What a VAT-exempt practice actually pays
Dental care and treatment by a registered dental professional is exempt from VAT, and a business cannot normally reclaim the VAT it pays on costs that relate to exempt work (HMRC VAT Notice 701/57). So for most practices, a software price shown “+ VAT” costs 20% more than the headline.
Kiroku Essential at £29.99 + VAT costs most practices £35.99 a month. DigitalTCO at £99 + VAT costs £118.80. A practice that also sells taxable goods or services, such as whitening products, may be partly exempt and recover some VAT; your accountant can tell you your share.
Squte is not VAT-registered, so there is no VAT to add: £45 a month is £45 a month. The true cost of an AI scribe after VAT works through more examples.
Questions to ask any vendor
Whichever tool you look at, these ten questions get you the facts the marketing pages leave out.
- Where does the audio go?
- Ask where recordings are stored and where speech recognition and note writing run. UK or EU processing is simpler to explain to patients and to your data protection lead.
- Does my audio train the AI?
- Some services improve their models with customer audio unless you opt out. Check the provider’s terms, not just the vendor’s marketing page.
- How long is the audio kept?
- Ask for a number of days. A kept recording is part of the patient’s record, so it falls under your retention policy and subject access requests.
- What shape is the note?
- UK dental records follow a different structure from the US SOAP note. Look for UK sections, UK tooth notation (UR6) and BPE scores without reformatting.
- How does the note reach my practice software?
- Most tools copy and paste into Dentally, Software of Excellence or R4. Check whether that is one click or a section-by-section job.
- How is consent handled?
- Patients must be told and can say no. A tool that shows a consent line and logs the answer with the visit saves you building your own process.
- What is the real monthly cost?
- Most practices cannot reclaim VAT, so a price shown “+ VAT” costs 20% more. Compare the amount that leaves your account.
- What are the trial terms?
- Trials run from 14 to 28 days. Some take a card up front. Try the tool on your own appointments, not a demo recording.
- Is it on the NHS AVT registry?
- NHS England keeps a registry of ambient voice technology suppliers. It is self-certified, and NHS England says it does not endorse any supplier on it.
- Will I still check every note?
- You should. A 2025 King’s College London study found AI transcription not yet reliable enough for notes to go unreviewed.
Sources: NHS England guidance on ambient scribing products (the registry); King’s College London, November 2025 (reviewing notes); HMRC VAT Notice 701/57 (VAT).
When another tool may suit you better
Squte isn’t the right choice for every practice. Each of these was checked on the vendor’s own page on 21 October 2026.
You’re on Dentally and want notes inside it
Dentally’s own AI notes are built into Dentally, so there is no copy and paste. Dictated notes come with an allowance per surgery each month (45 on Essentials, 90 on Pro), then 20p a note. Dentally says appointment recording is free during its initial rollout, with pricing to be shared in early 2027 (Dentally help centre). Squte and Dentally AI notes, side by side.
You want a free plan
Heidi publishes a Free plan with limits on some features (Heidi pricing), and Dentascribe publishes a Free plan at £0 a month (Dentascribe pricing). Squte has a free trial but no free plan. Heidi for UK dentists.
You want one-click insertion into Dentally
Kiroku’s Chrome extension puts notes into Dentally and Dental4Web with one click (Kiroku). Squte copies the whole signed note in one go, and you paste it in; there is no direct integration yet.
How we made this page
We read each vendor’s public pricing page and copied the figures as published, with the date we read them. We have not tested other products’ note quality, so this page compares published terms only. Where a page doesn’t say something, we write “Not stated” rather than guess. We check prices again each month and record every change below.
Changes to this page
- : Page published. Prices read on each vendor’s pricing page on 14 and 15 October 2026. Free plans, Dentally’s built-in notes and Kiroku’s browser extension checked on 21 October 2026.
Corrections
Vendors: if anything here is wrong or out of date, email hello@squte.co.uk with a link to your current terms, and we fix verified errors within five working days.
Read next
- Squte and Dentally AI notes →How Dentally’s built-in AI notes are priced and work, next to Squte, from Dentally’s published terms.
- Heidi for UK dentists →Heidi, a general medical scribe, next to a dental-specific one, from Heidi’s published terms.
- The true cost of an AI scribe after VAT →Why most dental practices pay 20% more than a “+ VAT” price, with worked examples from published prices.
- Patient data →Where recordings and notes are kept, every company that handles them, and how long audio is kept.
Try it on your own appointments.
Squte is an AI dental scribe for UK dentists. It asks the patient’s consent, records the appointment and drafts a UK 17-section clinical note for the dentist to check, change by voice and sign.
14 days or 100 visits, whichever comes first. Card required, and nothing is charged during the trial. Then from £25 a month, no VAT to add. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing.
General information, not legal, clinical or tax advice. Squte makes AI dental scribe software, so we have an interest in this subject; every fact above links to its source. How we write. Found an error? Email hello@squte.co.uk and we correct verified errors within five working days.