We should take a poll. I think it’s standard. I walk in within minutes of arrival, work begins within 5 min (including the soft tissue check, poking tooth surfaces with the pointy thing, and then the cleaning. Doctor comes in during the last 5 min to tell me I’m good to go. One hour.
What he said.
After my father had a stroke, he was sent to a physician to make an appointment for follow-up care. They told us told to arrive fifteen minutes before the appointment. I asked why. I was told it was to fill out paperwork. I asked if we could take the paperwork home so he could fill it out at his leisure and bring it back on the day of the appointment. They refused.
Idiots.
Mine usually takes about half an hour, both the check and the cleaning. I think I’d explode if it took much longer.
The whole “appointment” process is designed to optimize the doctor’s time. When they say “appointment”, they really mean “time slot”. They have you by the short-hairs and there is very little you can do about it. I’ve been to a LOT of doctors and here is what I do:
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Bring a book - Average wait at any doctor’s office is 30 minutes by my estimate. I kept stats for a few doctors and one averaged out to an hour. Just because you have a time slot and will be punished if you are late (read: not 15 minutes early) doesn’t mean that the doctor gives a flying fuck about your time. Notice the way you are shuttled into the exam room, 30 minutes after you arrive, only to wait another 30 minutes? This is by design. Bring a book so you can entertain yourself anywhere.
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Set a time limit before you go in and tell them. When the time is up make a big scene in the waiting room about how you can’t wait any longer or else just leave. They were warned. If you just leave they will probably bill you so be prepared to fight. If you make a stink they will do anything to get you out of the waiting room and I have gotten a doc to wave the bill more than once. I waited with my crying, sick son for more than an hour once because of a “mix up”. A waste of an hour of my time (value = one hour of doctor time) and traumatic for my son. I got to yell at a doctor in front of a room full of people and I got the exam for free as a bonus.
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Go have a look around. If you’ve been to an emergency room you know what it is to wait. Yes, sometimes there are lots of people and the worst off need to go first. But making people wait seems to be the norm there, even if no other patients are around. I once took my son to the ER, bit a hole in his tongue, and waited for 30 minutes - my limit. Nobody else around but I assumed there were some mighty sick people in the back. So I took a look around. The place was deserted except for the on-call doc was playing games on the computer. It’s a miracle, we can see you now!
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Bleed on the furniture.
I’ve had a couple of doctors and dentists who actually mailed me the paperwork that I needed to fill out as a new patient. Another couple asked me to come in and do the paperwork before the day of the appointment, or take it home with me to fill out. Since some of these folks seem to want to run a security clearance on me, judging by the amount of info they want, I’m happy to do the paperwork beforehand.
Usually the paperwork that’s done on the day of the appointment has time-sensitive questions, asking about things that are troubling the patient either right at the moment or within the past few days.
The worst was my wife’s obgyn when she was pregnant. I went with her to most of the appointments and I don’t think we ever waited less than 30 minutes. It was freaking rdiculous. The best however was after one appointment when we had already waited 45 minutes or so in the waiting room plus another 20 minutes cooling our heels in the exam room. At the end the nurse said that a routine blood draw was needed but - wouldn’t you know - the blood draw person has already left for lunch. Would we like to wait another 45 minutes until she comes back or come back again later?
Regarding teeth cleanings. I would say total time on scraping and cleaning is probably about 30 minutes. I don’t think the whole appointment usually takes more than 45 minutes.
If I may ask, how old are you? That could be the source of the difference. When I was a child/teen/young woman, the hygeniest’s portion was short like you describe. Now that I am in my late forties, it is more like a minimum of 45 minutes. Middle-aged gums do seem to require more work.
Absolutely; this should be routinely done. Additionally, with several practices, I have implemented giving the patient access to download their paperwork off the practices web site. Or, with greater security, have it able to be completed right on line.
Medical offices are slow to change but we are catching up. 
