discounted hard, it's usually a bigger number than owners expect.
Long-unseen patients whose situation points to full-arch. Pull patients not seen in eighteen months or more whose charts show what the doctor would recognise as a likely full-arch conversation: a denture they've struggled with, or teeth that were already failing at the last visit. Leave out anyone deceased, transferred or flagged do-not-contact.
These two lists are different. The first group has already heard the plan. The second hasn't, but the doctor already knows why they might need one. Neither group is a stranger.
Why this runs before ads
New full-arch patients cost money to reach. You compete for attention and pay for it whether or not anyone books.
These lists cost almost nothing to reach. You already have the relationship and the reason to get in touch. That's why, in the full-arch program, the existing list gets worked before a dollar of ad spend goes live. Around day twenty is usually where the first bookings land, and they usually come from the list, not the ads.
The money already inside the practice comes first. You already paid to acquire those people once.
What the follow-up has to sound like
This isn't a promotion and it shouldn't read like one. A discount blast to a list of full-arch candidates tells them the price was never real and cheapens a serious decision.
What works is the same thing that works for a new inquiry: a real conversation. Something that acknowledges they were in, that the plan was a lot to take in, and that the practice is happy to answer whatever stopped them. Then a clear next step, such as a short call or a time to come back in, and a follow-up that doesn't depend on anyone remembering to send it.
If that conversation turns into a consult, every stage after it counts the same as for a new patient. I covered those stages in from consult to started case.
What a list can and can't do
A patient list can only be mined once. Working it properly fixes a quarter. It doesn't change your position.
After the first pass, the people who were ready have booked and the rest have told you, one way or another, that now isn't the time. Working the same list again next month won't produce the same result. That's why the list comes first and the ads come after: the list pays for the start, and the ads have to carry what comes next.
The other honest limit is size. I don't know what your list will produce until I've seen it, and I won't guess. A practice with a long history and a lot of presented full-arch work will have a different list from one that started placing implants last year.
How this becomes a guaranteed number
For practices that aren't ready to fund advertising, this list is a starting point of its own. Dormant Chair Recovery works only the list you already own, over sixty days, with no ad spend. The guaranteed production figure is set from your own data at the audit, never before, because a number promised before anyone has seen the list is a guess.
Practices that want new full-arch patients as well start with the list as the first step of the full-arch program: fifteen paying full-arch patients in ninety days. If you miss it, you get the entire fee back and I keep working at no fee until you have fifteen, while the agreed ad budget is funded.
Full-arch list questions
How many full-arch cases can a dormant list produce?
I don't know until I see it, and I won't guess. It depends on how long the practice has been presenting full-arch work, how many plans went unscheduled, and how long ago. The figure for Dormant Chair Recovery is set from the practice's own data at the audit, never before.
We ran a recall campaign last year. Is it still worth pulling the list?
Possibly. A general recall campaign usually asks people to book a cleaning. A full-arch follow-up is a different conversation, with people who heard a specific plan. Pull the two lists and look at how many full-arch plans are still unscheduled before deciding.
Does working the list replace advertising?
No. A list can only be mined once. It fixes a quarter, not your position. It comes first because it costs the least to reach, and new patients from advertising carry what comes after it.
Should we offer a discount to get unscheduled patients to book?
I wouldn't. A discount to a list of full-arch candidates tells them the price was never real. A real conversation about what stopped them, with a clear next step, respects the size of the decision.