Clinical notes
Exam (adult and paediatric), review, treatment, emergency and free text — one tool for every appointment on your list.
The Thesis
Tap what you find chairside. Get a structured, professional note that reads like you wrote it and stands up to scrutiny — in about two minutes.
A form built by a dentist keeps it complete, and the AI writes only from what you ticked. Then the consent form, referral, prescription and patient letter come from the same appointment.
No credit card required · 7-day trial · Free tier available
Built by a dentist, for dentistsData hosted in the EUEncrypted, your account sealed off
New in this issueRemote e-consent — email the form, the patient signs on their phone.Continued overleaf ↓
The film · 36 seconds
21 taps → one complete exam note
§ 01 · The Problem
It’s 6:45 in the evening. The last patient left an hour ago, and you’re still at the desk, reconstructing the day from memory.
Fifteen patients at two minutes of typing each is half an hour a day — 125 hours a year, more than three working weeks. And each of those notes is the only account of the appointment that survives a complaint. Complaints are not slowing down:
DENTAL COMPLAINTS SERVICE
985cases in 2023–24
Up from 465 the year before — more than double, in twelve months.
PRIVATE DENTISTRY COMPLAINTS
133% rise
Year-on-year increase in complaints about private dental care.
REFERRED TO FITNESS TO PRACTISE
293% rise
Referrals from the complaints service to the GDC, year on year.
Source: Dental Complaints Service annual report, 2023–24
“A note written faster is only worth having if it is also a note you would stand behind.”
§ 02 · What You’ve Tried
Every way of writing notes so far has made you choose.
Option 01
Gets youNotes in your own words.
Costs youYour evenings — half an hour a day on a fifteen-patient list.
Option 02
Gets youSpeed.
Costs youNotes that read like everyone else’s: “Soft tissues NAD. OH instruction given.” A note that could describe any patient proves very little about yours.
Option 03
Gets youFluent prose.
Costs youNarrating in front of your patient — and the risk of sentences about things that never happened. In a clinical record, one invented sentence is worse than an evening of typing.
Dental Copilot was built so you don’t have to choose.
§ 03 · How It Works
Fast like a template. Fluent like a scribe. Faithful to what you actually recorded — because three things happen in order.
The Inputs · Guided Exam
The Record · Generated Note
01
Chips for findings, grades, risks and decisions, filled in while the patient is still in the chair. Seconds per entry, and nothing to say out loud.
02
Built by a dentist in exam order — 30+ exam sections, 47 treatment types — so BPE, medical history, radiograph justification and risks discussed are prompted, not remembered.
03
Full clinical prose structured to the GDC’s record-keeping standard, your materials and shorthand expanded. Copy it into your practice software, then send the consent form, referral or letter from the same appointment.
Exhibit A
This is the whole trade. On the left, the seconds of shorthand you actually have time for between patients. On the right, the note that goes in the record — complete sentences, your materials, your batch numbers, nothing you didn't say.
01 · What you give it
seconds of ticks
02 · What you sign
Waiting
Appointment Type: Simple Extraction C/O: Attending for planned extraction of LR6. MEDICAL HISTORY: – MH Checked: Checked and unchanged RISKS, COMPLICATIONS AND CONSENT: The risks of extraction of the lower right first permanent molar (LR6) were discussed with the patient: pain, bleeding, swelling, dry socket, and temporary or permanent altered sensation of the lip and chin. Informed consent obtained verbally prior to treatment. TREATMENT PROVIDED: – Tooth: Lower right first permanent molar (LR6) — grossly carious, unrestorable – Procedure: Simple extraction with forceps; uncomplicated. Roots delivered intact and socket checked. Haemostasis achieved with pressure. – Local Anaesthetic: 2% Lidocaine 1:80,000 with adrenaline — inferior alveolar nerve block (2.2ml) and long buccal infiltration (0.5ml). Batch 546Z07, exp 03/2027. POST-OPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONS: Post-operative instructions given. Written aftercare leaflet provided. Advised to contact the practice sooner if: persistent bleeding beyond 30 minutes, increasing pain after day 3, fever, worsening swelling, or numbness persisting beyond 24 hours.
Specimen cases, shown in the engine's own style — in the app it writes from your ticks, and only your ticks.
§ 04 · By the Numbers
TIME TO NOTE
~0min
Typical time to complete a full clinical note, tapping included, start to finish.
