Appointments
Create, confirm, reschedule, and cancel appointments. Covers the pending-to-confirmed flow, no-show handling, and calendar navigation.
Manage your clinic's daily schedule - create appointments, confirm patients, handle no-shows, and keep the calendar organised across all your doctors.
What You'll Need
- An active Dentare account with at least one doctor profile created
- Working hours configured for your doctors (Settings → Hours & Availability)
- At least one patient record, or you can add one during booking
- Services configured under Settings → Catalog & Pricing (optional but recommended - they drive reminder templates and default durations)
If working hours are not set, the calendar has no boundaries and any time slot can be booked. Configure working hours first for a cleaner scheduling experience.
Creating an Appointment
Open the Calendar
Go to Calendar from the sidebar (/events).
Start a New Appointment
Click + New appointment in the top-right corner, or click directly on an empty time slot in the calendar grid to pre-fill the date and time.
Fill in the Details
Complete the appointment form:
- Patient - search by name or phone number. If the patient does not exist yet, you can add them on the spot by entering their name and phone.
- Doctor - defaults to the logged-in doctor. Change it from the dropdown for multi-doctor clinics.
- Date and time - slots outside working hours are greyed out on the picker.
- Duration - defaults based on the selected service (for example, 30 minutes for a check-up, 60 minutes for a procedure). Adjust as needed.
- Service - select from your clinic's services list. This drives the reminder template and the default duration.
- Notes - internal notes for the doctor or receptionist. Not visible to the patient.
Save
Click Save. The appointment appears immediately on the calendar.
If there is a conflict with another appointment or a closed day, a warning banner appears. You can override it if the overlap is intentional, or go back and pick a different slot.
The Pending to Confirmed Flow
Reminders are not sent for pending appointments. An appointment must be in Confirmed status before SMS, WhatsApp, or email reminders are scheduled.
When you create an appointment from the calendar, it starts with status Pending. This is intentional - it prevents reminder blasts while staff are still checking availability or waiting for the patient to confirm their slot.
The workflow:
- Create appointment - status is Pending
- Open the appointment - click Confirm
- Status changes to Confirmed - reminders are now scheduled
If a patient calls to confirm their slot over the phone, open the appointment in Dentare and click Confirm. Otherwise the system has no way to know they confirmed and they will not receive any reminders.
Status reference:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Created, not yet confirmed. No reminders fire. |
| Confirmed | Confirmed by staff. Reminders are scheduled. |
| In progress | Patient has checked in or the appointment time has started. |
| Completed | Appointment finished. |
| Cancelled | Appointment cancelled. Reason is recorded. |
| No-show | Patient did not arrive. |
Rescheduling an Appointment
On desktop - drag and drop:
- Click and hold the appointment block on the calendar.
- Drag it to the new date and time.
- Release - the appointment updates instantly.
If the new slot has a conflict, a warning appears. You can override or undo.
On mobile - edit form:
Open the Appointment
Tap the appointment block to open its details.
Edit
Tap Edit and change the date, time, or duration in the form.
Save
Tap Save. Reminders for a confirmed appointment are automatically rescheduled to the new time.
Cancelling an Appointment
Open the Appointment
Click the appointment on the calendar to open its detail view.
Cancel
Click Cancel appointment, select a cancellation reason (optional but useful for your own records), and confirm.
The appointment stays in the patient's history with status Cancelled. Dentare never deletes appointments - this is intentional for audit and liability reasons. If the patient had confirmed reminders scheduled, those are cancelled automatically.
Handling No-Shows
If a patient does not arrive:
Wait for the Grace Period
You can only mark a no-show after the appointment time plus 15 minutes have elapsed.
Mark as No-Show
Open the appointment and click Mark as no-show.
To undo a no-show (for example, the patient arrived late): open the appointment and click Undo no-show. The appointment returns to its previous status.
Navigating the Calendar
View modes:
- Day - single-column view of all appointments for one day. Best for busy single-doctor clinics.
- Week - seven-day grid. The default view.
- Month - high-level overview. Click any day to drill into it.
Date navigation:
- Use the left and right arrows to move one day or week forward or backward.
- Click Today to jump back to the current date.
- Use the mini date picker at the top of the calendar to jump to any date.
Multi-doctor view:
- On desktop, click a specific doctor's pill at the top of the calendar to filter to their column only.
- Click All doctors to see everyone side-by-side.
- On mobile, use the doctor dropdown to switch between doctors.
Each doctor has a unique color. Appointments are color-coded so you can distinguish doctors at a glance across a busy week.
Searching and Filtering
At the top of the calendar:
- Search by patient name - type a name to find all upcoming appointments for that patient.
- Filter by doctor - click a doctor's pill or use the mobile dropdown.
- Filter by status - narrow to Pending, Confirmed, Cancelled, and so on.
- Filter by service - useful for seeing all check-ups or all implant consultations for a given period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't my patient receiving reminders? The appointment must be in Confirmed status for reminders to fire. Open the appointment - if it shows Pending, click Confirm and reminders will be scheduled for the next available send window.
Can I create an appointment for a patient who does not exist yet? Yes. In the new appointment form, if the patient search returns no results, an option appears to add a new patient on the spot. Fill in their name and phone number - you can complete the full patient profile later.
Can I book two appointments at the same time for the same doctor? The system will warn you about the conflict. You can still override and save if it is intentional - for example, double-booking a brief consultation alongside a longer procedure.
The time slots outside working hours are blocked. How do I book outside hours? Working hours are set under Settings → Hours & Availability. Slots outside those hours are greyed on the calendar, but you can manually type a time in the edit form. A warning will be shown.
How do I reschedule on mobile? Drag-and-drop is a desktop-only feature. On mobile, tap the appointment, then tap Edit, change the date and time, and tap Save.
Related Articles
Book an Appointment Online
The patient-side guide to the online booking page.
TV Waiting Room Display
Show the appointment queue on a TV screen in your waiting room.
QR Registration
Let new patients self-register at reception by scanning a QR code.
Quick Start
Set up your clinic, invite your team, and take your first booking.