Dentaltown February 2022 - 40

When I'm free, I will sit down and
prep the tooth. My assistant scans and
sends the file to the lab to be designed.
The lab guys get a text and pull up the
scan. They design the crown and start
it milling right then. By the time the
hygiene visit is finishing up, the crown is
usually ready. We optimize the design and
milling time by continuing the patient's
scheduled cleaning while we wait on the
crown to finish.
Doctors who are not willing to invest
in technology are going to have a harder
climb when it comes to upping production
and kicking cases out faster. I went all-in
with my practice and I haven't had a single
regret. That being said, not every positive
change in my office came from a high-dollar
item. Those carts, for instance, that my
hygienists use, and having my operatories
identical, were details and changes that
certainly didn't break the bank.
Pump up production
Production increases with efficiency.
Patients love when we're efficient with their
time and show them we understand that
their schedule matters too.
40 FEBRUARY 2022 // dentaltown.com
If we have a new patient who needs a
deep cleaning, we generally reschedule that
appointment because it takes longer than a
prophy and it costs more than a prophy. We
like to let patients prepare mentally for the
fact that the cleaning they wanted will cost
more and take longer than they expected.
However, we do a full exam on the initial
visit. That way, if the patient needs any
fillings, crowns, etc., we can do them just
after the SRP appointment. The patient is
getting numbed for the SRP, so we go ahead
and do all the work needed in that quadrant
when we have them in the chair. That saves
them multiple trips to the office as well.
The only limitations in my office are
patient finances or the rare case of needing
something specific that I don't have in back
stock (such as an implant of a particular
size). When it comes to scheduling, there
should always be a free chair.
All of this takes planning and thinking
ahead. I have one lead assistant responsible
for knowing everything going on throughout
the week. For example, if someone calls in
with a broken crown that we made, we have
the lab remake it right away so it's ready
when the patient arrives.
With the right commitment and mindset,
most practices can turn what is now a
multivisit appointment for a root canal and
a crown into an hour-and-a-half procedure.
Many practices-especially ones where
dentists don't do their own root canals-may
see the patient for a toothache (one visit),
send them to an endodontist (second visit),
the endodontist has them back for a second
appointment (third visit), then the patient
goes back to the first dentist for a crown
prep (fourth visit), and then, finally, back to
that same dentist two weeks later, when the
crown comes back from the lab (fifth visit).
We see the patient, diagnose the problem,
prep and scan the crown, do the root canal
while the crown is in the mill, and then seat
the crown once the root canal is completed.
Total time? About an hour and a half. Not
five visits for the patient, not five days the
patient has to potentially miss work. This sort
of thing is life-changing for most patients,
who don't have freedom or flexibility in
their schedules.
I really don't have a typical, set schedule.
I have three hygiene columns going, so lots
of work is found each day. I do as much as I
can at a patient's first appointment whenever
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Dentaltown February 2022

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