Tip 1: Verify you have an accurate active patient count. Often the count is greatly inflated. This is less of an issue then in the past due to practice management software. If patient info has been correctly entered for all patients then the active patient count should be good. There are different opinions as to what constitutes an active patient but counting any recall patients going back eighteen months works. Doing so takes into account patients who have slipped off the radar but can be gotten back in.  Tip 2: Has extensive dentistry already been done on most patients? If so, then...

At any given time one or more of your staff are likely doing something that you would not be too happy about if discovered. It's the nature of the beast. That's why it is so important to have written policy and a formal protocol for correcting or reprimanding employees. You want to document bad behavior or policy violations for all employees. Doing so will hopefully get the employee corrected as well as provide documentation to help fight unemployment claims if you decide to dismiss them. When staff do not follow policy there is a tendency to either ignore it or get...

Your practice will be rushed, hectic and stressed without a schedule that is well designed. The purpose of blocking scheduling  is to decrease stress, keep production on an even keel from one day to the next while maintaining or increasing production. These are the steps for implementing with guidelines:   Time Study Over two to three weeks get accurate times of every procedure.  All staff can help. Create an index card for each patient that comes in. Note the following on the card:  The time the patient arrivedThe time the patient is seatedThe time the procedure beginsThe time the procedure ends At the end of...

A survey of several dental professionals offered the following suggestions for dealing with back pain: Dental loupes are the magnifying glasses that dentists wear to enlarge everything that they see in the mouth. ... Secondly, loupes are worn to allow dentists to have a more “physiologic” posture while working, and thereby minimize the slouching which dentists are historically known to develop. Working out your core means working out the entire middle section of your body which includes your stomach muscles, your hips, your butt, your lower back as well your side obliques and adductors. ... Core exercises also strengthen your hips,...