Dental CareNCT06581250
Improving Show Rates in Dental Care Settings Serving Underserved Populations
A study testing Reminder Messages, Walk-in Visits and Motivation-enhanced Communication in people with Dental Care, run by University of Wisconsin, Madison at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The goal of this study is to compare different no-show interventions in dental clinics serving underserved populations. The main question it seeks to answer is How do different no-show intervention methods compare in reducing no-shows? Participants will be asked to Implement different interventions Report a limited… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Dental Care
- What is being tested?
- Reminder Messages, Walk-in Visits and Motivation-enhanced Communication
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 48 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 4 Apr 2025to 31 Jan 2029
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Sites must be:
- Serve at least a 51 percent self-pay and Medicaid patients
- Be willing to provide limited data sets of clinic data to the research team
- Be willing to undertake and support and organizational improvement project to improve show rates
- Staff must be:
- A paid staff member at a participating clinic
- Be able and willing to provide written or verbal consent
Who cannot join
- No exclusion criteria for clinics or staff
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, 53705
About this study
Official title: No-Show Prevention Practices in Dental Care Settings Serving Underserved Populations
The goal of this study is to compare different no-show interventions in dental clinics serving underserved populations. The main question it seeks to answer is
- How do different no-show intervention methods compare in reducing no-shows?
Participants will be asked to
- Implement different interventions
- Report a limited set of data to researchers
Read the detailed description
Persistent no-show rates contribute to the oral health disparities and inadequate access to dental care that disproportionately affect underserved populations. The proposed research will test the impact of three different strategies on improving show rates using a full factorial design. Specifically, the study is designed as a 2×2×2 factorial cluster-randomized trial of reminder messaging, motivation-enhanced communication, and walk-in visit. The unit of intervention and randomization will be dental clinic sites (clusters). Forty clinics will be randomized between eight possible combinations of receiving or not receiving the three study interventions, with five clinics receiving each intervention. Findings from this study seek to provide an evidence-based approach to reducing no-shows and increasing access to dental care for underserved populations.
- Conditions
- Dental Care
- Being tested
- Reminder Messages, Walk-in Visits, Motivation-enhanced Communication
- Keywords
- Patients That Don't Attend Appointments, Dental Patients, No-Show, Underserved
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Reminder MessagesBehavioural
Dental clinic staff will use scripts to contact patients 24 and 48 hours before appointments. These scripts will guide staff in confirming the patient will appear for their appointment.
Walk-in VisitsBehavioural
When contacting patients to schedule an appointment (by phone, email, text, or other methods), dental clinic staff will notify patients of times during which patients can walk-in for a dental visit, if convenient for them; otherwise, a regular appointment will be arranged. Scheduled appointments will continue to be available in addition to the walk-in hours.
Motivation-enhanced CommunicationBehavioural
Participating clinic site staff will be trained in motivation-enhanced communication techniques using the guide for dental clinic sites and coaching. Topics to be included in the motivation-enhanced communication training are a) to determine what patients hope to gain from their dental care, steps needed to succeed, how the agency and client will work together to attain the goals, and b) to identify patient barriers to attending their visit (e.g., transportation, payment, do not understand need for visit, etc.), and what the agency and patient will do to overcome those barriers. Staff will be instructed to use these techniques with patients at every contact about an upcoming appointment.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Control | No intervention | Not described |
| Reminder Messages | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Reminder Messages |
| Walk-in Visits | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Walk-in Visits |
| Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Reminder Messages & Walk-in visits | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Reminder Messages; Behavioral: Walk-in Visits |
| Reminder Messages & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Reminder Messages; Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Walk-in visits & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Walk-in Visits; Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Reminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Not described Receives: Behavioral: Reminder Messages; Behavioral: Walk-in Visits; Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends, pre-to-post intervention
To test the efficacy of motivation-enhanced communication, reminder messaging, and walk-in visits as compared to treatment as usual For each of the three interventions, the pre-to-post intervention change in show rates.
Show rate is defined as the proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends their scheduled clinic appointment. Appointments cancelled or rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance are not included in the calculation.
