Why are dental offices SO slow?

Question

Why?

Answer 1

An excellent dentist is worth waiting for. If you go to a bad dentist who gets you in and out fast, you will spend much more time regretting it than you saved by not waiting.

Answer 2

SOME dental offices are slow because the doctor and staff have not learned how to manage their time very well. They have to know how long their procedures require and schedule accordingly.

Things don't always go according to plan or some patients may not show up on time and this throws a wrench in the works, but usually, I run on time. If I am more than 15 minutes late to see a patient, I will extend a "credit for waiting" on their account, to the tune of about a dollar a minute. We DO run on time.

Answer 3

I'm a dentist.

You'd be amazed at what gets done in a dental office. When you actually think about what takes place in a dental office, you'd come to see that we are not only slow, we are lightning fast! Yet, much of the time, we don't end up seeing patients exactly on time. 99.9% of the time it's not our fault. Allow me to explain.

When we schedule patients, we schedule them based on the amount of time it will take to perform the work they need. The vast majority of the time we are right.

For example, for a filling, we typically schedule patients for a 30-minute time slot. Ten minutes to seat the patient, give anesthesia, and allow them to get numb, 10 to 15 minutes to perform the filling, and another 5 minutes or so to prepare the room for the next patient.

Where things tend to deviate from the schedule is with anesthesia and the procedure itself.

Sometimes patients don't get numb on the first attempt.

Other times, patients refuse to keep their goddamned mouths open wide and their heads still. And, they repeatedly want to stop and suction every last drop of liquid out of their mouths during the procedure. Hence, they can easily turn a 10-minute filling into a 30-minute ordeal.

Who pays the price for this? You--the patient sitting in the waiting room.

So, who causes patients to wait so long to see the doctor? Other patients.

Sometimes, however, procedures get more complicated. Sometimes we find that a patients gingiva is bleeding profusely, and additional procedures have to be performed in order properly place the filling, etc. etc.

Our first goal is to provide you with proper health care. Our second goal is to see you promptly--it's good for business to see patients promptly. So you can be assured that we try our best to get you in ASAP. But some patients make it impossible for us to do so.

One other thing: sometimes patients ask us for favors like "can you do this filling today?" At other times, patients just walk-in with emergencies that need to be seen right away. A dental office is a miniature hospital and at times a miniature emergency room. Sometimes we have to triage patients, and the people in severe pain often times get seen first. You'd appreciate it if you ever found yourself in pain.

Answer 4

Most dental offices are not slow. If yours is slow then it is either a really busy clinic or one that is poorly run.

Answer 5

Because there is so much paper work involved....new patient forms, consents, and so much more. People in any type of medical office work hard. It's not easy dealing with people all day that are in pain, so appreciate your dentist. It's not an easy thing and we do our best to take care of our patients!!!

Answer 6

From the answers presented, it seems to be only you
or your dental office? Can you be more specific what
you mean by SO slow?

Answer 7

I hate to wait so I get there right on time and they usually take me in very quickly. A doctors office on the other hand always seems to make me wait.

Answer 8

They arent. So either have some patience or get a new dentist if you really feel they take so long.

Answer 9

Perfection takes time whats your hurry.

Answer 10

i dont know but, since you are a coke addict please can i have the codes off your caps and 12 packs please im saving to get something on mycokerewards.com