GIVEN BACK A YEAR
0 hours
At fifteen patients a day and two minutes saved on each, across 250 clinical days.
PAPERWORK OWED
0 evenings
Evenings lost catching up on paperwork after surgery.
§ 04 · Appendix
At two minutes saved per patient — our conservative figure — across 250 clinical days. Slide to your list size.
Patients per day
15
RECLAIMED DAILY
30min / day
RECLAIMED YEARLY
125hours / year
IN OTHER WORDS
3.3working weeks
Every one of those minutes was previously spent typing sentences you had already said out loud.
§ 05 · Field Compatibility
Works alongside your practice software
§ 06 · The Benchmark
Most AI tools generate robotic, templated notes. The GDC expects genuine professional judgement. Dental Copilot writes notes that read like you actually wrote them.
Specimen A · Typical AI Tool
Patient attended for examination.
Medical history: Reviewed and updated. No changes reported.
Extra-oral examination: NAD.
Intra-oral examination: Soft tissues NAD. BPE recorded. OH instruction given.
Treatment plan discussed and consented.
Verdict: Robotic. GDC red flag.
Specimen B · Dental Copilot
Clinician: Dr E. Clarke
Nurse: J. Price
Appointment Type: Examination
Reason for Attendance: Routine examination
C/O: No complaints reported
The patient was assessed as having capacity to consent to examination and treatment. Dental anxiety: mild.
MEDICAL HISTORY:
– MH Checked: Medical history checked, no changes
– Allergies: No known allergies
– Relevant Medication: None reported
– Relevant Conditions: None reported
SOCIAL HISTORY:
– Smoking: Nil
– Alcohol: <14 units/week (12 units/week)
– Diet: Well-balanced meals
DENTAL HISTORY:
– Last dental visit: October 2025
EXTRA-ORAL EXAMINATION:
– LN, MOM, SG: NAD
– TMJ screen: opening normal, no joint sounds
INTRA-ORAL EXAMINATION:
– Soft Tissues (tongue, palate, buccal mucosa, lingual mucosa, FOM): NAD
PERIODONTAL EXAMINATION:
– Oral Hygiene: Fair
– Interdental Cleaning: TePe brushes
– BPE: 4 (highest sextant score recorded)
– Estimated bleeding score: moderate (20–40%)
– Approximate plaque control: moderate (20–40%)
– Mobility: None
– Recession: Mild, generalised
DENTAL EXAMINATION:
– Charting: Updated
– Caries: Nil. No caries detected
– Leaking/Defective Restorations: Nil
– Benefit from Cuspal Coverage: Nil
– Tooth Surface Loss: Attrition — moderate, generalised
– Prostheses: No
– Special Tests: None
– Retained Roots: Retained root noted at UL5. Risks discussed: possible infection, and swelling or pain in the future.
BASIC EROSIVE WEAR EXAMINATION (BEWE):
– BEWE total: 7/18 (low risk)
– Sextant scores: upper right posterior 1, upper anterior 1, upper left posterior 2, lower left posterior 1, lower anterior 1, lower right posterior 1
– Management documented: oral hygiene advice; repeat BEWE in 2 years.
TEETH UNDER OBSERVATION:
– UL5: retained root. The patient prefers to monitor.
OCCLUSAL ASSESSMENT:
– Incisal relationship: Class I
– Molar relationship: Class I bilaterally
RADIOGRAPHS:
– Bitewings taken to assess caries, assess periodontal status, monitor restorations, and as part of routine recall screening.
– Right-hand side: grade A. Left-hand side: grade A.
– Bone levels: moderate bone loss.
– No caries detected.
DIAGNOSIS:
– Caries: No active caries.
– Periodontal Diagnosis: Periodontitis, Stage III, Grade A (generalised), currently unstable.
– Other: Retained root UL5. Generalised moderate attrition. Mild generalised gingival recession.
DISCUSSION:
The periodontal findings were discussed with the patient, and periodontal treatment has been planned. The retained root at UL5 was noted. The patient was informed of the associated risks of possible infection, and swelling or pain in the future, and prefers to monitor it.
TREATMENT OPTIONS DISCUSSED:
– Periodontal treatment, planned following the periodontal diagnosis.
– Retained root UL5: the patient prefers to monitor. The implications of leaving the root in situ were discussed, and the patient elected to proceed with monitoring.