Outcome will be measured by data exported from the clinical electronic health records monthly.
Measured: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Secondary outcomes (3)
Organizational Change Manager (OCM) Score
To examine whether Organizational Readiness for Change moderates the efficacy of the targeted evidence-based practices.
Organizational readiness for change will be assessed by a validated 16-item index called the Organizational Change Manager (OCM) For each clinic site, a group of 5 people that includes clinicians, dental hygienists, manager, and scheduler each team member will provide their own OCM responses.
Outcome will be measured by combined responses to Organizational Change Manager survey tool. Total possible ranges of scores will be 0-104, with a higher score indicating increased readiness. The responses to the Organizational Change Manager survey from each clinic staff respondent will be added and an average of those scores will be calculated.
Measured: Survey will be administered at 3 months
Statistical Comparison of Interventions for Effectiveness Analysis
Evaluate the efficacy of motivation-enhanced communication, reminder messaging, and walk-in visits compared to each other.
Comparative effectiveness analyses: Evaluate the efficacy of motivation-enhanced communication, reminder messaging, and walk-in visits compared to each other For each of the interventions, the difference in the pre-to-post intervention change in show rates in clinics receiving the different interventions Outcomes will be measured by data exported from the clinical electronic health records monthly.
Measured: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Statistical Comparison of Combining Multiple Interventions for Interaction Analysis
Evaluate the synergy of combining multiple interventions. For each pair of interventions, the difference in the pre-to-post intervention change in show rates in clinics receiving both interventions compared to clinics receiving only one of them.
Outcomes will be measured by data exported from the clinical electronic health records monthly.
Measured: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted3 Sep 2024
- Study start4 Apr 2025
- Primary completion31 Jan 2029 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Jan 2029 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Dental CareStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of Wisconsin, MadisonThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Factorial
- Model description
- The study uses a 2x2x2 factorial cluster-randomized design The unit of intervention and randomization will be dental clinic sites (clusters). Forty clinics will be randomized between eight possible combinations of receiving or not receiving the three study interventions. The factorial structure of the design ensures that 20 clinic sites receive each intervention, and 20 do not. Five clinic sites will receive none of the interventions, five clinics will receive all three interventions, and 30 clinic sites will receive a different combination of 2 of the 3 interventions.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 48 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Todd Molfenter, PhD, Principal investigator, University of Wisconsin, MadisonChris Okunseri, BDS, MSc, MLS, DDPHRCSE, Principal investigator, Marquette University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06581250
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2024-1502
- Other IDs
- 4UH3DE030531-03, A195010, 2024-1086
- Status last verified
- Sep 2026
- First submitted
- 22 Aug 2024
- Last updated
- 14 Sep 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 14 Sep 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- No-Show Prevention Practices in Dental Care Settings Serving Underserved Populations
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06581250
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2024-1502
- Conditions
- Dental Care
- Keywords
- Patients That Don't Attend Appointments, Dental Patients, No-Show, Underserved
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 48 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Wisconsin, MadisonUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
- Study start
- 4 Apr 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Jan 2029 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Jan 2029 (estimated)
- First posted
- 3 Sep 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this study is to compare different no-show interventions in dental clinics serving underserved populations. The main question it seeks to answer is
- How do different no-show intervention methods compare in reducing no-shows?
