Resources for dental offices
Staffing gaps cost more than missed appointments; they cost patient trust and practice growth. A single hygienist vacancy can drag on for weeks, and each unfilled operatory loses thousands in production you can't recapture. This guide shows you how to fill gaps fast and build systems that keep them filled. We'll measure what you're currently losing, set practical KPIs to track your gains, and outline staffing strategies that let you grow without stretching payroll to the breaking point. The result is a practice that runs at full capacity while you focus on dentistry instead of scheduling crises.
Jul 31, 2025
1. Maximize Appointment Capacity Through Strategic Staffing
Empty hygiene chairs directly impact your bottom line, yet most practices don't measure this loss systematically. Start by calculating your current capacity gap using last quarter's scheduling data. Pull the hours each operatory went unused due to staffing shortages, then apply this formula:
Lost Production = Unavailable Chair Hours × Average Production per Hour
If your hygienist averages $250 per hour and you lose four hours weekly to understaffing, that's $1,000 in lost revenue each week. Track this figure as your "lost revenue" KPI monthly—watching it drop becomes one of the most satisfying metrics in practice management.
Build a proactive staffing system that prevents gaps before they become emergencies:
Maintain a four-week rolling forecast to identify potential shortages early
Launch coverage plans immediately when team members request PTO
Post open shifts the moment they appear—early postings achieve the highest fill rates
Some practices blend permanent and temporary staffing strategically rather than treating them as competing approaches. Your core team provides continuity and deep knowledge of practice protocols, while flexible staffing absorbs demand fluctuations and covers planned absences without overtime costs. This hybrid model also serves as an extended interview process; temporary placements who excel in your environment often become your best permanent hires, since both parties can assess fit before making long-term commitments.
2. Reduce Patient Cancellations and No-Shows
Cancellations create a double financial hit: you lose the expected revenue while still paying staff for their time. A single no-show every workday can eliminate tens of thousands in annual production; money that could fund equipment upgrades, staff raises, or practice expansion.
Most cancellations stem from operational friction rather than patient indifference. When teams are stretched thin, insurance verifications run late, treatment estimates remain vague, and reminder calls get missed. Patients sense this disorganization and lose confidence, leading to cancellations or no-shows.
Create a systematic prevention workflow that your team can execute consistently:
Send multi-channel appointment reminders at one week, three days, and 24 hours before scheduled visits
Call patients personally for high-value or lengthy appointments—a two-minute conversation often saves a two-hour production block
Maintain an active waitlist and offer same-day upgrades via text, turning cancellations into opportunities for other patients
Track your cancellation rate monthly by dividing total cancellations by total scheduled appointments. Establish a clear, fair cancellation policy that gets emailed with every confirmation and repeated in reminder messages. This sets expectations without sounding punitive.
Close the feedback loop by tagging every missed appointment with its underlying reason in your practice management software. Review these patterns during weekly team huddles to identify training opportunities and system improvements before small issues become major problems.
3. Control Labor Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Labor represents your largest controllable expense, typically consuming about 55% of collections through overhead costs, with wages forming the centerpiece of that spending. Wage inflation continues climbing while one strategic misstep—overstaffing, excessive overtime, or high turnover—can destroy profit margins quickly.
Move Administrative Tasks Off Your Payroll
Begin by moving low-value administrative tasks off your direct payroll. Full-service revenue cycle management firms specialize in eligibility verification, coding accuracy, claim follow-up, and denial appeals. These services reduce claim rejections, accelerate collections, and keep your clinical staff focused on chairside productivity where they generate the most value. You pay a predictable percentage tied to cash collected rather than maintaining additional headcount.
Optimize Scheduling to Prevent Overtime
Optimize your scheduling approach to prevent costly overtime scenarios. Empty operatory hours early in the week often create pressure for expensive overtime coverage later. Your practice management software provides real-time visibility into scheduling gaps that flexible staffing can fill efficiently. Rather than carrying the full cost of permanent employees—including salary, payroll taxes, benefits, recruitment expenses, and inevitable downtime between patients—strategic use of temporary professionals lets you pay only for productive clinical hours.
