how many patients does a...

[Dental916]

dentist see on average in private practice? Not at a Western Dental or anything like that just some ordinary private practice.

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[toofshucker]

8-40 depending on what procedures and/or personal preference. It all depends on what YOU want. That is what is great about dentistry. You can do whatever you want.

 

[Lopyswine]

you can see a TON of patients if you are just doing exams all day...

however if you doing crown/bridge preps than you wont see nearly as many. the amount of columns you schedule is up to you.

my plan:

7 rooms
2 hygienists (2 columns of hygiene)
2 assistants (3 columns of operative)

of course this is 5 years away... so who knows

 

[toofshucker]

you can see a TON of patients if you are just doing exams all day...

however if you doing crown/bridge preps than you wont see nearly as many. the amount of columns you schedule is up to you.

my plan:

7 rooms
2 hygienists (2 columns of hygiene)
2 assistants (3 columns of operative)

of course this is 5 years away... so who knows

See, this is my point. I would HATE this. But this guy wants it. To me, a good office is 3 ops, 1 hygienist, and three-four days a week. So it really is whatever you want it to be. You can see 40 a day and be successful or see 8 and be successful.

 

[Lopyswine]

See, this is my point. I would HATE this. But this guy wants it. To me, a good office is 3 ops, 1 hygienist, and three-four days a week. So it really is whatever you want it to be. You can see 40 a day and be successful or see 8 and be successful.

exactly. its all up to you.

I have shadowed and worked as an assistant for many doctors. I had much more fun at the BUSY offices than I did at the slower paced offices.

Too me, I would much rather, inject room A, go prep room B. inject room C, go do an exam room D. go back to prep room A. etc... keep bouncing from room to room where I am needed.

**** This is just how I think I'll run an office. I haven't even started dental school yet, so of course this will probably all change!! I am just giving an example.

 

[ProbedSulcus]

This is my pet peeve. When a question like this is asked in a dental forum and none of the responses are from ACTUAL dentists yet. Just other posters who think they know. (whether they do or not is beside the point)

 

[armorshell]

This is my pet peeve. When a question like this is asked in a dental forum and none of the responses are from ACTUAL dentists yet. Just other posters who think they know. (whether they do or not is beside the point)

Then I would suggest getting off of the STUDENT doctor network, and heading over to dentaltown.

 

[Dental916]

actually..I was waiting for our Trusted Dr. Jeff to answer this one. 😀

 

[Lopyswine]

This is my pet peeve. When a question like this is asked in a dental forum and none of the responses are from ACTUAL dentists yet. Just other posters who think they know. (whether they do or not is beside the point)

all we're trying to do is help. we never claim to have all the right answers...

 

[Lidopaine82]

all we're trying to do is help. we never claim to have all the right answers...

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"

 

[toofshucker]

Then I would suggest getting off of the STUDENT doctor network, and heading over to dentaltown.

I agree. No offense to Dr.Jeff, but if you want REAL answers, go to the website where most people are REAL doctors. This site is what it is; dental students, wanna be dental students and the OCCASSIONAL dentist. We don't even know if they are good dentists/real dentists. At least on dentaltown, you can see some of the docs work and where they work, and then decide what to believe. There is little to none of that here.

 

[OceanDMD]

I see 8 -15 patients per day. 2-3 hygienists run per day as well. In my practice, the assistants are not allowed to place resins, or make temps. As a result it is difficult to double book production columns. Regardless, we are comprehensive dentistry. Seat a patient, 40 minutes 4 resins, thats like $800 of production. If scheduled correct, you dont have to see 20 patients to produce 3-5k/day. I prefer to see less and BS with my patients. This builds a relationship, that can turn into cosmetics or reconstruction down the road. Patients dont like to feel like cattle.

 

[Lopyswine]

I see 8 -15 patients per day. 2-3 hygienists run per day as well. In my practice, the assistants are not allowed to place resins, or make temps. As a result it is difficult to double book production columns. Regardless, we are comprehensive dentistry. Seat a patient, 40 minutes 4 resins, thats like $800 of production. If scheduled correct, you dont have to see 20 patients to produce 3-5k/day. I prefer to see less and BS with my patients. This builds a relationship, that can turn into cosmetics or reconstruction down the road. Patients dont like to feel like cattle.

why wouldn't you let your assistants place resins or temps?

 

[Lidopaine82]

why wouldn't you let your assistants place resins or temps?

