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Getting a patient to leave a review is not always about asking at the right time. It is also about asking in the right place. A text that lands a few minutes after an appointment feels very different from an email that sits in an inbox until tomorrow.
For dental practices, that small difference can matter. Patients are busy, appointment experiences vary, and the easier you make the process, the more likely they are to follow through. SMS can put the request directly in front of them, while email gives you more room to explain, personalize, and build context.
So which one actually works better for getting reviews? Surprisingly, the answer is both. But there’s a little more to the story. The right choice depends on your patient journey, how quickly you want to ask, and how naturally the channel fits into the way your practice communicates.
Let’s compare SMS and email review requests side by side, look at where each channel has an edge, and see how dental practices can use both without making review requests feel repetitive or forced.
SMS, or text messaging, makes it easy to reach your patients when you want to ask for a review. Most people have their phones nearby, so a quick text is hard to miss, especially when you send it soon after their appointment.
Your patient can tap the review link and share their experience without having to look up your practice or figure out where to leave feedback. You can also make the message feel more personal with a simple thank-you. The downside? You only have a few lines to work with, so keeping it short and to the point matters.
Email gives you a little more room to connect with your patients. You can thank them for coming in, mention their recent visit, explain why their feedback means something to your practice, and add a link to leave a review.
The catch is that your email can easily get lost in a busy inbox. Your patient may not see it until days later or may never open it at all. It does not have the same quick, personal feel as a text, but it can still work well if your patients are already used to hearing from you by email.
Let’s compare SMS and email review requests based on the factors that matter most when you’re trying to get more patients to share their experience.
SMS has the advantage here. Your patients are more likely to see a text quickly, especially when you send it soon after their appointment. An email can take longer to get noticed or simply get lost in a busy inbox.
Both channels give you room to personalize your request, but they work differently. A text can feel like a quick, personal follow-up, while email gives you more space to add a thank-you and explain why your patient’s feedback matters to your practice.
If you want a quick response, SMS generally has the edge because your patient can tap the review link and respond right away. Email can still work, but your request may sit unopened for hours or even days. The best choice often comes down to how your patients prefer to hear from you and when you ask.
Your costs will depend on the platform you use and how many review requests you send each month. Some patient communication tools include SMS and email in the same plan, while others charge separately for texts. Look at the cost alongside your response rate, not just the price of sending each message.
If you’re deciding between SMS and email for your review requests, the numbers tell a pretty clear story. It comes down to three things: how many patients see your request, how quickly they see it, and how many actually take the time to leave a review.
Open rates: SMS gets the first win. Research on review requests shows that text messages can achieve open rates of around 98%, compared with roughly 20–30% for email-based requests. That gives your text a much better chance of being seen instead of getting lost in your patient’s inbox.
Speed: The gap becomes even more noticeable when you look at timing. Studies report that around 95% of text messages are opened within three minutes. Email simply does not have that same immediacy. Your patient may open it later that day, a few days later, or overlook it altogether.
Conversion: And then there’s the number that really matters: how many patients actually leave a review. Research comparing text and traditional email review requests has found that text-based requests can produce up to 15 times more completed reviews. Another consumer study found that 36% of people who received a text asking for a review said they had left one because of the request.
Put those numbers together, and the advantage of SMS becomes pretty hard to ignore. Your patient is more likely to see the request, see it sooner, and have an easier time acting on it. Email still has a place, especially if your patients already prefer communicating with your practice that way, but when completed reviews are the outcome you care about, SMS has the stronger numbers behind it.
If your practice wants to improve the overall process behind generating patient feedback, it can also help to review how to get more Google reviews for dentists and identify opportunities to make the request easier for patients.
A dental appointment has a natural stopping point. Your patient checks out, heads to the parking lot, and gets on with the rest of their day. That short window after the visit can be a good time to ask how their experience was.
SMS fits naturally into that moment because:
However, timing still matters. The best time depends on your patients and your usual follow-up process, so test different timings and see what gets more completed reviews.
Email can still work well for patients who prefer it. You have more space to add a thank-you, branding, details, or multiple review options.
Ultimately, choose the channel your patients are most likely to see, trust, and act on.
A consistent process for requesting and managing feedback can also support broader healthcare review management, particularly as practices receive reviews across multiple platforms.
Keep your text short, friendly, and easy to respond to. A good SMS review request should feel personal, not like a template.
Email gives you a little more space, but you still do not need much. Keep the message warm, clear, and focused on one simple action.
The way you request reviews is only one part of the process. Practices should also consider online reputation management tips to make sure patient feedback is handled consistently after it is received.
The right review request approach depends on your patients, your follow-up process, and how you normally communicate with them. SMS can be a natural choice when you want to reach patients soon after an appointment, while email gives you more room for a thoughtful follow-up.
You do not necessarily have to choose one over the other. A dental practice can use SMS for a quick review request and keep email for patients who prefer it or already receive follow-ups that way.
What matters most is what your patients actually respond to. Track which channel gets more clicks and completed reviews, then put more focus on the approach that brings better results for your practice.
As your review strategy develops, keep up with Google review policy changes so your requests and review practices remain aligned with current requirements.
Reviews can also influence how dental practices are represented in emerging search experiences. Understanding how dental reviews appear in AI Overviews can help practices think beyond traditional search rankings when building their online reputation.
Finally, do not look only at the number of reviews you receive. The themes and sentiment within those reviews can reveal what patients value and where the patient experience could improve. A review sentiment analysis approach can help practices turn patient feedback into actionable insights.
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