Dental · After-hours
Dental answering service cost, live and AI
Live answering services bill by the minute. AI dental receptionists bill by the month, the credit or the call. This puts the published plans side by side, read on the same day.
WritingBy Landon LittleOctober 9, 20267 min read
The short answer
A dental practice can have its phones covered three ways: a live answering service billed by the minute, an AI receptionist built for dental billed by the month or by credits, or a general AI receptionist at a flat monthly. All three cover nights and weekends. What differs is what happens on the call, booked appointment or message, and how the bill moves in a busy month.
Live answering services, from their own pricing pages
| Service | Entry plan | 200 minutes | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Answering Service | Starting at $44 a month | Not listed on the dental page | Dental answering page; 14-day free trial; page last modified in 2018 |
| PATLive | $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute, or $99 for 50 minutes | $349 a month | After-hours answering included in every plan |
| Posh | $65 a month plus $2.30 a minute, or $130 for 50 minutes | $420 a month | After-hours answering at no additional cost |
| Abby | $165 a month for 50 minutes | $599 a month | Human or AI; minutes double when you choose AI |
| Ruby | $250 a month for 50 minutes | $720 a month | States no extra fees for coverage during certain periods |
None of these pricing pages lists an after-hours surcharge, although one vendor guide below says some services charge 20 to 50% more for evenings and weekends. Ask before you sign.
AI dental receptionists, from their own pricing pages
| Service | Entry plan | Larger plans | What it counts | Books into |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dentina | From $299 a month per location, billed annually (up to 3 providers) | Premium from $399 a month | Unlimited calls and minutes; 30-day free trial | Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Curve, Denticon and more, per its page |
| Viva | $349 a month (Gold, after-hours and overflow) | $899 (Platinum, 24/7); $1,199 (Diamond) | Credits: 4,000, 7,000 or 12,000 a month, then 8 to 10 cents a credit; 30-day trial | Dentrix Ascend, CareStack and Cloud9, per its own guide |
| GetHelpdesk.AI | $399 a month flat | Not listed | Up to 600 inbound calls; first month free; month to month | The practice-management system, per its page |
| Weave | Plans starting from $199 a month | By quote | A communications platform; the AI receptionist is not priced separately on the page | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Arini, Rondah, Dental Intelligence, Hello Patient, VoiceStack | Not published | Not published | No price on the pages we read | Varies |
| Nova Solutions AI receptionist | $199 a month flat | No minute or call cap | Answers by voice at any hour, books the appointment, texts back a missed call within 60 seconds. Takes no clinical or insurance details | Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft or Google Calendar |
What the guides claim, and how solid each is
| Source | What it claims | Who wrote it | How solid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viva, dental answering service cost in 2026 (May 18, 2026) | Live services $0.75 to $1.50 a minute, 100 to 200 minute minimums, $400 to $1,200 a month for a typical practice, some 20 to 50% more after hours | An AI dental receptionist vendor | Vendor estimate. The per-minute range sits below the live services' own published rates |
| Renia, dental answering service cost in 2026 (August 9, 2026) | Per-minute billing $1.50 to $2.50 a minute | A dental software vendor | Vendor estimate, closer to the published rates |
| GetHelpdesk.AI, dental answering service | Live services $0.75 to $1.50 a minute, $800 to $2,000 or more at about 200 calls | An AI dental receptionist vendor | Vendor estimate, no data published |
| Call Agent AI, dental answering service (October 5, 2026) | AI answering $300 to $500 a month against $30,000 to $60,000 a year for a human receptionist | An AI answering vendor | Vendor estimate, no data published |
Patient information
Any service that answers a dental practice's phones can hear health information. Before one takes patient calls, ask the vendor where recordings and transcripts are kept, who can see them, and whether it will sign a business associate agreement, and check the setup with your compliance counsel. Nova's receptionist is set up to book appointments and text back missed calls, and it does not ask clinical or insurance questions. Nova makes no HIPAA claim.
Where Nova fits
Nova's AI receptionist is $199 a month flat, with no setup fee and no minute cap. It answers by voice at any hour, books the appointment into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft (or Google Calendar), and texts back a missed call within 60 seconds. It is also available with a dental practice website; what websites cost is in How much does a dental website cost?. The general vendor table is on what an AI receptionist costs.
Sources
- Pricing pages, each read on October 9, 2026: Specialty Answering Service, dental, PATLive, Posh, Abby, Ruby, Dentina, Viva, GetHelpdesk.AI and Weave.
- Guides, each read on October 9, 2026: Viva, dental answering service cost, Renia and Call Agent AI.
- Prices change, so check each vendor's page before you buy. Worked examples are our arithmetic from the published rates.
Questions this post answers
- How much does a dental answering service cost?
- On the pricing pages we read on October 9, 2026: Specialty Answering Service starts at $44 a month; PATLive, Posh, Abby and Ruby charge $99 to $250 for their first 50 minutes and $349 to $720 for 200 minutes. AI dental receptionists run $299 to $399 a month at entry (Dentina, Viva, GetHelpdesk.AI), and Nova's AI receptionist is $199 a month flat.
- How much does an AI receptionist for a dental office cost?
- Dentina starts at $299 a month per location billed annually, with unlimited calls and minutes. Viva starts at $349 a month with 4,000 credits. GetHelpdesk.AI is $399 a month for up to 600 inbound calls. Nova's is $199 a month flat with no minute cap. Arini, Rondah, Dental Intelligence and VoiceStack did not show a price on the pages we read.
- What is the best AI receptionist for a dental office?
- There is no honest single answer; the lists that name one are written by vendors. Check four things: whether it books into your practice-management system or only a calendar, how it bills a busy month, what it does with an emergency call after hours, and what it refuses to answer. Nova's books into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft and takes no clinical or insurance questions; Dentina's page says it books into Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Curve and Denticon.
- Per minute or flat: which is cheaper for a dental office?
- Flat, once calls add up. At 150 minutes a month, PATLive's 100-minute plan comes to $293.50 and Posh's to $322.50 with overage, by our arithmetic from their published rates, against flat AI plans from $199 to $399. A practice with very few calls pays less on a small per-minute plan.
- Can an AI receptionist book into Dentrix or Open Dental?
- Some can. Nova's AI receptionist books appointments into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft, or Google Calendar, for $199 a month flat. Dentina's pricing page says it books into Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Curve and Denticon. Check any vendor's own integrations page before you buy.
- Is an AI receptionist OK for patient calls?
- That depends on how it handles health information, which is a question for your compliance counsel. Ask any vendor, live or AI, where recordings and transcripts are kept and whether it will sign a business associate agreement. Nova's receptionist is set up to book appointments and take no clinical or insurance details, and Nova makes no HIPAA claim.
Want this for your practice?
A dental practice site with online booking and missed-call text-back, live in about seven days, from $600 setup. The AI receptionist is $199 a month flat, answers after hours, and books into Dentrix, Open Dental or Eaglesoft.