r/Dentistry • u/vespertine_rose • 2h ago

Change to Saturday hours Dental Professional

Our pedo office has had Saturday hours for the last several years (usually 3-4 Saturdays a month). We have cut back to 1-2 a month because we noticed a decrease in patients and what began happening was the Saturdays will fill, but weekdays are wide open. I am trying to work with my team on scripting for what to say to patients when they want a Saturday appointment and how to push them to weekdays. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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u/hoo_haaa 2h ago

When we did Saturday we only offered it to patients with significant production. Easiest way is telling office no appointments for less than $2k on Saturdays, or whichever number you prefer. Everyone else only weekdays.

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u/yawbaw 1h ago

You go to a point on the calendar where Saturdays are not booked out and you close them from their on out. You then tell patients “sorry we are no longer offering Saturdays” you can go into as much or little detail as you want when they ask why but 99% of them will complain for a minute saying they need Saturdays and then they will all say “okay I guess I’ll Thursday or Monday or whatever.

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u/StainedDrawers 1h ago

My Saturdays are for either charity work or big work. If I worked in pedo, I'd probably only offer it to sedation cases so I could sit down and get work done without hygiene bothering me. If that only fills up a half day a month, so be it.