Before you start
For Crownbeam to correctly account for weekends, public holidays, and company holidays in date calculations, these need to be entered once. If you haven't done this yet: Block deliveries on non-working days.
Overview
An appointment sequence is built in three steps — in this order:
Create appointment steps — the individual appointment building blocks
Build the sequence — combine building blocks into a named series
Tie it to an indication — activate the sequence in the product catalog
How to set up a sequence
Step 1: Create appointment steps
The building blocks come first.
Open the Settings via the gear icon in the top right.
In the left navigation, select Appointment Sequences.
On the left side, you'll find the Appointment Steps section.
Click Add and enter a name (e.g. "Custom tray," "Try-in," "Finishing").
Enter the duration in days. Each step has four fields: Analog Standard, Digital Standard, Analog Express (optional), Digital Express (optional).
Save.
Repeat this for every step you need in your sequences.
Important: Fill in both Analog Standard and Digital Standard for every step, if you offer both modes. If even one step is missing its digital value, the practice can't order the entire work digitally.
Step 2: Build the sequence
Now you build a sequence from the appointment steps.
On the right side, you'll find the Sequences section.
Click Add and enter a name — e.g. "Full denture," or generically "Denture" if you want to use the same sequence for multiple indications. You can choose the name freely.
Make sure the sequence is selected on the right side.
Drag the appointment steps via drag-and-drop from the left area into the correct order on the right side.
Step 3: Tie it to an indication
The sequence is only active once it's tied to an indication in the product catalog.
Go to the Product Catalog.
Open the indication you want by toggling Offer (e.g. "Full denture").
In the Product specific dropdown, select your sequence — instead of the previous day count for a single appointment.
Click the save icon.
From now on, the practice sees "Multiple appointments" when ordering this type of work and enters all the appointments directly when creating the order.
Which steps belong in the sequence?
A sequence doesn't have "optional" steps. A step is either firmly part of the sequence — in which case it's scheduled for every order — or it's not in the sequence and gets added manually to a specific order when needed.
Model the sequence for the best-case scenario — the workflow that plays out this way most often. Adding a step in an individual case is always less effort than having to remove an unneeded step from every single order.
Examples of steps that should NOT be in the standard sequence:
Adjustment after the try-in (often, but not always necessary) · second try-in · bite registration for patients with enough remaining teeth
You create these steps in the pool, but don't add them to the sequence — that way they're available without being scheduled for every order
Common mistakes
Steps filled in inconsistently
Mistake: If some steps only offer Analog Standard while others offer both, this can result in an order not being orderable, because one appointment in the sequence is missing a value.
What to do instead: Enter a duration for both Analog Standard and Digital Standard on every step. Otherwise the entire order drops out of that mode.
Important: Crownbeam calculates analog/digital availability as the intersection across all steps. If even one step of a sequence has no digital value, the entire order can't be ordered digitally.
Naming steps with sequence numbers
Mistake: Naming pool steps like "Tray 1," "Try-in 1."
What to do instead: Use generic names ("Tray," "Try-in"). The order within the sequence is shown by the steps' position, not by their name.
Forgetting to tie the sequence in the product catalog
Mistake: The sequence is created, but the indication in the product catalog still shows the simple day count.
What to do instead: Open the Product specific dropdown on the indication and select the sequence — only then is the sequence active.
Adding optional steps to the standard sequence
Mistake: An adjustment or a second try-in is added to the sequence — then it has to be manually removed almost every time.
What to do instead: Create the step in the pool, but don't add it to the sequence. Add it manually to a specific order when needed.
FAQs
Can I use one sequence for multiple indications?
Yes. The same sequence can be assigned to any number of indications. Just select it for each indication you want in the product catalog.
Can I change a sequence after the fact?
Yes. Sequences can be adjusted at any time under Settings → Appointment Sequences. Note: changes only affect new orders — orders already underway stay unchanged.
How do I model steps that are only sometimes needed?
Create the step in the pool, but don't add it to the standard sequence. It can be inserted manually into a specific order when needed. There's no "optional" flag per step. How to do this manually is described in Adjust appointments in a sequence order.
What happens if the practice schedules an appointment on a public holiday?
Crownbeam automatically takes into account all non-working days entered in the settings, as well as weekends. Days without an entry are treated as available — which is why public holidays need to be entered once: Block deliveries on non-working days.
Exactly how does Crownbeam calculate the treatment date and shipping date?
Crownbeam calculates backwards from the treatment date, taking into account production time, shipping duration, the package Drop-off Deadline, and non-working days. A detailed explanation with a concrete calculation example is in How dates are calculated in Crownbeam.
Why does only one appointment appear when ordering an appointment sequence?
This usually happens when the appointment sequence hasn't been correctly tied to the indication yet. In the product catalog, the Product specific dropdown for the relevant indication needs to have the desired sequence selected — if it still shows a simple day count, the practice only sees one appointment instead of "Multiple appointments" when ordering. Check under Product Catalog → open the indication → dropdown whether the sequence is selected there.