Sending domains
Send patient email from your own domain instead of the shared SmileLine one.
By the end of this page your practice's email will leave from your own domain, with your name in the sender line and your own sending reputation behind it.
Why connect a domain
Out of the box, patient email sends from a shared SmileLine domain. That works, and it is well maintained — but every practice on the platform shares its reputation, and patients see a sender they do not recognise.
Connecting your own domain changes both: the sender line carries your practice, and inbox providers build a reputation for you alone.
Nothing stops while you set this up. Until a domain is verified, email sends exactly as it does today — from the shared SmileLine domain. A domain that is pending, or one that never verifies, cannot break your sending.
Which domain to use
Most practices connect a subdomain — mail.yourpractice.co.uk rather than yourpractice.co.uk. A subdomain keeps the records we ask for entirely separate from the mail you already run on your main domain (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), so there is nothing to break there.
You need access to your domain's DNS to finish: your registrar, Cloudflare, or whoever built your website.
You can connect up to five domains.
Connect and verify
Add the domain
Open Settings → Sending domains and click Add domain. Enter the domain and confirm.
The card appears as Setting up while we register it with our email provider. That takes a few seconds — the page refreshes itself, so there is nothing to click.
Publish the DNS records
Once the card reads Waiting on DNS it lists the records to publish — typically a DKIM signature, an SPF entry and a return-path record.
Copy each Name and Value into your DNS host exactly as shown, or use Copy all to take the whole set at once. Do not reformat, shorten or add quotes to the values.
Below the required records you will find a recommended DMARC record. It is optional and we never check it. Starting at p=none only asks inbox providers for reports; it changes nothing about delivery.
Wait for verification
We keep checking on our own. Most DNS hosts publish within minutes; some take up to a day. The page refreshes while it waits, and the card turns Verified by itself.
If you have just corrected a record and do not want to wait, click Check now.
Point your From address at it
A verified domain does nothing on its own — the email channel still sends from whatever From address it was given.
Open Settings → Channels, click Edit on the email connection, and set the From address to an address on your verified domain, such as hello@mail.yourpractice.co.uk. The dialog confirms which domain the address will really send from.
What each status means
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up | We are registering the domain with our email provider. | Nothing — it settles on its own. |
| Waiting on DNS | Registered. We are watching for your records. | Publish the records shown on the card. |
| Verified | Your records are in place and your domain is in use. | Leave the records published — we re-check weekly. |
| Records not found | Your DNS host does not have the records, or they do not match. | Fix the records, then click Check again. |
| Needs attention | Something needs a person. The card says what. | Follow the card, or contact support. |
| Removing… | The domain is on its way back to our email provider. | Nothing, unless the card offers Retry removal. |
Keep the records published
A verified domain is re-checked every week. If the records are removed or changed, the domain drops out of use and email falls back to the shared SmileLine domain — mail keeps going out, but your branding does not. The card tells you when this happens.
Do not delete the records after verification, and let whoever manages your DNS know they are in use.
Remove a domain
Click Remove on the card and confirm. Email goes back to the shared SmileLine domain straight away; we hand the domain back to our email provider in the background.
The card stays on the page while that finishes, so a removal that gets stuck stays visible rather than disappearing. If it does stick, Retry removal picks it up again.
Owners and managers can add, check and remove sending domains. Coordinators and telesales see the page read-only.