Akitu One Recall and Reminder Setup for Canadian Dental Clinics

Akitu One dental software includes reminders and recall as built-in features: the vendor's own feature list describes an Integrated Recare module that automates patient reminders, two-way texting with patients, and online forms sent by email or text. Setting them up is mostly a configuration job. The compliance work around them, consent records, unsubscribe handling and retention, stays with the clinic.

This guide covers what the vendor publishes about the reminder and recare features, the order to configure them in, and the Canadian rules that decide who may be messaged and for how long. Every legal figure below is quoted from the statute or the regulator, with the section number, so an office manager can check it independently.

What Akitu One Dental Software Reminders Include

Akitu One is a cloud dental software product in Canada, built by AKITU Inc. of Oakville, Ontario. The company's about page describes it as "a modern and advanced cloud-based software" that was "developed in Canada through a brilliant partnership between dentists and software developers", and claims use by "hundreds of happy dentists across Canada". That last figure is the vendor's own count of dentists rather than an audited practice count, so treat it as positioning rather than market share.

Because it is a web-based practice management system rather than a server application in the back office, there is no workstation install to maintain and no local database to back up. The trade-off is that every integration question becomes a question about what the vendor's cloud will hand to a third party, and how often. Our overview of dental PMS integrations in 2026 sets out how the Canadian systems differ on that point.

On the published feature list, four modules matter for patient communication:

• Integrated Recare: described as "automate patient reminders at your fingertips", with the stated aim that a practice will "never miss booking a hygiene appointment on time"
• Patient Engagement: "two-way texting with patients", plus tools to "obtain more Google Reviews" and to "acquire patient feedback with Internal Survey"
• Online Forms: a drag and drop builder for intake and consent forms, which can be sent to patients by email or text
• Online Booking: a portal where "patients book their appointments", with the bookable treatment types configurable by the practice

Before You Switch Reminders On: Consent and the Recall List

A reminder system inherits whatever is already in the patient file. If mobile numbers sit in a landline field, if three siblings carry one guardian's email, or if consent was never recorded against the people on the list, automation will simply repeat those errors faster. Cleaning the patient recall list is the first configuration step, not an afterthought.

Consent has two separate sources in Canada, and a dental practice has to satisfy both. Privacy law governs the collection and use of the patient's information, and anti-spam law governs the act of sending a commercial message to an address. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's guidelines for obtaining meaningful consent require that individuals "must be given a choice", that the choices "be explained clearly and made easily accessible", and that consent be treated as "an ongoing process that changes as circumstances change". The same guidance states that individuals "have the right to withdraw consent, subject to legal or contractual restrictions", and that a withdrawal "should be respected and put a stop to any further collection and use".

Practically, the field recording consent has to be one someone can audit rather than a note typed into a chart, because the same guidance says organisations "should be in a position to demonstrate compliance".

Akitu One Recall Setup, Step by Step

The vendor keeps its Training and Support material behind its own site navigation, and the exact menu paths change between releases, so the sequence below is the order of operations rather than a transcription of screens. Ask the vendor's support team for the current click path for each stage.

1. Audit the list before you automate it. Export the active patient file and check three columns: a mobile number that can receive a text, an email address that has not bounced, and a last-visit date. Patients failing any of the three are a manual job, not an automation job.
2. Set the recare intervals by care type. A periodontal maintenance schedule and a standard hygiene schedule are different intervals and should be configured as separate recare types, so the due date advances from the procedure actually delivered at the last visit rather than from a single practice default.
3. Record consent in a field you can report on. Online Forms is the obvious place to capture it, because an intake or consent form built in the drag and drop builder can be sent by email or text and comes back attached to the patient. What matters is that the answer lands somewhere reportable, with the date it was given.
4. Write the message content, including the legally required parts. Every commercial message needs the sender's identification, a way to contact the clinic readily, and an unsubscribe mechanism. Those are not optional extras, as the next section sets out.
5. Test against a staff record, then switch on one care type at a time.Send to a staff mobile and a staff email first. Switching on a single recare type and watching a full cycle before adding the next is how a configuration error stays a small problem.

If the practice also intends to let patients self-book from the reminder, configure the bookable treatment types deliberately rather than exposing the whole schedule. The trade-offs are covered in our guide to online booking for dental clinics.

The CASL Rules Behind Akitu One Appointment Reminders

Canada's anti-spam statute is the law that decides who may be messaged. It defines a commercial electronic message in section 1(2) as a message that it would be reasonable to conclude has as a purpose "encouraging participation in a commercial activity". Section 6(1) then prohibits sending one to an electronic address unless the recipient "has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is express or implied".

Express consent is the stronger footing, because it does not lapse on a timetable. Implied consent does. Under section 10(10)(a), an existing business relationship based on a purchase runs for "the two-year period immediately before the day on which the message was sent", and section 10(10)(e) gives an inquiry or application only "the six-month period". A patient last treated three years ago is outside that window, which is exactly the cohort a reactivation campaign tends to target. Capturing CASL express consent for dental SMS at the chair is what keeps that list usable.

