What Is Chair Time Occupancy in a Dental Practice?
Chair Time Occupancy is the percentage of available clinical hours that are actively used for revenue-generating treatment.
It answers the question:
“Of all the hours my surgery is open, how many are actually productive?”
If a chair is available for 160 hours/month, but only used for 112 hours, occupancy is:
Chair Occupancy = 112 ÷ 160 = 70%
This figure reveals both efficiency and lost revenue potential.
Why Chair Time Occupancy Matters for Dental Practice Owners
Your dental chair is a profit centre — not just a piece of equipment.
Underused chairs:
- Waste fixed costs (nurse, room, utilities)
- Hide capacity for new patients
- Limit associate productivity and practice growth
Example:
| Chair Availability | 160 hours
| Actual Treatment Hours | 112 hours
| Chair Occupancy | 70%
| Revenue per Chair Hour | £325
| Lost Potential | 48 hours × £325 = £15,600/month
DentPulse tracks this automatically — per chair, per associate, per week.
What Affects Chair Time Occupancy?
| Factor | Impact |
| Appointment Gaps | No-shows, short-notice cancellations |
| Inefficient Booking | Long gaps between treatments |
| Associate Availability | Part-time days or sick leave |
| Diary Management | Ineffective scheduling rules |
| Treatment Type | High-value vs low-value usage |
| Chair-to-Nurse Ratio | Bottlenecks due to insufficient support |
Chair time that isn’t filled costs the same — it just earns £0.
How DentPulse Tracks and Improves Chair Occupancy
| Feature | Function |
| PCPT™ Tracker | Measures revenue, hours booked, and idle time per chair |
| Chair Time Heatmap | Visualises peak/low usage across weeks |
| Idle Hour Alerts | Flags underused time blocks automatically |
| Revenue Forecasting Engine | Shows potential gain from 5–15% occupancy uplift |
| Compare Chairs vs Rooms | Tracks performance across surgeries, rooms, and sessions |
DentPulse turns your chair from a calendar slot into a strategic asset.
DentPulse Tip™
Every empty hour costs you money.
Every optimised hour grows your margin.Don’t add marketing spend until you’ve fixed the chair occupancy gap.
Related Glossary Terms
- PCPT™ – Profit Centre Performance Tracker
- Revenue per Chair Hour – Monetises each occupied hour
- Appointment Gaps – Referred to in DentPulse as Lost Chair Time
- Chair Utilisation Benchmark – Target 85–90% for established practices
- Treatment Profitability – Combine occupancy with margin per procedure
Glossary Summary Table
| Term | Meaning |
| Chair Time Occupancy | % of available chair hours actively used for treatment |
| Purpose | Measure efficiency, reduce idle time, increase revenue |
| Financial Impact | Directly tied to fixed cost absorption and revenue per hour |
| DentPulse Advantage | Auto-tracks occupancy per chair, links to revenue, and forecasts uplift potential |
