How Many Services In Dental Office Per Year

facilities and staffing

Department three. Staffing

Staffing Configurations

Community dental programs have seen that a dental squad of one dentist and two auxiliaries can serve populations of i,800 individuals a year. This is based on the observation that, on average, but 65 percentage of a population grouping will seek dental services in a yr. In other words, ane dentist is needed for an agile pool of approximately 1,200 patients. In recent years, the utilize of a number of different models has shown that dentist productivity (and therefore the size of the potential patient pool) is influenced by the proportion of patient ages (developed vs. kid), the number of dental assistants in the team, and the number of operatories bachelor for the team to use. This has resulted in broader benchmarks that consider these additional factors.

Tables 1 and 2 below show goals for hourly and daily productivity for general dentists (a mix of adults and children in the patient pool) and pediatric dentists (primarily children in the patient pool).

Table 1: Visits Per Hour Capacity Goals for General and Pediatric Dentists table 1 visits per hour capactiy goals

Table 2: Visits Per 8-Hour 24-hour interval Goals for General and Pediatric Dentists

table 2 visits per day capacity goals

Credit: Prophylactic Net Solutions, 2017

Table 3 shows the resulting number of patient visits, or encounters, per year per full time equivalent (FTE) dentist and the resulting patient puddle size that each model would support. Table iii also gives the number of FTE reception staff required to back up the encounters per FTE.

Table 3: Encounters Per Year and Patient Pool Size

table 3 encounters per year

Credit: Safety Net Solutions, 2017

New programs should be careful non to gear up their sights as well high. Most safety net dentists see 2,500–3,200 patient visits per year, with the yearly national average coming in at two,600.

If the program will exist employing a dental hygienist, the hygienist should have a divide operatory unless the dentist will non exist in the clinic on the days the hygienist is working. 1 dental hygienist unremarkably can provide 1,300 visits annually, depending on the level of clinical periodontal needs and the accent to be placed on wellness promotion/disease prevention. Certain states allow for general supervision of dental hygienists (consult your state dental practice act).

The need for a receptionist and billing clerk volition be based on the availability of these services if the clinic is co-located in a multidisciplinary health dispensary. It is neither effective nor efficient for a dental assistant to exist interim equally the receptionist or billing clerk, as this takes fourth dimension from dispensary duties, and thereby reduces efficiency of the dental dispensary. Many times as the clinic gets busier, a second receptionist and billing clerk may become necessary due to the required paperwork for registration and billing. Other consultants such as grant writers, accountants, or dental specialists may be used on a sporadic or routine basis.

Resource

Workforce and Staffing, from Operations Manual for Health Heart Oral Health Programs