How to Increase Dental Production Without Adding Staff

The Challenge: Growing Production in a Tight Labor Market

Hiring additional providers, hygienists, or assistants isn't always feasible—or even necessary. With the right operational improvements, most dental practices can significantly increase production using their existing team. The key is identifying inefficiencies, optimizing scheduling, improving case acceptance, and maximizing hygiene production.

This article breaks down proven strategies that practices of all sizes have used to increase production by 15-40% without adding headcount.

1. Schedule Optimization: Fill Every Chair, Every Hour

Identify Scheduling Gaps

Review your schedule for the past 90 days and look for:

• White space: Unfilled appointment slots, especially mid-morning and mid-afternoon
• Short appointments: 15-minute gaps between patients that go unfilled
• Last-minute cancellations: How often do they happen, and do you have a fill strategy?
• Provider idle time: When hygiene is booked solid but the doctor has gaps

Implement Block Scheduling

Block scheduling groups similar procedures together, reducing setup time and improving efficiency.

Example blocks:

• Hygiene: 8am-12pm (all recall appointments)
• Restorative: 1pm-5pm (fillings, crowns, large cases)
• New patient exams: specific time slots each day
• Emergency buffer: 30-minute slots held until day-of for urgent cases

Create a Same-Day Standby List

Maintain a list of patients who can come in on short notice to fill last-minute cancellations:

• Patients with flexible schedules (retirees, remote workers)
• Patients needing urgent treatment who are waitlisted
• Patients who prefer short-notice appointments

Call or text these patients when openings occur. Practices with active standby lists fill 70-90% of same-day cancellations.

Use Automated Appointment Reminders

Reduce no-shows and last-minute cancellations with:

• Text/email reminders 48 hours before appointment
• Second reminder the morning of the appointment
• Easy rescheduling links in reminders
• Phone call follow-up for high-value appointments

Automated reminders can reduce no-shows by 30-50%.

2. Maximize Hygiene Production

Track Hygiene Production Per Hour

Calculate average production per hygiene hour. Industry benchmark: $150-$200/hour. If your practice is below this, identify bottlenecks:

• Are hygienists performing procedures they shouldn't (e.g., tasks assistants could do)?
• Are hygiene appointments scheduled for the right amount of time?
• Is the doctor available for hygiene exams promptly, or do patients wait?

Expand Hygiene Services

Offer services that increase per-visit production:

• Fluoride varnish: Quick, high-value service for all ages
• Sealants: Especially for pediatric and adolescent patients
• Periodontal maintenance: For patients with history of perio disease
• Whitening consultations: Hygienists can educate and schedule whitening treatments
• SDF (Silver Diamine Fluoride): Non-invasive caries management

Implement Same-Day Dentistry for Hygiene Findings

When hygienists identify treatment needs, offer same-day treatment if the schedule allows:

• Small cavities can often be treated immediately
• Reduces the likelihood of patients declining treatment later
• Increases case acceptance by ~25%

Optimize Hygiene Scheduling Templates

Not all patients need 60 minutes. Create tiered appointment lengths:

• 30-40 minutes: Healthy patients, minimal calculus, children
• 60 minutes: Standard adult recall
• 75-90 minutes: Perio maintenance, heavy calculus, new patients

This allows you to fit more patients without rushing or compromising quality.

3. Improve Case Acceptance

Present Treatment Plans the Same Day

Don't wait to mail treatment plans. Present them while the patient is still in the chair and the need is fresh:

• Use intraoral cameras to show patients what you see
• Explain consequences of delaying treatment
• Offer financing options immediately
• Schedule the next appointment before the patient leaves

Same-day presentation increases case acceptance by 30-50% compared to mailed plans.

Offer Flexible Payment Options

Cost is the #1 barrier to treatment acceptance. Address it proactively:

• In-house payment plans for trustworthy patients
• Third-party financing (CareCredit, LendingClub, Proceed Finance)
• Membership plans for uninsured patients
• Breakdown of insurance coverage and out-of-pocket costs before treatment

Use the "What Would You Do?" Approach

Patients trust recommendations when they feel personal. Instead of clinical jargon, try:

Less effective: "You have moderate caries on tooth #19 requiring a composite restoration."

More effective: "You have a cavity on this back molar. If it were my tooth, I'd fix it now before it gets bigger and needs a crown. Let's take care of it today."

Track Case Acceptance Rates by Provider

Monitor which providers have the highest case acceptance and learn from their techniques. Provide training and coaching for those with lower rates.

4. Reduce Doctor "Downtime"

Streamline Hygiene Exams

Ensure hygienists prepare thoroughly so doctor exams are efficient:

• X-rays mounted and ready
• Perio charting completed
• Hygienist notes summarize findings
• Patient already informed of potential issues

This reduces exam time from 10 minutes to 3-5 minutes, freeing the doctor for more procedures.

Delegate Administrative Tasks

Doctors should not be answering phones, scheduling appointments, or handling insurance calls. Delegate these to administrative staff so doctors stay chairside.

Batch Non-Clinical Tasks

Set aside specific times for chart reviews, treatment planning, and lab communication—don't let these interrupt clinical time.

