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Running late isn’t just frustrating for patients—it can damage trust and loyalty, which why an effective schedule is essential for an ideal patient experience. By Angela Tufvesson
Ten minutes. That’s the maximum amount of time patients should typically wait for a scheduled dental appointment, says Dr Toni Surace, managing director of Momentum Management and principal dentist at Smile N Co on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
“The patient’s time is really important, and patients will absolutely judge you on how late you’re running,” she says. “Everything needs to be done these days to improve the experience for patients, and running on time is the least we can do.”
Not enough time
When a dentist runs over time with an appointment, it can be difficult to catch up and get the day back on track. One delay often leads to the next, causing a snowball effect where every appointment starts late. It gets even harder when there’s no wiggle room in the schedule.
For many practices, the root cause is simple: dentists are not allocated enough time to complete each procedure. “If a dentist doesn’t have enough time, they’re obviously going to run late,” Dr Surace explains.
She says finding the sweet spot between minimising patient wait times and maximising dentists’ time starts the moment patients book an appointment. The front desk needs to know how long different types of procedures take—for each dentist and, ideally, for each patient. It’s crucial to also understand the reason for the appointment. Is it a routine check-up or an emergency like a broken tooth or lost filling?
For appointments booked through online platforms, Dr Surace always recommends a team member calls the patient to clarify details about their dental care needs.
“It’s important to check that the amount of time that they’ve booked online is the right amount of time for what they’re expecting to get done,” Dr Surace says.
At Glenferrie Dental in Melbourne’s east, principal dentist Dr Peter Laird says new dentists provide an estimate of the time they need to perform each procedure as part of the onboarding process. “Typically, every dentist has a fairly robust understanding of how long it will take to perform a procedure in a repeatable and predictable fashion,” he says.
The patient’s time is really important, and patients will absolutely judge you on how late you’re running. Everything needs to be done these days to improve the experience for patients, and running on time is the least we can do.
Dr Toni Surace, principal dentist, Smile N Co
After each appointment, the dentist advises the front office of the time the patient requires for their next appointment. “This keeps the dentist accountable for the smooth running of their own schedule,” Dr Laird says.
Emergency planning
Emergencies can throw out even the most well-planned appointment book and cause dentists to run late. Instead of trying to squeeze care for a knocked-out tooth or severe pain into an already packed schedule, dental practice business coach Dr David Moffet who previously ran his own practice in Parramatta in Sydney’s west for 28 years recommends anticipating and blocking out time for emergencies.
“My rule in our practice was that every day we had two blank appointments that weren’t to be filled beforehand that were prioritised for people who called on that day with an emergency,” he says. If no-one called, the practice brought forward appointments for crowns from a list of patients who preferred an earlier time.
Likewise, Dr Surace recommends booking a mix of ‘flexible’ and ‘captive’ appointments throughout each day. “A flexible appointment means you can possibly do a little bit less in the appointment and fit in an emergency. A captive appointment can’t be shortened as you need exactly that amount of time,” she explains. “In your morning huddle, discuss where emergency patients might be placed.”
The patient comes first
Dr Laird’s practice keeps track of when patients are checked in and out in order to generate reports on how each dentist keeps to time. “We keep a tight measure on this metric,” he says, explaining it’s part of an overall commitment to prioritise the patient experience.
“I used to work at a practice that constantly ran late and it was almost a part of the culture. I could see that it was having a negative impact and harming patient care, and that sometimes we were even losing patients from the practice. We look at wait times seriously and prioritise it over squeezing every billable moment from the schedule.”
Dr Moffet believes respecting patients’ time is a key aspect of modern practice management. No longer is it acceptable to arrive at the practice for the first appointment of the day or after lunch when patients are already in the waiting room. “You have to be ready to go at the start time,” he says.
So important is it to run on time as much as possible that Dr Surace suggests rescheduling afternoon appointments if the practice is falling significantly behind, rather than trying to catch up and risking a rushed or compromised patient experience.
“It’s not good enough to think we’ll catch up,” she says. “I’m of the mindset that to be different nowadays in dentistry, it’s about the experience that the patient has. It’s about not rushing, slowing down your dentistry and building better patient relationships.
“Patients will notice the difference and will stay with you if you slow things down.”
