Dentist Hours: Many Stay Open into the Evening

Just over half (55%) of practices offer evening hours, and 37% let patients make weekend appointments, this survey found. Mondays are the busiest day of the week for 1 in 3 practices.

Many dental practices are closed on Fridays. "On Friday, if the weather was nice, patients always cancelled," said one dentist. "We work Tuesday evenings instead. The staff and I love 3-day weekends. Nice quality of life. I highly recommend it."

But for some, the economic reality is a harsh wake-up. "With the new economy, I will need to start opening on Fridays and take what I can get," said another dentist. "Going broke in Alaska!"

If a patients wants or needs evening and weekend hours… and you don't offer them… then that patient will find a dentist who does.

Here are some comments from dentists:

• "Early morning hours are good." (Connecticut dentist)
• "Patients like afternoon hours." (Athens Greece dentist)
• "Evenings are popular." (Maryland pediatric dentist)
• "Saturday morning and early afternoon appointments are very popular with our patient population." (Ohio prosthodontist)
• "Friday is a highly productive day because I see only high production cases without all of the small procedures interrupting my case."

Read more - Dentist Schedules: Time Management Meets Dental Management