5. Optimize Clinical Efficiency

Use Assistants to Full Scope of Practice

Many states allow assistants to perform tasks beyond what most practices utilize:

• Taking impressions
• Placing and removing retraction cord
• Coronal polishing
• Applying sealants and fluoride
• Placing and removing temporary crowns

Review your state's Dental Practice Act and ensure assistants work to their full legal scope.

Invest in Time-Saving Technology

• Intraoral scanners: Faster than traditional impressions, better patient experience
• Same-day crowns (CEREC): Eliminates temporary appointments and increases case acceptance
• Digital X-rays: Faster processing, easier sharing with patients and specialists
• Automated appointment reminders: Reduces no-shows without staff time

Standardize Operatory Setups

Every operatory should have the same layout and supplies in the same locations. This eliminates time wasted searching for instruments and reduces setup errors.

6. Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

You can't improve what you don't measure. Track these KPIs monthly:

Production Metrics

• Total production per provider: Target varies by specialty; general dentist benchmark: $650-$850/hour
• Hygiene production per hour: Target: $150-$200/hour
• Production per patient visit: Benchmark: $400-$600

Scheduling Metrics

• Schedule fill rate: Target: 95%+ (percentage of available slots filled)
• No-show rate: Target: <5%
• Same-day cancellation rate: Target: <5%
• Provider utilization rate: Target: 85%+ of scheduled time spent on production

Treatment Acceptance Metrics

• Case acceptance rate: Target: 80%+ (percentage of treatment plans accepted)
• Same-day treatment rate: Percentage of hygiene findings treated immediately
• Treatment plan value vs. scheduled: How much diagnosed treatment is actually scheduled?

New Patient Metrics

• New patients per month: Benchmark: 20-40 depending on practice size
• New patient production: First visit production average (target: $400+)
• New patient retention: Percentage who return for second appointment (target: 80%+)

7. Improve Patient Retention and Recall

Pre-Appointment for Next Visit

Schedule the next hygiene appointment before the patient leaves. Patients pre-appointed are 3x more likely to return than those told to "call us in 6 months."

Automate Recall Reminders

Use your practice management software to:

• Send recall reminders 60 days before due date
• Follow up with patients who haven't scheduled
• Re-engage patients overdue for hygiene (>8 months)

Track Recare Rate

Benchmark: 80%+ of hygiene patients should return within 7 months. If your rate is lower, investigate:

• Are recall reminders going out consistently?
• Do patients know when they're due back?
• Are there barriers (cost, scheduling difficulty, patient experience)?

8. Reduce Unproductive Time

Minimize Morning Huddles

Keep morning huddles focused and brief (5-10 minutes max). Review:

• Today's schedule and any VIP patients
• Outstanding treatment plans and opportunities for same-day scheduling
• Any special needs or alerts

Reduce Sterilization Bottlenecks

If you're running out of instruments mid-day, you're limiting production. Invest in additional instrument sets or speed up turnover with additional sterilization equipment.

Eliminate Redundant Data Entry

Use digital forms that import directly into your practice management system. Staff shouldn't be manually re-entering patient information.

Real-World Results: Case Studies

Case Study 1: Block Scheduling Increases Production by 22%

A 3-provider practice implemented block scheduling, grouping restorative procedures in afternoon blocks. This reduced setup/teardown time and allowed assistants to prepare rooms in advance. Over 6 months, average monthly production increased from $185,000 to $226,000—a 22% increase with no additional staff.

Case Study 2: Same-Day Treatment Boosts Hygiene Production

A practice trained hygienists to identify minor treatment needs and offer same-day dentistry. The doctor reserved 30-minute slots after each hygiene block for these cases. Hygiene production per hour increased from $140 to $195, and case acceptance for small fillings jumped from 65% to 88%.

Case Study 3: Standby List Fills 80% of Cancellations

After implementing an automated standby list with text notifications, a practice filled 80% of same-day cancellations (previously only 30% were filled). This added $8,000-$12,000 in monthly production previously lost to empty chairs.

Action Plan: Where to Start

Month 1: Assess and Baseline

• Calculate current production per provider and per hour
• Review schedule fill rate and identify gaps
• Measure case acceptance rates
• Track no-show and cancellation rates

Month 2: Quick Wins

• Implement automated appointment reminders
• Create a same-day standby list
• Start pre-appointing next hygiene visits
• Offer same-day treatment for minor findings

Month 3: Optimize Scheduling

• Implement block scheduling
• Adjust hygiene appointment lengths (tiered templates)
• Reserve emergency buffer slots
• Train front desk on fill strategies

Month 4-6: Focus on Case Acceptance

• Train team on same-day treatment plan presentation
• Offer financing options
• Use intraoral cameras and patient education tools
• Track acceptance rates by provider and improve

Ongoing: Monitor KPIs and Adjust

Review production, scheduling, and acceptance metrics monthly. Celebrate wins and address declines promptly.

Conclusion

Increasing production doesn't require hiring more staff—it requires optimizing the team and systems you already have. By focusing on schedule efficiency, hygiene production, case acceptance, and clinical workflow, most practices can increase production by 15-40% within 6-12 months.

Start with one or two high-impact changes (automated reminders and same-day standby list are great starting points), measure the results, and build from there. Small improvements compound over time into significant gains.