Updated 8/23/2019

The Appt Length field in the Appointment Information dialog box allows you to specify how long the appointment will be.

While individual procedures are set up in the Office Manager with specific procedure times attached to them, there may be situations when you need to adjust the total appointment time due to a patient taking a longer than normal time to numb, for example.

Changing the appointment length also allows you to specify how much of the appointment time the primary provider will be in the room, how much of the time the assistant (but not the provider) will be in the room, and how much of the time the patient is in the chair numbing or waiting. This feature makes it easier for you to set up the appointment length information.

To change the length of an appointment:

1. In the Appointment Book, double-click the appointment for which you need to customize the appointment length.
2. Click the Appt Length search button to open the Appointment Time Pattern dialog box.
   
3. In the Total Time field, enter the total length of the appointment, or use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the time.
   
4. In the Time Pattern group box, select the first block of time. Hint: You can hold down Ctrl on the keyboard and select multiple time patterns to edit at the same time.
5. Click the appropriate button to assign time blocks as either provider time, assistant time, or chair time:
   • Provider – The primary appointment provider will be in the operatory. An X indicates provider time has been assigned.
   • Assistant – A dental assistant or secondary provider will be in the room, but not the primary appointment provider. A / indicates assistant time has been assigned.
   • Chair/Clear – The patient will be waiting in the chair. You can also click this button to clear provider or assistant time if you have assigned one of those to the block. A blank indicates chair time has been assigned.
6. Click OK to save your changes.

When viewing an appointment in the Appointment Book, the left side of the appointment indicates the time pattern for each time unit of the appointment.

For additional information on how to set procedure time defaults, see the Setting Procedure Times topic in Dentrix Help.