Unscheduled Treatment and Pending Cases Board (Free)
By Blake Hickey, founder of Double Jaw Marketing. For office managers, treatment coordinators and front desk teams at general dental, orthodontic, oral surgery and speech therapy practices. Updated October 26, 2026.
Every practice has a list of people who said "not yet." The patient with a treatment plan and no appointment. The ortho consult who never started. The surgery consult waiting on insurance. The child evaluated for speech therapy whose family never booked the first session. Each one already chose you once. Most just need a call at the right time from someone who remembers them.
This board keeps all of them on one sheet, with a next contact date and an owner on every line, so nobody falls through the cracks between the treatment plan and the schedule.
- One board for everyone who said "not yet": stage, last contact, next contact, owner and outcome.
- Pull the list from your practice software's unscheduled treatment report and review it weekly.1
- Specialty versions: unscheduled treatment, pending ortho starts, surgery consults without a date and SLP evaluations without therapy.
- Bring it to the morning huddle so open chair time gets filled from the board.
- Initials only, out of patient view, and follow your HIPAA policy.
What is unscheduled treatment in a dental office?
It's treatment that's planned in the chart but not booked on the schedule. Dentrix Enterprise's guidance is direct: follow up on any treatment plans that are still unscheduled, and run the Unscheduled Treatment Plan Report weekly. That report lists the patient, phone number, planned procedures, insurance carrier, renewal date, remaining benefits and plan amount.1
Dental Intelligence tracks a related number in its morning huddle: patients not rescheduled, meaning patients who had an appointment as of yesterday but by the end of the day had no appointment left on the books, split into new patients, existing patients and broken appointments.2 Both belong on the board.
Every card has a next step until it's booked or closed with a reason. Columns mirror the unscheduled treatment and "patients not rescheduled" lists in practice software.1,2
What goes on the board for ortho, oral surgery and speech therapy?
The idea is the same in every specialty: someone was seen, a next step was agreed, and it isn't on the schedule yet. What changes is where they get stuck.
- General dentistry: treatment planned but not scheduled, patients waiting on insurance or a benefits renewal, broken appointments not rebooked and recare overdue.1,2
- Orthodontics: pending starts (consulted, not started), observation patients due for a recheck, records taken with no start date and Phase II due. Dr. Roger Levin's huddle advice asks whether too many consults have not converted into starts, and whether it's time to convert that day's observation patients to treatment.3
- Oral surgery: consults without a surgery date, cases waiting on pre-authorization, cases waiting on clearance or records from another provider and missed post-op visits.
- Speech therapy: evaluations done with therapy not started, cases waiting on insurance authorization, families on the waitlist and plans of care due for renewal.
How often should we follow up on pending treatment?
Pick a rhythm and write it on the board. A weekly review of the full list matches the Dentrix guidance to run the unscheduled treatment report every week.1 Between reviews, each line has its own next contact date, set by what the patient said: after payday, after the benefits renewal, after the school year starts.
Call first, and log every attempt in your practice software. If you follow up by text or email, use messages your attorney has reviewed and only send to patients who agreed to hear from you that way. Our follow-up texts and emails have wording you can start from. This is general information, not legal advice.
When a patient says no, close the line with the reason. A closed line with a reason is still useful: it tells you whether cost, timing, fear or a second opinion is behind most of the "not yets."
How does the board fit the morning huddle?
The morning huddle sheet has a box for unscheduled treatment to fit in today. The board is where those names come from. When the huddle finds an open hour, the person who owns the board already knows who to call. Referral-based practices can also note the referring doctor, so the right letter goes out when the case starts.
Unscheduled treatment and pending cases board
Pick your specialty, put your logo in the box and print it. One sheet per week, US Letter.
Print it, or choose Save as PDF in the print window. Only the sheet prints.
Board owner: [Name] Week of: [Date]
Pending cases board
Everyone who said "not yet." Every line gets a next contact and an owner until it's scheduled or closed with a reason.
Stage key
The board
| Initials | Stage | Value (optional) | Last contact (date, how) | Next contact | Owner | Outcome / reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initials only. Keep this sheet out of patient view and shred it when it's replaced; follow your practice's HIPAA policy. Texts and emails only with the patient's consent and wording your attorney approved. Pending cases board from Double Jaw Marketing, doublejawmarketing.com. General information, not legal or clinical advice.
Common questions
What is unscheduled treatment in a dental office?
Treatment that's planned in the patient's chart but not booked on the schedule. Practice software such as Dentrix Enterprise has an Unscheduled Treatment Plan Report that lists these patients with their planned procedures and insurance details.1
How often should we call patients with unscheduled treatment?
Review the full list weekly, as Dentrix Enterprise recommends for its unscheduled treatment report, and give each patient their own next contact date based on what they told you.1 Log every attempt, and close the line with a reason when the patient decides not to proceed.
What is a pending start in orthodontics?
A patient who had a consult but hasn't started treatment. Huddle guidance from Dr. Roger Levin asks whether too many consults have not converted into starts, and whether observation patients seen that day are ready to start.3
Should we track the dollar value of pending treatment?
It's optional. A value column helps the team decide who to call first when time is short, and some practice software reports include the plan amount.1 Keep the focus on the patient's next step, not the number.
Can we write patient names on the board?
Treat the board as patient information. Use initials, keep it out of patient view, shred old sheets and follow your HIPAA policy. Full details stay in your practice software.
Blake sets up the pending cases board in your own software, with your stages, your follow-up rhythm and wording your team can use, as part of a Method Plan. It starts with a 15-minute Method Review. Book a Method Review
Related free resources
Sources
- Dentrix Enterprise Blog, "Following Up On Your Unscheduled Treatment Plans." blog.dentrixenterprise.com
- Dental Intelligence, Morning Huddle help article. dentalintel.com
- Roger P. Levin, "Use morning meetings to make each day more productive," Orthodontic Products. orthodonticproductsonline.com
