How to Avoid Wasted Dental Appointments

In the dental industry as in all industries, time is money. Broken appointments hurt a small dental practice's gross billings. The practice calendar has limited spots. Missed or short-notice appointments also make loyal clients unnecessarily wait for your services. In this brief article, Josh Bernstein, DDS and Allison Bernstein discuss methods to reduce wasted appointments. The authors cite five common reasons for wasted dental appointments and make suggested remedies for each.

1. Broken appointments and last-minute cancellations. The reason for these kinds of missed appointments varies widely. To solve, consider changing office policies (a reward and punishment approach), appointment reminder software, personal phone calls, and texts.

2. Fear of the appointment by patient. Consider getting properly trained in sedation services.

3. Bite Adjustments Appointments. These are usually no-charge post-op visits. Practitioners should take a few extra minutes when the restoration is completed to check the bite in all manner of positions.

4. Crown Recementation Appointments. These appointments are usually not charged. The authors recommend practitioners return to the basics and review principles of resistance, retention, and adhesion / bonding by taking continuing education in this procedure.

5. Inadequate local anesthesia. Failure in administering profound local anesthesia can cause annoying disruption in the practice's schedule. Routine appointments take longer than planned. The authors recommend continuing education to review the principles of local anesthesia.

You can read the article here.