Typical Day of a Dentist

[Dustyrose96]

Just out of curiosity, typically how many patients do dentists who own a private practice usually see? I am working for a dentist who sees a patient every half hour from 8 am to 6 pm and wanted to know about the experiences of anyone else who has volunteered or worked for a dentist.

A little bit of background, I'm predental and decided to work as a receptionist for a dentist who owns a private practice in order to fully understand the work life and business side of a dental practice rather than just volunteering or shadowing.

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[DrJeff]

Just out of curiosity, typically how many patients do dentists who own a private practice usually see? I am working for a dentist who sees a patient every half hour from 8 am to 6 pm and wanted to know about the experiences of anyone else who has volunteered or worked for a dentist.

A little bit of background, I'm predental and decided to work as a receptionist for a dentist who owns a private practice in order to fully understand the work life and business side of a dental practice rather than just volunteering or shadowing.

My typical day. I do 8 hour days, with 5 hours before my lunch break and 3 hours after my lunch break. How many patients that translates into often depends on what I'm doing. My "ideal" day would be 8 patients in my "morning" and 5 in my "afternoon". Having 2 chairs at my disposal at all times, what that looks like is my primary chair has patients all 8 hours of my day and my secondary chair has 3 patients in my morning session and 2 in my afternoon session. I typically use my primary chair for my "regular schedule" items (fillings, crowns, root canals, extractions, etc) and my secondary chair for "side items" (crown cements, denture procedures, emergencies, etc). That's my ideal schedule, that's not what always happens though as sometimes the phone rings with extra emergencies or cancellations. That's just how I like to handle things at a stress level that works for me and where I'm at in my life and practice

 

[OhioDMD]

It depends on the procedure mix. If it was a bread and butter restorative day 12 to 16 with 16 hygiene checks thrown in.

 

[princeafrica]

My mentor, who's a pediatric dentist, sees between 30-60 kids a day depending on the procedures. 60 is usually on the days she has solely for check ups. She has 5 chairs. Her partner sees the same as well with same amount of chairs but has one day where he only sees about 5 patients because its a sedation day when the anesthesiologist comes in

 

[allantois]

The mentor, who's a pediatric dentist, sees between 30-60 kids a day depending on the procedures. 60 is usually on the days she has solely for check ups. She has 5 chairs. Her partner sees the same as well with same amount of chairs but has one day where he only sees about 5 patients because its a sedation day when the anesthesiologist comes in

Sounds like Medicaid mill

 

[princeafrica]

Sounds like Medicaid mill

About 40% Medicaid and rest are private insurance.

 

[DrJeff]

About 40% Medicaid and rest are private insurance.

The percentage of kids who are on medicaid across much of the country would like surprise many people these days, The expansion of medicaid eligibility that the passing of the Affordable Care Act brought in many instances, was quite significant in much of the country

 

[Cold Front]

Just out of curiosity, typically how many patients do dentists who own a private practice usually see? I am working for a dentist who sees a patient every half hour from 8 am to 6 pm and wanted to know about the experiences of anyone else who has volunteered or worked for a dentist.

A little bit of background, I'm predental and decided to work as a receptionist for a dentist who owns a private practice in order to fully understand the work life and business side of a dental practice rather than just volunteering or shadowing.

My typical day is 7 columns for 2 hygienists and 2 doctors (including myself). The office is 70% pediatric, both doctors are GPs. The opening bell has 60-70 patients on the schedule, about 10-15% usually reschedule, cancel or no show for a multitude of reasons (bad weather, stuck in traffic, sleeping in, insurance is inactive, etc). It can been a zoo at the office some days (or a Daddy’s Daycare as my staff would like to call it), and other days we very much enjoy the steady pace of the schedule. That’s something I really enjoy about my office, that I will never know for sure how my day will go and end.