Front desk and scheduling
Chair time
Also called appointment length, unit of time
The amount of time a patient occupies a treatment chair.
Chair time is how long a patient will occupy a dental chair for a visit. Scheduling the right amount for each procedure keeps the day on track, avoids running late, and reduces idle gaps. Offices usually build appointment lengths from the dentist's own estimates, often in ten or fifteen minute units. Underestimating it creates delays, and overestimating wastes capacity. Review the schedule often to see where time was lost.
Example at the front desk
A crown prep needs ninety minutes of chair time, so I booked two units back to back.