Three obligations apply to the message itself, whatever the consent basis. Section 6(2) requires it to identify who sent it, to give information "enabling the person to whom the message is sent to readily contact" them, and to carry an unsubscribe mechanism. Section 11(1)(a) says that mechanism must let the recipient opt out "at no cost to them". Section 11(2) requires the unsubscribe address or page to stay "valid for a minimum of 60 days after the message has been sent". Section 11(3) requires effect to be given to a request "without delay, and in any event no later than 10 business days after the indication has been sent".

The penalty scale is set out in section 20(4): a maximum of "$1,000,000 in the case of an individual" and "$10,000,000 in the case of any other person". Section 20(2) states that the purpose of a penalty "is to promote compliance with this Act and not to punish", which is why a documented consent process matters more than a perfect record.

What the Software Will Not Do for You

A recare module tracks due dates and sends messages. The obligations above are record-keeping obligations, and they are the clinic's. Before going live, confirm which of these the configuration actually covers:

Retention is the item most often missed, because it is set by the dental regulator rather than by the software. In Ontario, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario's recordkeeping guidance states that clinical and financial patient records "must be maintained for at least ten years after the date of the last entry in the patient's record", that for a minor they "must be kept for at least ten years after the day the patient turned 18", and that "the same retention period applies to appointment books and other office records". Dental claim forms are the exception at "at least two years". Practices outside Ontario should check their own college, because the period is provincial.

Where a built-in recare module runs out of room, the usual answer is a dedicated patient communication layer sitting beside the practice management system, which is what patient communication software for dental practices is built to do. DentRecall is one such option for Canadian clinics, with consent status, opt-out handling and recall reporting kept in one place rather than spread across chart notes. The same questions apply to any of them, and they are worth asking in writing: which fields does the integration read, how often does the daily PMS sync run, and what happens to a message already queued when a patient opts out.

That architecture question is where a cloud system and a server system most clearly differ. A desktop product keeps the database in the building, and our Eaglesoft appointment reminder setup guide walks through what that means for a connector installed on the practice server. A cloud product moves that question to the vendor, so ask Akitu One directly, in writing, where patient data is held: the published feature list describes cloud imaging and cloud fax storage but states no hosting location.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Akitu One send automated appointment reminders?

Yes. The vendor's published feature list includes an Integrated Recare module described as "automate patient reminders at your fingertips", alongside two-way texting with patients under its Patient Engagement heading. Online forms can also be sent to patients by email or text. The feature list does not describe appointment confirmations as a separate product feature, so confirm with the vendor how a confirmation differs from a reminder in the current release.

How do I set up recall reminders in Akitu One?

Work in five stages: audit the patient list for a usable mobile number, email address and last-visit date, configure recare intervals separately for each care type, record consent in a reportable field, write message content that carries sender identification and an unsubscribe mechanism, then test against a staff record before switching on one care type at a time. Menu paths change between releases, so ask the vendor's support team for the current click path at each stage.

Is Akitu One cloud based, and where is patient data held?

The product describes itself as "modern cloud-based dental practice management software" and the company says it was developed in Canada, with an address in Oakville, Ontario. Its published feature list mentions cloud imaging and storing faxes on the cloud but does not state where data is hosted. A Canadian practice should request the hosting location and the data residency terms in writing from the vendor rather than infer them from the company address.

Do appointment reminders need CASL consent?

Section 6(6) of Canada's anti-spam statute exempts a message that "solely" facilitates, completes or confirms a transaction the recipient previously agreed to enter into, which can cover a plain confirmation of a booked visit. The exemption applies only to the consent requirement in paragraph 6(1)(a), so the identification and unsubscribe requirements in section 6(2) still apply. Adding any promotional line removes the exemption, because the message is then not solely confirming the appointment.

How long can a clinic keep messaging a patient who has not been in?

Under section 10(10)(a) of the anti-spam statute, implied consent from an existing business relationship based on a purchase covers "the two-year period immediately before the day on which the message was sent". An inquiry or application gives only a six-month window under section 10(10)(e). Express consent has no such limit, so a reactivation list of patients last seen beyond two years needs express consent rather than implied consent.

How long must a dental practice keep its appointment records?

In Ontario, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario states that clinical and financial patient records "must be maintained for at least ten years after the date of the last entry in the patient's record", and that "the same retention period applies to appointment books and other office records". For a minor the ten years run from the day the patient turned 18. Dental claim forms must be kept for at least two years. Retention periods are provincial, so clinics elsewhere should check their own college.

Key Takeaways

• Akitu One publishes reminders and recall as built-in features, so the work is configuration and compliance rather than bolting on a sending tool
• Configure recare intervals per care type, not once for the whole practice, so due dates advance from the procedure actually delivered
• Implied consent from a purchase runs two years under section 10(10)(a) of the anti-spam statute, which puts most reactivation lists outside it and makes express consent the durable basis
• Identification and an unsubscribe mechanism apply even to a confirmation message that is exempt from the consent requirement, and an opt-out must be actioned no later than 10 business days after it arrives
• Record retention is set by the provincial dental regulator, at ten years from the last entry in Ontario, and no software setting relieves the clinic of it