I, for one, am 21. But my teeth-cleaning appointments are scheduled at the same time as my dad’s (I’m still on my parents’ insurance for a few more months). My father is 49. We’re always the first customers of the day; dad gets to go to the teeth-cleaning-lady first, and I usually have to wait about 30 minutes before he’s done. Rarely more, I think.
I’ll second that one. I’ve been left in examining rooms before for hours, and came out to find the front desk staff gone for the day.
Just last month I took my mother-in-law to an urgent care clinic* and we waited from 7:30pm to 1:15am to see a doctor; it wasn’t until I left the examining room and walked around looking for someone that we were seen. We were out of there by 1:35am.
*Although I don’t hold walk-in clinics to the same standard as a doctor visit for which I have an appointment, I do think they should maybe be aware that they have patients still waiting. The doc I ultimately found was surprised to see us and several other patients still hanging around, and there were no other employees there but the doctor.
It depends on the hygienist and the patient. My dentist does her own cleanings, and for routine ones, it takes 20 to 30 minutes. We used to have two hygienists that worked for the guys we were sharing space with. One was pretty fast (about 30 to 40 minutes, I think, on average), but the other one took the full hour slot, if not more, mostly because she did a good amount of chatting and TLC for patients. Some patients like the hairdresser treatment, some want to be in and out. In any event, I think hygienists generally get a one hour slot per patient. Some offices pay by the hour, and some pay by productivity (how many patients you saw). SO that could be a factor, too.
I mail the forms if there’s enough time before the appointment for the patient to receive them, stick 'em on a desk and forget about them for a week or so, remember them, and then mail them back. If not, I just plan for form-completion time in the appointment.
Ooooooh…maybe that’s it.
Maybe that’s what the difference is. I have 28 teeth (all but my wisdom teeth), so it can take a while to get them cleaned. I’d imagine it wouldn’t take long to clean just one tooth.
Are you young?
And you would have me do… what? In my office it’s not advisable to lecture the doctors you work for. We do let patients waiting know if there’s going to be a long wait, but as far as “fixing” the problem, that’s really not in my job description.
How many docs in your office, Alice? If we’re running long or have an emergency, we ask the next patient if they want to wait x amount of time, or if they want to reschedule. We’re downtown, so if it’s a long wait they have the option of getting coffee or shopping or something, and then coming back.
Huzzah! Author! Author!
There are tons of professions that one makes appointments for that often require paperwork to be filled out. It is pure inconsiderate overbooking if the doctors and staff can’t figure out how to schedule 10-15 minutes into their appointment flow.
rings office
“Hello, I’d like to make an appointment”
“Excellent, your appointment is at 9:00. The doctor will see you shortly after your paperwork is completed.”
shows up at 9:00, fills out forms, sees doctor at 9:15, leaves the clinic happier for having stumbled upon an asshat-free oasis of mutual doctor-patient respect
What are you talking about? How is he supposed to just magically know that his 10:00 appointment is really a 9:50 appointment?
I’ve been told the “your appointment is at 10:00 but come in 10 minutes early for paperwork” thing before too. And yeah, I always think “well, then why didn’t you just make the appointment for 9:50?” But whatevs. At least they’re bothering to communicate to me that I need to be there at 9:50 in some way other than telepathy.
Your attitude is appalling. I’m not sure why your perspective on this is so skewed. The doctors you work for sound like assholes, but that’s not necessarily normal. I used to have at least two miscellaneous doctor’s appointments per week, and excessive wait times were not the norm. At times, I was informed that there had been an emergency and the wait would be longer, but that was unusual. One doctor routinely had wait times of over an hour, so I switched doctors.
I know that not everybody has the option to switch doctors in all cases, but in general, patients should not accept being shat on. They should be flexible and understanding, and in return, the doctor and the staff should respect them and the value of their time.
No it doesn’t. If everyone is fifteen minutes late it’s still just 15 minutes at the end of the day.