TREATMENT PLAN:
– Periodontal treatment.
– Monitor retained root UL5.
– Monitor tooth surface loss; repeat BEWE in 2 years.
ADVICE GIVEN:
– Oral hygiene instruction provided. Twice-daily brushing with fluoride toothpaste and daily interdental cleaning were reinforced, tailored to the patient's oral hygiene status and periodontal condition.
RISK ASSESSMENT:
– Caries Risk: Medium
– Periodontal Risk: Medium
– Wear Risk: Medium
– Oral Cancer Risk: Low
RECALL INTERVAL:
6 months
Denplan Care — Band C
Verdict: Natural. Clinically specific.
§ 07 · Our One Rule
AI scribes write fluently — and sometimes they write things that never happened. A risk you didn’t discuss, “helpfully” added. A finding you didn’t make, filled in because it usually goes with the others.
So we built ours backwards. Your ticks become a whitelist, and only what is on it may enter the note. Where you leave something silent, the note stays silent.
That is the difference between a faster note and a note you would stake your registration on.
Guided forms mirror how you examine — chips for findings, grades, risks discussed, decisions made. Seconds per entry, while the patient is still in the chair.
Your ticks become a contract. Only items on that list may appear in the note. Findings you didn't record do not exist, and a risk conversation you didn't tick is never written.
Full clinical prose structured to the GDC's record-keeping standard, your materials and your shorthand expanded professionally. Fluent where it polishes; forbidden where it would invent.
“Generic AI scribes guess.
This one is forbidden to.”
Fig. 2 · Interactive Proof
Try the press yourself — tap the chips
Caries grade · UR6
Management — tap again to clear
Decision
Risks discussed — only ticked items may enter the note
The record · live
UR6
UR6 distal: caries into middle dentine (D2).
Restoration recommended; patient declined at this visit.
Risks of not proceeding discussed: progression of caries and possible pulp involvement and pain. Patient understands and declines at this time.
Untick a risk — the sentence leaves the record. That is the whitelist.
§ 07A · Guardrails
Complaint-ready notes, checked while you write and again before you copy.
Off by default. Once you switch it on in Settings, Guardrails checks each note against the dento-legal essentials a complaint actually turns on — medical history confirmed, BPE recorded, consent discussed, radiograph justification given, recall set — so the note stays defensible without you having to remember to check it yourself.
Miss one and the patient is still in the chair. That is the moment to catch it — not three years later, rereading the note with that specific, familiar, GDC-shaped anxiety.
Guardrails stays out of your way until you turn it on yourself, in Settings. Nothing about how you write notes changes until you ask it to.
The same five form checks — medical history, BPE, consent, radiograph justification and recall — run in your own browser, every time. No model inferring what you probably meant: either the note has the essential, or it doesn't.
A gap becomes a chip, not a popup — tap it to jump to the field. Turn on Check at copy and each gap gets a one-tap “+ add line” before the note leaves the app. Saving is never held up.
Once the note is generated, the same 0–100 dento-legal scoring Batch Audit uses scores it before you save — plus any follow-up the note commits to (“review in 2 weeks”, “monitor UL5”), offered as a flag with a due date.
“It doesn’t ask you to write more.
It asks you to notice what you already know.”
Check at copy · Routine exam
Audit preview · 82 / 100
§ 08 · The Dossier · 27 Tools
Most note tools stop at the note. This one carries on — from the consent form your patient signs on their phone to the CPD log the GDC asks you for.
01 · At the chair
Exam (adult and paediatric), review, treatment, emergency and free text — one tool for every appointment on your list.
Dictate into any field, fill the form by voice, dictate a whole note, or leave Ambient listening through the appointment.
Builds a style profile from your own saved notes, so drafts read in your phrasing — and a voice dictionary that learns from your corrections.
Say what changed since last time and get a line-by-line update to the previous note. The original is never touched.
Six-point pocket charting inside the periodontal treatment note, ready to print or save as PDF.
02 · With the patient
Procedure-specific risks, benefits and alternatives, patient info sheets in 21 languages, and signing in the chair on a tablet.
Email the form and the patient reads and signs it on their phone — no login. You see Sent, Viewed and Signed, and anything unsigned after 7 days is flagged.
NHS bands, private fees and Denplan — and a branded, phased plan for the patient, built from the note.
