Why is working hygiene recall so important when you are busy? It may feel more appropriate to put your attention to day-to-day tasks, especially if you are working hard to keep up. However, hygiene recall is all about planning, and as a military leader once advised, “Think ahead. Don’t let day to day operations drive out planning.”
Without planning, without regular attention to hygiene recall, your schedule will change the other direction and soon you will be working hard to fill open spots for both the hygiene team and doctor. Everything in a general dentistry practice depends on a strong hygiene schedule.
Nonetheless, it is a common struggle in dentistry where teams effectively work the recall protocol until they get busy enough to where other tasks compete for their time. Then recall is put off or worked without the same attention to detail and eventually the slowdown in the schedule occurs.
What can you do then to remain proactive with hygiene scheduling even when you are busy? The most important thing you can do is schedule time each week to work on recall, and no matter what, this time has to take priority over other tasks. Everyone on the team has to be aware of this dedicated time for recall and the importance of it to the practice. Just as you would not pull your doctor away from a chair-side procedure to answer the phone, you cannot let anything else interfere with your time working recall.
And the second thing you can do to ensure the team honors your time is to report your success to everyone. Let the team know how many patients you’ve scheduled, especially the ones who were hard to reach. This helps build value for your time working recall.
Since strong hygiene schedules are the foundation for a strong dental practice, make sure you dedicate time each week to working recall not matter how busy you get. Your consistent efforts will ensure a productive schedule for the whole team.