💡 Top tip: If you notice patients being unable to book an appointment online, even though there is calendar availability, this is likely because practitioner locking has been enabled. Check this first, and if you're still having issues, get in touch with Support.
What is 'Practitioner locking' on Dentally Portal?
The 'Practitioner locking' function allows you to control which dentists are available for your existing patients to book appointments with online.
It can be enabled per payment plan/fee schedule on Dentally Portal, to give you confidence that your patients, no matter their plan/schedule, will be seen by the right dentist.
📝 Please note: Practitioner locking only applies to dentists - not to other types of practitioners.
With 'Practitioner locking' enabled, a patient will only be able to book appointments online with the dentist they are assigned to in their patient details. If their dentist is unavailable, or if the appointment category they try to book is only offered by other practitioners, the patient will not see any appointment slots.
With 'Practitioner locking' disabled, patients will be able to book with any dentist, as long as they are configured on the Dentally Portal.
📝 Please note: If you are an NHS practice in the UK, practitioner locking works differently for NHS plans. If you enable practitioner locking for the NHS plan but not your private plan, it will only apply to NHS appointments - but NHS patients can still book both NHS AND private appointments, .
If an NHS patient looks for an NHS appointment, it will be locked to their dentist - but if they look for a private appointment, they'll see other dentists as well.
How do I enable or disable 'Practitioner locking' on Dentally Portal?
Go to portal.dentally.com
Navigate to 'Online Booking' then 'Plans & pricing'.
Click 'Manage' on the right.
You will see the 'Practitioner Locking' toggle to switch on or off.