Specialist referrals, GP letters, insurance claims, patient summaries and treatment-plan explanations — emailed to the patient if you like.
Plain-English explanations of their findings in 18+ languages, plus branded leaflets in your practice’s colours.
03 · Prescribing & safety
28 dental drugs with adult and mg/kg child dosing, interaction lists for each drug, and safety warnings before you prescribe.
Optional checks for medical history, BPE, consent, radiograph justification and recall. Tap a gap to jump straight to it; nothing ever blocks a save.
04 · The library
10 step-by-step protocols, from anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest to hypoglycaemia and stroke, with adult and child doses.
27 protocols for permanent and primary teeth — fractures, luxations, intrusions and avulsions — summarised from the IADT 2020 guidelines.
Anticoagulants, MRONJ and endocarditis prophylaxis at the chair, each with a patient leaflet you can email.
20 curated links — NICE, BNF, IADT, Resuscitation Council UK, GDC, CQC, HTM 01-05 and more — one tap from the chair.
An email when SDCEP, GDC, NHS or BNF dental guidance actually changes, with the source and what it means chairside. No change, no email.
05 · Your day
Open follow-ups, reviews and lab work due, and today’s LA cartridge batches — on one screen when you sit down.
Describe your list in one line and get a card per appointment, with each patient’s open flags and last audit score.
Urgent, important or can-wait, with deadlines — the admin that isn’t a note, kept next to the notes.
An optional Monday email with the follow-ups due that week and anything that needs chasing.
06 · Your records
Stress-test a note before anyone else does, batch-score months of notes 0–100, and see which omissions keep coming back.
Flags with due dates, every note for a patient on one screen, and full-text search across all your notes.
See which lab work is overdue and where every ortho, implant, aligner or denture case is up to.
Build forms by drag and drop, turn an existing Word template into a tickable one, or describe it to the AI builder.
07 · Your career
Log hours against the GDC rules for your registration title, photograph a certificate to fill the entry, watch the annual-statement countdown, and export the lot as a PDF.
A typeset one-page dental CV tailored to the job advert, with a cover letter built from your own reasons.
§ 08A · The Range
Generic scribes handle the routine appointment. The days that actually need a defensible record are the ones that go wrong — and those are written into this one, section by section.
30+
exam sections
Adult and paediatric, from BPE and tooth surface loss to teeth under observation.
47
treatment types
Restorations, endo, crown and bridge, dentures across every stage, perio, whitening, surgical.
Full
trauma pathway
Avulsion, luxation, intrusion and root fracture — graded, with the decisions that follow each.
10
prescribing categories
With interactions, contraindications, pregnancy notes and mg/kg paediatric dosing.
§ 08B · The Library
When a patient collapses, a child walks in with an avulsed incisor, or the medical history mentions apixaban, the protocol is one tap away — not in a binder in the office.
10
medical emergency protocols
Anaphylaxis, cardiac arrest, syncope, asthma, hypoglycaemia, seizure, adrenal crisis, choking, MI and stroke — with adult and child doses.
27
dental trauma protocols
Permanent and primary teeth, from enamel infraction to avulsion, summarised from the IADT 2020 guidelines.
3
SDCEP guides
Anticoagulants, MRONJ and endocarditis prophylaxis, each with a patient leaflet you can email.
20
curated resources
NICE, BNF and BNFc, IADT, Resuscitation Council UK, GDC, CGDent, CQC, HTM 01-05 and more.
Kept currentWhen SDCEP, GDC, NHS or BNF dental guidance changes, you get an email saying what changed and what it means chairside. No change, no email.
Some of the shelf is open to everyone: dental prescribing doses, blood thinners and MRONJ, free and with no sign-in.
Your next note could take two minutes.
Start Free Trial →§ 09 · The Dispatch · Voice
Four ways to dictate — pick the one that fits your workflow. Built for UK dental terminology, Palmer notation, and clinical shorthand.
01
MODE · TRANSCRIPTION
Dictate freely into any text field with real-time transcription. Edit as you go, then generate your note normally.
— Real-time
02
MODE · PARSING
Speak your clinical findings naturally and watch the guided exam form fill itself — BPE, surfaces, OH status, all parsed automatically.
— AI-powered parsing
03
MODE · STREAMING
Dictate a full appointment and get a finished clinical note streamed back instantly. No form, no typing — just speak.
