Which appointments to shorten and how to maximize efficiency with custom orthodontics

Running an efficient orthodontic practice doesn’t mean cutting corners—it means finding ways to save time while maintaining the same high-quality care patients expect. With custom braces, it’s possible to streamline your appointment scheduling, minimize chair time, and give time back to your patients, your team and yourself! 

Here's how to identify and compress specific appointments while still delivering exceptional outcomes:

1. Identify Appointments to Consistently Compress 

Certain appointments lend themselves to shorter, more focused visits. By targeting these opportunities, you can free up valuable chair time: 

• Initial Wires: Fully engage additional teeth in the initial wire without removing wires for brushing. These visits can be as short as 10 minutes. 

• Final Wires: Perform quick re-ties and check occlusion without removing wires (5–10 minutes). 

• Space Closure Appointments: Use energy chain and Class I elastics to streamline these appointments into quick wire clip/AP checks. 

• Post-Detailing Visits: After a detailing appointment, schedule a follow-up re-tie visit where wires aren’t removed. 

While the goal may not be to significantly shorten overall treatment times, these adjustments can compress chair time for individual appointments and improve overall efficiency. 

2. Script the Patient Conversation Effectively

Proper scripting is essential to communicate the benefits of shorter appointments without giving the impression of cutting corners. Here’s how to position these visits: 

• Highlight Convenience: “For your convenience, this will be a quick check to get you in and out efficiently. We have more availability for these types of visits, so you can schedule during popular times.” 

• Set Clear Expectations: “We’ll focus on the essentials during this visit and won’t have time for extras like changing colors, removing wires for brushing, or fixing loose brackets.” 

By emphasizing respect for their time and the efficiency of the process, patients will understand the purpose of these appointments and appreciate the streamlined experience.

3. Create Clear Guidelines for Short Visits

Not every patient or situation will be suitable for these shorter appointments. To maintain efficiency: 

• Broken Brackets: Advise patients ahead of time that these quick visits won’t include repairs: “If you’re aware of a loose bracket, we will book a longer appointment to address that issue fully.” 

• Patient Selection: Reserve these slots for patients with good compliance. If someone consistently arrives with loose brackets or other issues, steer them toward longer appointment slots. 

For example, compressing just three out of every 12 appointments from 30 minutes to 10 minutes can save an hour of chair time per patient annually. While this won’t necessarily eliminate an entire column, it significantly increases capacity without requiring additional staff.

4. Efficiency Without Sacrificing Care

Shortened appointments can work seamlessly with or without remote monitoring. What matters most is maintaining a high standard of care and outcomes. Focus on streamlining processes that don’t add substantial value to the patient experience, such as unnecessary wire removals, while preserving time for impactful interactions. 

Patients appreciate practices that respect their time, and these shorter appointments help balance efficiency with quality.

5. Build a Template for Compressed Scheduling

To maximize efficiency, create a schedule template that incorporates compressed visits: 

• Combine compressed appointments with strategic placement of bondings, debands, scans, and retainer checks. 

• Use this approach to manage a high-volume schedule, even in a packed schedule. 

With consistent scripting and planning, these adjustments can create a more efficient workflow without compromising the patient experience. 

The Gift of Time for Your Practice and Your Patients 

Shortened appointments are not about cutting corners—they’re about optimizing your practice for both patients and staff. By focusing on efficiency, using clear communication, and setting appropriate boundaries, you can create a win-win scenario: happier patients and a more productive practice. 

Having these types of appointments be 10-min appointments, it allows you to interchange them with retainer checks and observation appts. 

You can easily take three 30 min appts and turn them into 10 min appointments, so you can begin to free up an hour in the clinic. As you do this, make sure you are on time for these appointments, so they work in your favor and don’t create lag time for the appointments that follow. 

Ready to transform your appointment scheduling with the KLOwen Custom Digital Solution?

We would love to have a conversation to learn more about your goals for your practice. 

👉 Read More 

About KLOwen Orthodontics:

KLOwen Orthodontics is a custom digital technology company transforming orthodontic practices through our full custom digital orthodontic solution that increases efficiency, improves quality & consistency of outcomes, and reduces stress in the orthodontic practice. Founded in 2019 by Orthodontist, Dr. Brandon Owen, KLOwen is leading innovation in orthodontic treatment with a full portfolio of custom fixed appliances proven to deliver an average of 7.1 fewer appointments per patient. Schedule a demo today by clicking here.