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Many dental practices grow clinically while struggling operationally. Production rises, schedules stay busy, and collections look strong. Yet profit, clarity, and long-term stability often lag.
This gap rarely comes from clinical performance. Instead, it comes from business and practice management decisions that quietly limit growth.
Understanding these mistakes helps practice owners protect profitability and reduce stress. Below are six common business mistakes that affect dental practices and how addressing them changes long-term outcomes.
Many dentists lead their practices using instinct. While intuition matters, relying on it alone creates reactive decision-making.
Without a management operating system, practices often:
A management system is not corporate bureaucracy. Instead, it provides structure that frees the owner from being the bottleneck.
When decisions happen consistently without the owner present, the system is working.
Many dentists view PPOs as a necessary part of growth. However, few truly understand their financial impact.
Growth can become deceptive when:
This happens because practices rarely analyze PPO costs at the procedure level.
Producing a crown costs nearly the same regardless of payer type. Staff, facilities, supplies, and time remain constant. However, reimbursement differs significantly.
In many cases:
Understanding PPO economics helps practices define their ideal patient base and long-term strategy.
A lease is often the largest nonclinical financial commitment a dentist signs. Despite this, many practice owners treat it as routine paperwork.
Lease agreements can include:
A poorly negotiated lease can reduce practice value or complicate a future sale.
Professional lease review protects long-term practice security.
Dental partnerships often begin with trust and optimism. Unfortunately, many fail due to unclear financial expectations.
Most partnership issues are mathematical rather than personal.
Without financial modeling, resentment builds over time.
Partners should model:
Clear expectations prevent misunderstandings and legal disputes.
Many dental practices rely on bookkeeping and tax preparation. While necessary, these services focus on the past.
Financial planning and analysis focuses on the future.
Accounting answers:
FP&A answers:
Without forecasting and budgeting, major decisions rely on intuition.
This approach turns financial uncertainty into clarity and control.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure practice health. Without them, decisions rely on assumptions instead of data.
KPIs fall into two categories:
Leading indicators
Lagging indicators
Tracking both types creates a complete picture of performance.
Regular KPI reviews turn numbers into action.
Technology supports operations but cannot replace strong systems. Tools and automation work best when layered onto structured processes.
Successful practices:
This approach creates long-term stability.
Dental success requires more than clinical excellence. Strong management, financial awareness, and operational systems drive long-term profitability. By addressing these six common business mistakes, practices gain clarity, stability, and sustainable growth.Evaluate your practice systems today. Strengthen management, analyze PPO costs, review leases, plan finances, and track KPIs to protect profitability and build a more stable, efficient dental practice.
Listen to Episode 143 of The Dental Boardroom Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/143-six-mistakes-that-can-lead-to-operational-misery/id1518344747?i=1000749103657
Wes knows what's best for dental practices. He's been doing this for a long time and he sees lots of practices. He can tell me how our practice is doing, and what we can do to increase our productivity. With past CPA's, there were no ideas. It was all coming from me, saying "I think I can do better, but I don't know how." I come in to meet with Wes and he says "You CAN do better, and I know how."
PracticeCFO is in hundreds of dental offices around the country. They know what numbers should look like. They know what percentages of payroll, rent and supplies should be, and they will hold you accountable to those numbers, which will really help you stick to your plan and your path of growth and savings. That is invaluable
Whenever something comes up, whether it's building or practice related and we weren't sure where the numbers would go, PracticeCFO has been instrumental in helping us figure that out. I can't say enough of how important that is - that it goes beyond that initial partnership. They make sure this business marriage works.
When I go home from work, I don't spend a whole lot of time stressing about what my books look like, or how much I owe in taxes. By using PracticeCFO, the burden of keeping track of a lot of the big financial numbers and metrics are taken off my plate.
PracticeCFO helped me develop a plan for the future. I have colleagues that work with other accountants that don't have a plan - they just look at the numbers of the practice and that's it. There's no plan for 10, 20 years from now. But with PracticeCFO, you get that. PracticeCFO makes you feel like you're they're only client.
(In reference to his practice sale) What could've been super stressful, wasn't! When picking John and Wes, it was from word of mouth recommendations and other people's experiences from the past that really did it for me. And it turns out that those recommendations were right on the line.
Wes knows the business side of dentistry. His comprehensive plan will organize your personal and professional finances so you can focus on taking care of patients. Massive ROI.
I can’t say enough good things about everyone at PracticeCFO. Everyone on the team is professional, organized, knowledgeable, helpful and kind. They also respond to emails and phone calls immediately and are always happy to help. They have helped me navigate year-to-year as a business owner. PracticeCFO gives me peace of mind that my business is in good hands.
I love Practice CFO! They have helped me obtain a practice and maintain a practice. They are incredible people who are on top of everything and make owning and running the business portion of a practice easy. They couldn’t be better for my business and my sanity. They have every detail of the business and taxes taken care of where all I have to do is show up and follow their easy steps to success!
Practice CFO has the best tools I’ve seen for personal tax and financial planning in addition to top-tier corporate tax and accounting services. I have been very pleased with the level of quality service. They manage my monthly bookkeeping and accounts payable. It is a great system and saves me a ton of time, and it allows us to have monthly financial statements within a week of month end.
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