I like this way of doing business personally. While you can be more productive with delegating things to your assistant, I feel people pay for the dentist, not the assistant, to do things.

 

[OceanDMD]

I like this way of doing business personally. While you can be more productive with delegating things to your assistant, I feel people pay for the dentist, not the assistant, to do things.

Exactly. My fees are on the higher side, but the dentist does the work. How would you feel paying $200 for a class II filling, and the dentist is in the room for 10 minutes. Restoring the teeth is not only more technique sensitive, but also takes longer. My first practice I let my assistants place resins. I had to do bite adjustments every week. In the past year and a half I have done one bite adjustment, and have had maybe two or three post op sensitive resins. Technique is so crucial, and just spending that extra time with your patient makes them feel special. This builds referrals, trust, and more production.

 

[12YearOldKid]

Exactly. My fees are on the higher side, but the dentist does the work. How would you feel paying $200 for a class II filling, and the dentist is in the room for 10 minutes. Restoring the teeth is not only more technique sensitive, but also takes longer. My first practice I let my assistants place resins. I had to do bite adjustments every week. In the past year and a half I have done one bite adjustment, and have had maybe two or three post op sensitive resins. Technique is so crucial, and just spending that extra time with your patient makes them feel special. This builds referrals, trust, and more production.

Dang! $200 for a class II resin. I get $73 for a class II. I would be over a million in production with those kind of fees.

When I first came on board at this office I had an assistant who did lots of EDDA (occlusal fills mainly) At first I just assumed it was OK since the old doc let her do that. The quality was horrible though. I just stopped turning the patients over to her and she is starting to bug me about it now. Eventually I am just going to have to tell her the truth. She does crappy dentistry and I don't want to be responsible for it.

If it's going to be done under my license it's going to be done to the best of MY ability -- not my assistant's. I am sure there are assistants out there who do great resins; that just wasn't my experience in this case.

BTW, there's no average number of patients seen per day. It's however many you want to see. I see 8-10 resto patients, usually an emergency or two (extractions with the occasional endo) and 10-15 recall/NP exams.

Most days I still have plenty of time to mess around on DentalTown and the internet.

 

[Dental916]

another question...so when a patient comes in...you decide she needs blah blah blah or you do some work on them...when do you fill out her chart? Right then and there or at the end of the day?

 

[OceanDMD]

another question...so when a patient comes in...you decide she needs blah blah blah or you do some work on them...when do you fill out her chart? Right then and there or at the end of the day?

My assistant fills out the charts/computer(we are paperless) and I will look over notes during the day to make sure they are correct and thorough. In my last practice, the assistant filled out the chart, put it into a bin for review, and I would look over the charts at the end of the day or during lunch.

 

[DrLooney]

This is a difficult question to answer as you will find that in private practice, there is a great variety of practice settings and treatment philosophies. Just to give you an idea, number wise, I'll share my experience.

I work in an office with three operatory rooms. I see anywhere from 20-30/patients/day. I get myself all worked up with a run before I head to work because it takes so much energy to attend to so many patients! LOL One of the operatory rooms is equipped for the dentist while the other two are reserved for the two hygienists. I treat about 1/3 of the patients while the remaining 2/3are hygiene recalls/complete exams. The clinic is amazingly managed so that whenever we have last minute cancellations, there is a waiting list which the secretaries will refer to and they will call up patients to fill up the holes in my schedule. My hands are rarely idle unless there is a terrible snowstorm or other exceptional circumstances.

In order to gross about one million $/year in a solo practice and earn a net income of about $200,000 , you have to gross about $5000/day working only 8 hours/day 4 days/week- and that's just doing basic dentistry (filllings, extractions,crowns,bridges,partial dentures,endo). Depending on where you are renting your office and other such variables, your overhead can differ from other clinics that see the same number of patients.

 

[Dental916]

This is a difficult question to answer as you will find that in private practice, there is a great variety of practice settings and treatment philosophies. Just to give you an idea, number wise, I'll share my experience.

I work in an office with three operatory rooms. I see anywhere from 20-30/patients/day. I get myself all worked up with a run before I head to work because it takes so much energy to attend to so many patients! LOL One of the operatory rooms is equipped for the dentist while the other two are reserved for the two hygienists. I treat about 1/3 of the patients while the remaining 2/3are hygiene recalls/complete exams. The clinic is amazingly managed so that whenever we have last minute cancellations, there is a waiting list which the secretaries will refer to and they will call up patients to fill up the holes in my schedule. My hands are rarely idle unless there is a terrible snowstorm or other exceptional circumstances.

