What Are Appointment Gaps in Dental Practices?
Appointment Gaps — referred to in DentPulse™ as Lost Chair Time — are unused or unproductive blocks of time in the clinical diary when no treatment is delivered, no income is earned, and the chair sits idle.
These gaps directly reduce chair profitability, limit associate productivity, and silently erode practice revenue potential — even in otherwise fully staffed or fully booked practices.
Why Appointment Gaps Matter for Dental Practice Owners
Your dental chair is a profit centre — not just a piece of equipment.
Each gap in the diary represents lost revenue opportunity and fixed costs still ticking in the background (nurse wages, rent, software, etc.).
Example:
If your chair generates £300/hour and you lose 4 hours per week to no-shows or cancellations, you’re leaking £1,200/week — or over £57,000/year in silent loss per chair.
Most clinics track revenue, but not what wasn’t earned. DentPulse changes that.
What Causes Appointment Gaps?
| Source | Description |
| No-Shows | Patient fails to attend without notice |
| Late Cancellations | Slots cancelled too late to refill |
| Associate Underscheduling | Gaps between booked treatments |
| Long Turnover Times | Poor transitions between appointments |
| Systemic Underbooking | Inefficient diary templates or reception habits |
Each of these creates unmonetised chair time — which adds up across weeks and months.
How DentPulse Tracks Appointment Gaps as Lost Chair Time
| Feature | Function |
| PCPT™ – Profit Centre Performance Tracker | Measures actual vs. available chair hours |
| Gap Detector | Highlights lost time by cause: no-show, underbooking, etc. |
| Red–Amber–Green Chair Zones | Flags low-performing chairs based on idle time % |
| Revenue Recovery Forecast | Shows how much lost time could earn if converted |
| Team Feedback Overlay | Links reception + associate booking habits to gap volume |
DentPulse reframes diary efficiency from a clinical admin task to a financial performance metric — driving profit improvement.
DentPulse Tip™
Appointment gaps are silent leaks. They don’t show up on a profit and loss report — but they directly reduce your earnings per hour.
DentPulse reveals these invisible losses and ties them back to root causes — helping you fix diary efficiency, not just production targets.
Related Glossary Terms
- PCPT™ – Profit Centre Performance Tracker – Tracks chair profitability by hour
- Chair Utilisation – The % of available hours spent on revenue-generating treatment
- Associate Underscheduling – Partial diaries that drag down chair ROI
- No-Show Rate – % of patients who do not attend appointments
- Treatment Profitability – Income per hour, dependent on chair time use
Glossary Summary Table
| Term | Meaning |
| Appointment Gaps | Unused or unproductive clinical time (aka Lost Chair Time) |
| Main Causes | No-shows, late cancellations, diary inefficiencies |
| Financial Role | Reduces revenue, profit per hour, and chair ROI |
| DentPulse Advantage | Tracks and recovers lost chair time via PCPT™ and Gap Detector |
