The question often comes up on how to book CEREC procedures if a Doctor only works out of a single operatory with one chairside assistant. My first recommendation would be to consider expanding to allow for at least a second restorative operatory. It will pay for itself in little time. If for some reason the dentist is absolutely locked into this one room model, then some concessions will need to be made. 

In this example I was working out of a single room due to summer vacations for my partner and two chairside assistants. To complicate matters there were 32 patients coming in with hygiene, 16 of which would need their annual examination. My first strategy was to block the entire day for CEREC procedures to ensure reasonable production and to allow ample time to break away for hygiene exams. This is called “no junk” scheduling and my staff knows what I mean. Anything other than crown and bridge can wait for another day. In a practice where one room is the norm, you must block at least 4 hours per day for high production procedures. On this day we did 5 crowns on 4 patients, mostly e.max. Working out of one room leaves you with a concrete production ceiling that you just have to accept.

The second strategy is to color block all of the hygiene exams. The hygienists each have their own color, but any patient requiring a doctor is coded with the doctor’s color (in this case blue). This gives a nice visual of where the doctor needs to be at all times. It’s important in a day like this to take care of your exams when it is convenient for YOU. Don’t wait until the end of a visit. You’ll have plenty of time during the milling and crystallization of the crowns to do a few check- ups.

This was not an ideal day, but the chaos was limited by booking longer and more productive procedures. Whether a dentist is performing CEREC procedures or traditional dentistry, a second room is a must. Even a busy day such as this could have had a handful of smaller procedures booked in a second operatory to improve the day’s production and your bottom line.

Like the tip of "hygiene exam" colors when PEX required. We do color "same day emergencies" red so I know that those people "don't mind waiting".... Efficiency is a must, especially with one assistant! Hope she's helping with design/scanning as mine do!