It’s hard to grow your dental practice without adding hygiene days. The more patients you see regularly, the more treatment you will diagnose and the more new patient referrals you will receive.
Assuming you are in a growth mode, how do you know when to add extra hygiene days? If you add extra days too soon, you could dilute your current hygiene schedule with the same number of patients seen over more days. If you wait too long, new and past due patients may go to another practice where they can get into the schedule sooner. Timing, therefore, is critical.
Start by reviewing your hygiene schedule carefully and determining how many holes were unfilled over the last few months. It’s normal to have a few openings due to illness and unexpected circumstances, but otherwise the schedule needs to look full. Did you have periods or certain days where the hygiene schedule had consistent openings? This may signal your recall program needs fine tuning before adding more hygiene days.
Next, consider how long it takes for a new or past due patient to get into the hygiene schedule. Also look at the same thing for patients needing treatment for gum disease. If it takes more than two weeks for patients to see your hygiene team, your may need to add more hygiene days.
Finally, pay close attention to trends in your practice. Are you just experiencing a recent fluctuation in new patients or are you seeing consistent growth? This can tell you if you need extra help temporarily—maybe your current team can expand their hours—or if you need someone regularly.
Adding extra hygiene days can really help you grow your dental practice. The key is to make sure you add the days appropriately.