In order to gross about one million $/year in a solo practice and earn a net income of about $200,000 , you have to gross about $5000/day working only 8 hours/day 4 days/week- and that's just doing basic dentistry (filllings, extractions,crowns,bridges,partial dentures,endo). Depending on where you are renting your office and other such variables, your overhead can differ from other clinics that see the same number of patients.

thanks for the input. Wouldn't you take home about 40 percent(60 percent overhead) of the gross so about 400,000?

also...how long does it take you to do a class II from start to finish on average?

 

[DrLooney]

thanks for the input. Wouldn't you take home about 40 percent(60 percent overhead) of the gross so about 400,000?

also...how long does it take you to do a class II from start to finish on average?

I should have added an important detail - when I referred to the ballpark figure of $200,000 as a net income - I meant AFTER income taxes.

I don't personally own a one million dollar practice. I was giving stats which are based on talks I've had with some dentist friends of mine who have consulted brokers for the practices they wanted to purchase, some clinic owners including the fellow who owns the clinic I work at.

It takes me about 30 minutes to complete a class II restoration but can take a bit longer depending on the case (eg. extent of decay, adequate time for the patient to be comfortably numb with a mandibular block). But that's not where the income mostly comes from. Income comes from prostho and endo.

Two years or so after you graduate, you should expect to produce a minimum of 300$/hour to cover your overhead but you will earn even higher than that if you are perfoming fixed prostho and endo as well as working with a hygienist or two.

 

[Daurang]

thanks for the input. Wouldn't you take home about 40 percent(60 percent overhead) of the gross so about 400,000?

also...how long does it take you to do a class II from start to finish on average?

Class II should take 15 minutes on the average. It's only 1 minute to numb, then step out to do something else, and come back and do the filling.

I see 8-10 patients on a typical 6 hours workday during the week. My hygienist and I see 20-30 patients on a typical 4 hours workday during the weekend. You can see as few or as many as you want but that's all I can handle.

 

[DrJeff]

actually..I was waiting for our Trusted Dr. Jeff to answer this one. 😀

Sorry it took me so long, too many football games and x-mas shopping trips the last few days, but now that I'm back in the office, I've got a few minutes.

Here's what I'm doing today(or atleast scheduled to do), and it's a fairly typical day volume wise for me:

10 Patients in my columns for my 8 hour day and a total of 18 of my patients in with hygiene today.

Typically I'll have between 8 and maybe 14 patients in my columns depending on what procedures I'm doing and between 16 to 25 hygiene checks depedning on the number of adults/kids in the hygiene schedule.

I like that volume. If I wanted to really drive myself crazy I could see 20 patients a day in my columns, but then I'd really feel like I'd be cutting corners in the patient experience category(and I'd have alot less time to surf the net during the day😀🙄)

 

[DrJeff]

another question...so when a patient comes in...you decide she needs blah blah blah or you do some work on them...when do you fill out her chart? Right then and there or at the end of the day?

I do mine myself(atleast review what my assistant charted or add comments/observations as needed), either right before/during lunch for the AM patients and end of the day for the PM ones, occasionally if I'm really ambitious(or my front desk is "reminding" me that it's end of the month and they need to post all the production) I'll fill them out throughout the day.

Most of the time

 

[DrJeff]

Exactly. My fees are on the higher side, but the dentist does the work. How would you feel paying $200 for a class II filling, and the dentist is in the room for 10 minutes. Restoring the teeth is not only more technique sensitive, but also takes longer. My first practice I let my assistants place resins. I had to do bite adjustments every week. In the past year and a half I have done one bite adjustment, and have had maybe two or three post op sensitive resins. Technique is so crucial, and just spending that extra time with your patient makes them feel special. This builds referrals, trust, and more production.

Ocean speaks the truth👍

 

[PlaqueAttack]

after looking at my father's typical day (55 year old GP), which by the way is about the most productive time during your career (45-50ish yrs of age):
-Sees on average 16 pts for operative/crown+bridge/ortho (20% of pts and quick checks or wire changes)
-Sees on average 28-30 recall/prophy pts (b/t 3 hygenists)
-and this is an 8 hour day

Now in my 3rd year I'm amazed since I'm hard pressed to get two Class 2s done in 3 hours..