Appointments

The Appointments module is the heart of your daily workflow. Schedule visits, manage your calendar, send automated reminders, handle rescheduling and cancellations, and coordinate across multiple chairs — all in one place.

Calendar Views

Odento offers three calendar views, each suited to a different planning horizon:

Screenshot — Calendar Views

Day view: Hour-by-hour breakdown of a single day, with color-coded appointment types and chair assignments. Best for front desk staff managing the day's flow.
Week view: All seven days at a glance, with appointments shown as blocks. Best for dentists planning their week.
Month view: A high-level overview showing appointment density per day. Best for spotting busy periods and planning leave.

Switch between views using the toggle in the top-right corner. Your last-used view is remembered across sessions.

Scheduling an Appointment

To create a new appointment, click any empty slot on the calendar. In the booking panel:

Screenshot — Scheduling an Appointment

Select or create the patient
Choose the appointment type — this auto-fills the default duration and pricing
Adjust the duration if needed
Assign a chair (if you have multiple operatories)
Add internal notes visible only to staff
Click Confirm

Odento checks for conflicts in real time — if the selected chair or dentist is already booked, you'll see a warning and suggested alternative slots.

Smart Slot Suggestions

When a patient requests a specific time that's taken, Odento suggests the nearest available slots based on the appointment type's duration and the dentist's working hours. You can present these options to the patient directly.

Automated Reminders

Odento sends appointment reminders automatically through your configured channels. The default reminder schedule is:

Booking confirmation: Sent immediately when the appointment is created
24-hour reminder: Sent the day before the appointment
2-hour reminder: Sent shortly before the appointment

You can customize the reminder schedule and channels in Settings › Notifications. For example, you might send only a booking confirmation and a 2-hour reminder for follow-up visits, while keeping the full sequence for new patient consultations.

Reminders are sent via WhatsApp by default. If a patient doesn't have WhatsApp, Odento falls back to SMS automatically.

Rescheduling

To reschedule an appointment, open it from the calendar and click Reschedule. Drag the appointment to a new slot, or pick a date and time manually. Odento sends an updated confirmation to the patient automatically.

Screenshot — Rescheduling

The original appointment time is preserved in the appointment history, so you can track no-shows and rescheduling patterns over time. This data feeds into the patient analytics in the Reports module.

Cancellations

When you cancel an appointment, Odento asks for a reason (patient request, no-show, dentist unavailable, etc.) and notifies the patient. Cancelled slots become available for other patients immediately.

For repeat no-shows, Odento can flag the patient and optionally require a deposit for future bookings. Configure this behavior in Settings › Appointments › No-Show Policy.

Cancellation Policy

You can set a cancellation window (e.g., 24 hours) after which a cancellation fee applies. Odento calculates the fee automatically and adds it to the patient's next invoice.

Chair Management

If your practice has multiple operatories, you can define each chair in Settings › Clinic › Chairs. Give each chair a name (e.g., "Chair 1 — Ground Floor", "Chair 2 — Surgery") and assign it to a location if you have multiple branches.

When scheduling, you can filter the calendar by chair to see availability for a specific operatory. The day view shows all chairs side by side, so you can spot gaps and optimize utilization.

Google Calendar Integration

Connect your Google Calendar in Settings › Integrations › Google Calendar. Once connected:

Appointments created in Odento appear on your Google Calendar within seconds
Events you add to Google Calendar block those time slots in Odento, preventing double-booking
Changes made in either system sync both ways automatically

Google Calendar connected ✓
  Sync direction:  Two-way
  Last sync:       2 seconds ago
  Calendar:        dr.sharma@gmail.com (Primary)

Online Booking

Your Odento account includes a public booking page where patients can self-schedule. Share the link via WhatsApp, your website, or social media. When a patient books online, the appointment appears on your calendar as "Pending Confirmation" — you can auto-confirm or review each booking based on your preference.

Learn more about the patient booking experience in the Patient Booking guide.