Participants will be asked to
- Implement different interventions
- Report a limited set of data to researchers
Detailed description
Persistent no-show rates contribute to the oral health disparities and inadequate access to dental care that disproportionately affect underserved populations. The proposed research will test the impact of three different strategies on improving show rates using a full factorial design. Specifically, the study is designed as a 2×2×2 factorial cluster-randomized trial of reminder messaging, motivation-enhanced communication, and walk-in visit. The unit of intervention and randomization will be dental clinic sites (clusters). Forty clinics will be randomized between eight possible combinations of receiving or not receiving the three study interventions, with five clinics receiving each intervention. Findings from this study seek to provide an evidence-based approach to reducing no-shows and increasing access to dental care for underserved populations.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Factorial
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 8
- Model description
- The study uses a 2x2x2 factorial cluster-randomized design The unit of intervention and randomization will be dental clinic sites (clusters). Forty clinics will be randomized between eight possible combinations of receiving or not receiving the three study interventions. The factorial structure of the design ensures that 20 clinic sites receive each intervention, and 20 do not. Five clinic sites will receive none of the interventions, five clinics will receive all three interventions, and 30 clinic sites will receive a different combination of 2 of the 3 interventions.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Control | No intervention | – |
| Reminder Messages | Active comparator | Behavioral: Reminder Messages |
| Walk-in Visits | Active comparator | Behavioral: Walk-in Visits |
| Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Reminder Messages & Walk-in visits | Active comparator | Behavioral: Reminder Messages, Behavioral: Walk-in Visits |
| Reminder Messages & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Behavioral: Reminder Messages, Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Walk-in visits & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Behavioral: Walk-in Visits, Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Reminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication | Active comparator | Behavioral: Reminder Messages, Behavioral: Walk-in Visits, Behavioral: Motivation-enhanced Communication |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Serve at least a 51 percent self-pay and Medicaid patients
- Be willing to provide limited data sets of clinic data to the research team
- Be willing to undertake and support and organizational improvement project to improve show rates
- A paid staff member at a participating clinic
- Be able and willing to provide written or verbal consent
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- No exclusion criteria for clinics or staff
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder MessagesDental clinic staff will use scripts to contact patients 24 and 48 hours before appointments. These scripts will guide staff in confirming the patient will appear for their appointment. | Behavioural | Reminder Messages, Reminder Messages & Motivation-enhanced Communication, Reminder Messages & Walk-in visits, Reminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Walk-in VisitsWhen contacting patients to schedule an appointment (by phone, email, text, or other methods), dental clinic staff will notify patients of times during which patients can walk-in for a dental visit, if convenient for them; otherwise, a regular appointment will be arranged. Scheduled appointments will continue to be available in addition to the walk-in hours. | Behavioural | Reminder Messages & Walk-in visits, Reminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication, Walk-in Visits, Walk-in visits & Motivation-enhanced Communication |
| Motivation-enhanced CommunicationParticipating clinic site staff will be trained in motivation-enhanced communication techniques using the guide for dental clinic sites and coaching. Topics to be included in the motivation-enhanced communication training are a) to determine what patients hope to gain from their dental care, steps needed to succeed, how the agency and client will work together to attain the goals, and b) to identify patient barriers to attending their visit (e.g., transportation, payment, do not understand need for visit, etc.), and what the agency and patient will do to overcome those barriers. Staff will be instructed to use these techniques with patients at every contact about an upcoming appointment. | Behavioural | Motivation-enhanced Communication, Reminder Messages & Motivation-enhanced Communication, Reminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication, Walk-in visits & Motivation-enhanced Communication |
Primary outcome
Change in proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends, pre-to-post intervention
Time frame: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
To test the efficacy of motivation-enhanced communication, reminder messaging, and walk-in visits as compared to treatment as usual For each of the three interventions, the pre-to-post intervention change in show rates. Show rate is defined as the proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends their scheduled clinic appointment. Appointments cancelled or rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance are not included in the calculation. Outcome will be measured by data exported from the clinical electronic health records monthly.
3 secondary outcomes
Organizational Change Manager (OCM) Score
Time frame: Survey will be administered at 3 months
Statistical Comparison of Interventions for Effectiveness Analysis
Time frame: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Statistical Comparison of Combining Multiple Interventions for Interaction Analysis
Time frame: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 14 Sep 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Todd Molfenter, PhD principal investigator
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Chris Okunseri, BDS, MSc, MLS, DDPHRCSE principal investigator
Marquette University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Reminder Messages, Walk-in Visits and Motivation-enhanced Communication in people with Dental Care, run by University of Wisconsin, Madison at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 14 Sep 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends, pre-to-post intervention (time frame: 6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 14 Sep 2026.