Dental hygiene appointment lengths: how to set your slots

Set one service per treatment, with a slot length that matches the time you really need, and let patients pick the right one when they book. A routine scale and polish, a first visit with a full check, a deep cleaning split over several visits and a whitening session don't take the same time. Give each its own length, add a few minutes for set-up and notes where you need them, and describe clearly who each service is for, so patients land in the right slot and your day runs on time.

These lengths are examples: use the ones that match how you work. On Book, create each treatment as a service with its own description and an optional price. Each slot belongs to one service, so a patient booking a scale and polish only sees scale and polish slots, and never lands in a 30-minute slot when they need an hour.

Patients don't always know the words "periodontal maintenance" or "debridement". Describe each service in plain terms: who it's for, what happens and how long it lasts. For example: "Gum maintenance: for patients already followed for gum care. Cleaning below the gum line, about 50 minutes." If a service should only be booked after your advice, say so in the description, and book those patients yourself.

A new patient needs more time: medical history, a full check, perhaps X-rays depending on your practice, and a first cleaning. Make the first visit its own, longer service, and say in the other descriptions that new patients should book it first. At the end, you know which treatment and rhythm suits them, and you can book the next visit together.

If you take X-rays or photos, count that time too. Tell new patients in the description what to bring: recent X-rays from another practice, the list of medication they take, or anything else you ask for at the first visit.

When treatment is split by area over several visits, don't leave the patient to find each slot alone. At the end of the first session, book the next ones yourself from your calendar. Enter the patient's email if you want them to receive a confirmation for each visit. The note field is a good place to write which area is planned, so you see it again when the day comes.

Between two patients you clean and disinfect the room, prepare instruments and write notes. If you need ten minutes for that, include them in the slot length or leave a gap between slots. Slots can overlap in Book, so the safest rule is to create them one after the other, with the gap you need, and not to open two services at the same time in the same room.

If you work in two rooms or with an assistant, you can open slots in parallel, as long as each room's slots follow each other without overlap.

A slot created once can be repeated on the weekdays you choose until an end date. Build your standard week once: first visits on some mornings, routine cleanings the rest of the day, a longer block for deep cleaning. Then repeat it for the next months, and remove the days you're closed. Calendar sync with Google, iPhone or Mac shows your appointments next to your personal agenda.

The booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note. You receive an email for each new booking with the note, so you can prepare the right time and instruments.

Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited bookings and services, no commission and no contract. It doesn't take payments; handle fees your usual way.