— Instant generation
04
MODE · AMBIENT
Leave it listening through the appointment. Each utterance is cleaned and cited, and the note — or your own custom template — fills itself.
— Whole appointment
Powered by Deepgram Nova-3 · UK English · Dental terminology recognition
§ 10 · The Tariff
Start free, upgrade when you’re ready. Pro comes with a 7-day free trial — no card needed.
The maths
Pro is £29.99 a month. At fifteen patients a day and two minutes saved on each, it gives you back about ten hours a month — under £3 for every hour of your evening.
The risk
None. No card to start. If you don’t subscribe by the end of the 7 days, you simply drop to the Free plan — nothing is charged and there is nothing to cancel.
Free
Try Dental Copilot with limited usage
Recommended
Pro
For individual dentists who want unlimited access
Practice
For practices and teams — seats and an admin dashboard are on the way
Founding membership
Only 100 founding seats will ever exist. Founding members keep their price.
Whatever you pay when you join is what you keep paying, and you get a direct line to the person building the app — your requests go to the front of the queue.
§ 11 · Due Diligence
Your patients’ data security is our priority.
01
SECURITY
Identifiers like NHS numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers are automatically stripped from AI output before it reaches you.
02
DATA
Data hosted in the EU (Ireland). A patient’s email is kept only until they sign, and signed consent forms are deleted after 30 days.
03
INFRASTRUCTURE
Encrypted connections, rate limiting, and row-level security that seals each account’s data off from every other.
§ 12 · Correspondence
At two minutes saved per patient on a fifteen-patient list, Pro gives you back about ten hours a month — under £3 for each hour. The trial is free for 7 days with no card, so you can time your own notes before you pay anything.
If you write clinical notes in a UK practice — NHS, private or mixed — yes. Exam, treatment and emergency notes cover adults and children; the treatment planner handles NHS bands, private fees and Denplan; and CPD tracking follows the GDC rules for your registration title, from dentist to dental nurse.
No — you do. Dental Copilot is a documentation and reference aid: it drafts notes, letters and forms from what you record, and anything it suggests, including drug and dose information, is for you to check against your own judgement and the BNF and SDCEP sources it links to. Nothing is finalised without your review.
Only what you choose to keep, and not for long. What you type to generate a note is processed and discarded unless you save the note. Saved notes are stored against the patient reference you choose — we recommend a practice reference rather than a name — and stay until you delete them; our server also strips common identifiers like NHS numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers from AI output. If you email a consent form or document to a patient, we keep their email address only until they sign or the request ends, and delete signed forms 30 days after signing — so file them in your practice software, which stays your record.
Yes. Dental Copilot is a responsive web app that works on any device with a modern browser — desktop, tablet, or phone. No app download required.
No card is required to start the 7-day trial, so there's nothing to cancel and no surprise charge to avoid. If you haven't subscribed by the time it ends, your account simply moves to the Free tier — you keep using Dental Copilot within the free plan's limits, and can subscribe to a paid plan whenever you're ready from Settings → Subscription & Billing.
Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from the billing dashboard. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period. No refunds are given for partial periods.
Yes. Notes copy as rich text straight into Dentally, SOE, R4, EXACT, Carestream, or any practice software with a notes field — bold headings preserved. There is no integration to install and nothing for your practice manager to configure.
The whitelist. Findings and management only enter the note if you recorded them, and where the app offers a list of risks, only the ones you tick are written. One deliberate exception: on a treatment-plan item with no risk list, ticking “risks discussed” writes the standard risks of not proceeding with that treatment — leave it unticked and no risk conversation is claimed. Where you leave something silent, the note stays silent.
Yes. Every Dental Copilot user gets a personal referral link (Settings → Invite a colleague). Share it with an associate, nurse or hygienist and they get a 30-day free trial instead of the usual 7, still with no card required. Once they subscribe, you get a free month on your paid plan.
Letters to the editor
A question the FAQ didn't answer, a feature you're missing, or feedback of any kind — it lands directly in the founder's inbox.
§ 13 · The Colophon
Better notes in two minutes — and everything else the appointment needs, from the same place.
No credit card required
P.S. — Only 100 founding seats will ever exist, and founding members keep the price they join on. Either way, the trial is seven days and needs no card — if you don’t subscribe, you simply drop to the Free plan.