Running a dental practice requires both solid management knowledge and the ability to adapt according to the time of year. Otherwise, activity in the practice can become disorganised and, implicitly, patients can be lost. It is very likely that we face this situation especially in summer, when patients follow similar dental treatments and the clinic staff's holiday periods often coincide.
To streamline activity in the dental practice during summer and for performance at both administrative and clinical level, we need to keep a few tips in mind:
Schedule patients in the morning
More than 60% of complex procedures (dental implants, aesthetics, or surgery) should be carried out in the morning, when the patient is much more relaxed. This also applies to children, who are far more receptive to doctors' instructions when they are rested. The remaining more than 30% is recommended to be allocated to prophylaxis, routine consultations, and emergencies. Moreover, statistics show that more and more foreigners take advantage of summer holidays and choose Romania for treatments such as implants or dental prosthetics — a trend that is growing strongly (between 15% and 20% year on year). However, a very important thing to bear in mind is that the time they spend in Romania is short compared with the complexity of the dental treatments they want to follow. That is why we must ensure we can schedule the patient so as to complete the treatment within the proposed time frame.
Make sure a prophylaxis room is always available
Summer is the period when demand for prophylaxis is higher, and if that is not happening in your practice, you should think about alternative promotion methods. The performance and growth level of the dental practice cannot be reached without a dedicated marketing campaign.
That is why the summer period can be a favourable moment for a sales campaign that translates demand for prophylaxis. We can use this opportunity to send patients a newsletter reminding them that six months have passed since their last prophylaxis and offering a promotional price.
To avoid rescheduling and reduce the number of consultations that cannot be honoured, make sure you have a room and a prophylaxis assistant available specifically for this procedure.
For dental practices with at least two dental units, it is recommended that waiting time should not exceed two days. Moreover, you can opt to start the practice schedule earlier to increase the volume of morning appointments (7:30–8:00) compared with the rest of the year. Another solution for streamlining activity in the dental practice could be scheduling consultations on Saturday — however, be very careful with staff payment if you choose this option.
Plan staff holiday periods so that the doctor always has an assistant available.
To avoid the unpleasant situation in which the dentist is overwhelmed by the workload because of a lack of help, it is recommended that the holiday period for doctor and assistant coincide. That way, the chances of delays in the schedule are smaller, and the possibility of scheduling new patients is much greater.
Schedule more first-visit consultations
Even if a doctor specialised in a certain dental branch is on holiday, that does not mean the practice's activity should be interrupted and its performance minimised. Summer can be considered a favourable moment for increasing the number of new patients by scheduling predominantly educational first-visit consultations. In the meantime, patients can be directed toward prophylaxis, and afterwards toward the specialist consultation.
Schedule children and adolescents during the week
If throughout the year school schedules lead adolescents and parents to book dentist visits mainly at weekends, in summer things are exactly the opposite: we can plan consultations so that they come during the week.
If we plan the dental practice schedule without taking into account the time of year, we can end up with delays, postponements, and lost patients. These situations can contribute to raising stress levels for everyone who works in the practice. By contrast, when time is well allocated, the dental practice enjoys excellent results: happier patients and a much more high-performing team.