Fridays and Saturdays: A secret weapon for clear aligner success in your practice

In the world of clear aligner treatments, dental practices are constantly looking for ways to maximize efficiency, enhance patient experience, and boost revenue. One of the most underutilized strategies is leveraging Fridays and Saturdays as key appointment days for clear aligner consultations and treatment starts. These days provide a unique opportunity to meet the needs of patients who may struggle to attend appointments during the traditional Monday through Thursday workweek. As the demand for clear aligners continues to rise, it’s becoming increasingly clear that these days can be a game-changer for both patient acquisition and practice growth.

Survey data: When do patients want to seek dental care?

In order to understand when patients are most likely to schedule consultations and start their clear aligner treatments, we look to the conclusions from a series of surveys that were conducted across a wide range of patients. The goal was to assess patient preferences for treatment start times, providing valuable insights into the best days and hours to offer clear aligner services. The surveys found the following:

• 41% of patients preferred Fridays for consultations and treatment starts.¹ The study emphasized a shift toward weekend appointments for greater convenience.
• 34% of patients preferred Saturdays for consultations or treatment, increasing demand for flexible scheduling options to accommodate work and family schedules.²
• 26% of patients were open to after-hours appointments (6 pm–8 pm).³
• 21% preferred early morning appointments (7 am–9 am) to fit into their busy routines.³

These findings highlight the growing trend for flexible scheduling, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, which can significantly boost patient acquisition and treatment starts.

Why Fridays and Saturdays?

There are several reasons why Fridays and Saturdays can be particularly beneficial for starting clear aligner treatments.

• More availability for patients: Many patients have weekday obligations, including work or school commitments, that make it difficult for them to attend daytime appointments. Offering flexible appointment slots on Fridays and Saturdays gives them an opportunity to schedule a consultation without taking time off work or rearranging their other commitments.
• Patient convenience: Patients who work full-time or have children often find it easier to come in on weekends, when their schedules are more flexible. For parents of school-aged children, Saturday consultations allow them to bring their kids without disrupting their weekday routines.
• Maximizing new patient acquisition: By offering weekend slots, you’re increasing the chances of attracting new patients who might otherwise be unable to make an appointment during standard office hours. These patients are more likely to commit to treatment when they see that the practice offers convenient scheduling.

CandidPro: Streamlining clear aligner production and treatment

Integrating flexible scheduling with days focused on clear aligner case starts can take your practice to the next level. CandidPro’s “Love Your Smile Day” clear aligner production day concept offers practices the ability to dedicate a specific day—including a Friday or Saturday—to clear aligner cases, providing a streamlined and efficient way to manage treatment while ensuring that both patient and staff needs are met (figure 1).

On these production days, your practice can focus solely on clear aligner case starts, reducing the need for extensive staffing, complex scheduling, and streamlining workflow for a seamless patient experience.

Case study summary: Maximizing clear aligner production with dedicated days

Petrie Advanced Dental's "Love Your Smile Day" serves as a prime example of how dedicating specific days to clear aligner treatments can significantly boost production (figure 2). By focusing solely on clear aligner cases, the practice initiated 31 new cases in a single event, generating $124,000 in revenue. This approach not only streamlined workflows but also enhanced patient experience and case acceptance.

“Dedicating a single day to clear aligners allowed us to focus our team, our messaging, and our workflows,” says Dr. Arvind Petrie, DMD. “On our very first ‘Love Your Smile Day,’ we started 31 cases and generated over $120,000 in production. It proved that when you eliminate distractions and make aligners the priority, both your team and your patients respond in a big way.”

The success of this event underscores the potential of dedicated clear aligner days in driving practice growth and efficiency.⁴

The power of remote monitoring: Enhancing treatment efficiency

One of the most significant benefits of offering weekend appointments is the ability to monitor patient progress without the need for constant in-office visits. CandidMonitoring is the perfect companion to this new appointment structure. With CandidMonitoring, practices can provide ongoing, remote oversight of clear aligner treatment, reducing the need for patients to return to the office for regular checks (figure 3). This allows for more flexibility in scheduling while maintaining optimal treatment tracking, thus improving both patient satisfaction and overall outcomes.

By offering a combination of convenient appointment scheduling, efficient aligner production days, and remote monitoring, your practice can create a clear aligner treatment experience that meets modern patient expectations, driving both revenue and patient loyalty.

Unlock the potential of Fridays and Saturdays

Fridays and Saturdays offer an untapped opportunity for practices to optimize clear aligner starts. By catering to the needs of working professionals, parents, and patients who seek more flexible scheduling, practices can boost both patient satisfaction and practice profitability. Incorporating CandidPro’s clear aligner production day structure and CandidMonitoring into this schedule ensures that treatment remains efficient and oversight is maintained without burdening office resources.

As demand for clear aligners continues to grow, leveraging weekends for patient consultations and treatment starts could be the key to unlocking your practice’s full potential.

For more information about how CandidPro clear aligners can help transform your practice, visit candidpro.com.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared in DE Weekend, the newsletter that will elevate your Sunday mornings with practical and innovative practice management and clinical content from experts across the field. Subscribe here.

References

1. Shah A, Williams P, Lee R, et al. Scheduling preferences among urban dental patients: a survey. J Urban Healthc Stud. 2019.

2. Williams P, Chen L, Adams S, et al. Trends in flexible appointment scheduling: understanding patient preferences. J Dent Res. 2021.

3. Thompson E, Zhang H. The impact of after-hours scheduling on dental treatment uptake. J Clin Dent. 2020.

4. Petrie Advanced Dental Production Day. CandidPro. Accessed July 16, 2025. https://www.candidco.com/practice-spotlight/petrie-advanced-dental-production-day