Calculate True Employee Costs
Calculate the true cost of each permanent team member beyond their base salary. Include payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, recruitment fees, and training investments. Compare this comprehensive figure to hourly rates for equivalent temporary coverage.
Monitor your labor cost as a percentage of collections each month. When this ratio increases unexpectedly, audit recent overtime expenses, review any new hiring decisions from that period, and assess whether temporary coverage might be more cost-effective for specific roles or time periods.
4. Improve Patient Experience to Drive Referrals
Adequate staffing creates the bandwidth necessary for exceptional patient experiences that generate referrals and positive reviews. When your team isn't scrambling to cover basic responsibilities, they can focus on the details that transform routine visits into memorable interactions.
Map your complete patient journey from initial phone contact through final billing statement. Assign clear ownership for each touchpoint: the assistant who explains post-operative care instructions, the coordinator who verifies insurance benefits, the hygienist who schedules recall appointments. When planned time off or unexpected turnover creates gaps in these critical roles, bring in qualified temporary staff immediately to maintain service consistency.
Implement a simple but effective feedback system using three core questions delivered the same day as treatment:
Overall experience rating
Clarity of cost information
Likelihood to recommend your practice
Review these scores monthly with your entire team and make rapid adjustments based on patient input. Well-staffed practices can afford to slow down during patient interactions. This allows time to celebrate a child's first cavity-free visit, catch billing errors before they reach patients, and present treatment options without seeming rushed. These moments of genuine attention convert satisfied patients into active referral sources who recommend your practice to friends and family.
5. Scale Operations Without Growing Pains
Practice growth becomes sustainable when supported by reliable staffing systems and efficient revenue cycle management processes. Without these foundations, expansion attempts often create more problems than profits.
Choose Your Expansion Strategy
The dental industry's persistent hiring challenges affect a majority of practices, making traditional recruitment insufficient for growth plans. Flexible staffing marketplaces provide access to credentialed professionals who can support extended evening hours, weekend availability, or additional location coverage without the financial commitment of permanent hires.
Choose your expansion strategy based on current capacity utilization and market demand patterns. Start by extending hours at your existing location, using temporary staff to test patient demand before investing in additional equipment or signing new lease agreements. Track appointment fill rates and operatory utilization across different time slots to identify the most profitable expansion opportunities.
Implement Centralized Management
For multi-location practices, implement centralized staffing management that allows talent to move where needed most. A unified dashboard shows real-time staffing levels across all locations, enabling strategic deployment of both permanent and temporary team members based on patient volume and clinical needs.
Document Standard Procedures
Document all repeatable processes in comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures covering sterilization protocols, claim submission workflows, and daily huddle formats. When new temporary staff or permanent hires can reference clear, step-by-step procedures, they integrate faster and maintain consistent patient experiences regardless of location or shift timing.
Monitor key performance indicators that confirm sustainable growth: days in accounts receivable should remain under 30, collections ratio should maintain 98% or better against net production, and new patient acquisition costs should stay below the profit margin expected from first-visit revenue. When these metrics remain stable during expansion, each additional operatory hour generates positive returns rather than creating operational strain.
Fill Staffing Gaps with Teero
Every revenue optimization strategy depends on having qualified professionals in your operatories when patients arrive. The ongoing talent shortage continues affecting practices nationwide, creating scheduling gaps that directly reduce production and compromise patient care.
Teero eliminates this operational friction through our comprehensive staffing marketplace. Licensed, pre-vetted dental professionals join our network after thorough credential verification and performance reviews. You specify the dates, skills, and cultural fit requirements for each open shift, and our platform matches you with qualified candidates who meet your exact needs.
Our talent pool includes part-time and per-diem clinicians seeking flexible arrangements that align with your practice needs. Scale staffing up during busy promotional periods or patient influxes, then adjust down during traditionally slower seasons—all without carrying fixed labor costs or lengthy recruitment processes.
Ready to transform staffing from a constant challenge into a strategic advantage? Create your free Teero account and fill your next staffing need in hours rather than weeks. Fully staffed operatories are the foundation for every other revenue optimization strategy in your practice.