Recurring appointments
Set up a series of appointments — weekly hygiene visits, monthly retainer reviews, etc.
Overview
Some treatments span multiple visits — orthodontic adjustments, hygiene maintenance, complex restorations. The appointment form supports creating a series in one go: weekly, monthly, or custom interval, up to 12 occurrences.
Prerequisites
- Any clinical or front-desk role
- The patient and dentist already chosen
- A clear plan for the series (frequency, count, total span)
Steps
Open the new appointment form. Top nav Appointments → + New Appointment.
Fill in the first appointment as usual. Patient, type, dentist, time, room.
Toggle "Recurring" on. Scroll to the Recurrence section and tick the box. Additional fields appear.
Pick the recurrence pattern. Weekly, every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks, monthly, or custom (every N days/weeks).
Set the count or end date. Either "5 more occurrences" or "until 2026-09-30". The system caps series length at 12 to avoid runaway scheduling.
Preview the slots. A timeline appears showing the proposed slots. Slots that conflict are flagged in red — you can either click each red slot to pick an alternative time, or Skip conflicts to omit them from the series.
Click "Create series". A progress indicator shows the slots being created. On completion, all appointments appear on the calendar at their respective times. Each gets its own confirmation SMS.
Verify the series. Open any appointment in the series — the modal shows a "Part of a series" badge with link to the parent. Edits to one appointment don't affect the series; "Edit series" applies the change to all.
Cancel the series. From any appointment in the series, More actions → Cancel series cancels every future appointment. Past ones stay.
Expected outcome
- N appointments are created with the same patient, dentist, room, and type
- Each has its own ID; they're linked by a shared series
- Conflicting slots are skipped or rescheduled per your choice
- The patient receives one confirmation per appointment
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Series limit hit (12 occurrences) | By design, prevents infinite series | Create the next batch when the first ends |
| "Patient registration fee not paid" | Registration fee gate fails on every appointment in the series | Pay the fee first; the series creation is atomic |
| Recurrence section missing | Some appointment types don't allow recurrence | Toggle is hidden for emergency appointments |
| Reminders flooding the patient | Each appointment generates its own reminder | Adjust reminder lead time in Communications settings |
| Conflicts in the series weren't flagged | Conflict detection only runs on save | Use the preview before clicking Create |