Transcript

So one of the things that we talk about when it comes to keeping the schedule full (now, granted we know this is a temporary blip for many practices, right?) is because six months ago, many of us were closed.

So we started talking about this in March, the need for schedule forecasting and, trying to fix this problem before it became a crisis. We've looked at data on some of our practices, even a month and a half ago and said DANGER! We should be at 175 visits for October and we're at 30 or 35. Several practices we work with hit the ground running and really worked hard to get the schedule fuller that it was six weeks ago, but we're still having some challenges.

Right now that you're in the thick of it with the cases of Coronavirus spiking again.

To start filling your schedules, you've got to just look towards same day.

That's going to be your best way around that obstacle of not having a full schedule.

There's never been a better time for hygienists to learn and embrace these protocols, risk assessment, sealants, and other preventitive options!

There's so much opportunity for prevention when the schedule is not all the way full.

At our end of the year summit, we celebrate our top producers. These hygienist have elevated their patient care and something that they always have in common on their record productive day, "I only had six patients that day."

Let me tell you the schedule isn't full at the beginning. There's more opportunities to embrace and utilize same day dentistry. That's your way through it with a light schedule, the most effective ways for it.

If patients are afraid to come in, I would really encourage you to do a video. It doesn't have to be professionally done, but do a video on all the protocol changes you've made. Some of you may have done this already, but if you haven't, do a video about all the protocols you've added. Do a video highlighting the study that showed COVID dental professionals are less than 1%.

Share with them a little bit of, this is what we do. This is our profession, and these are all the extra steps that we are taking to keep you safe.

I would quote statistics that there's not one case of spread in a dental practice. And get that video to your patients yesterday if you have patients that are still concerned about coming in.

The amount of time it takes to get into appointment is getting wider and wider I would be hypersensitive to new patients. So I would make sure that we are on the spot on answering all calls.

Ask the question, how soon can you to get here?

Anybody with any problem can go into hygiene. Anybody with a problem is going to become a new patient.

They can always do a comprehensive exam by hygiene. So making sure that you're being hyper sensitive to that more than you normally would, because you have so much capacity, we get into hip ritual ways of thinking of answering the phone of scheduling. this now's the time to break out of some of those habitual things.