Why our website now has an AI assistant that talks

If you have visited our website recently, you have probably noticed a new face near the top of the page. It is our AI assistant. You can talk to it by video, by voice or by typing, at any hour, and it answers questions about the clinic the way a well-trained front desk colleague would. Several patients have asked us why a small dental practice would do this, so here is the honest story.

The problem we were trying to solve

Most of the questions we get are the same ones: do you take my insurance, how much is a cleaning without insurance, can I come on a Saturday, where do I park. They arrive by phone while we are with patients, by email in the evening, and through the website form at night. People who ask at 9 PM often book somewhere else by the time we reply at 8 AM. We wanted a way to give a clear answer right away, without hiring a night shift.

What the assistant actually knows

The assistant works only from the information we gave it: our services and prices, the insurance plans we are in network with, our hours, parking, the cancellation policy, our dentists' backgrounds and the answers to the questions on our FAQ page. If a question falls outside that, it says so and offers to pass the question to our front desk. It does not make up prices and it does not diagnose. If you describe a toothache, it will tell you to call us or book an emergency visit, not guess what is wrong.

What it does not do

It does not replace our team. It cannot see your mouth, it does not give treatment advice, and it does not have access to your records. Nobody is being replaced by it. Our front desk still confirms every appointment personally. The assistant simply handles the first round of questions so that a real conversation can start sooner.

Why video and voice, not just a chat box

We tested a plain text chat first. It worked, but most people typed one question and left. A face that talks turned out to feel more like asking a person at the desk, and visitors stayed longer and asked follow-up questions. It also helps patients who find typing on a phone tedious, and Spanish-speaking patients can simply speak Spanish to it.

How it is built

The assistant is a Lilidi Twin, an AI video employee from Lilidi. We wrote the knowledge base ourselves, in plain language, the way we would brief a new receptionist. Updating it is as simple as editing a document, so when a price or a policy changes, the assistant changes with it. The small floating button in the corner of our home page opens the same assistant.

What we ask of you

Try it. Ask the questions you would normally save for a phone call. If it gets something wrong, tell us at the front desk or by email, and we will fix the knowledge base the same day. And if you would rather talk to a person, our phone number has not moved. The assistant is an extra door into the clinic, not a replacement for the one that was already open.