Insights

The economics of a dental practice, in plain numbers

Short, referenced reads on what each procedure really costs and which fees quietly lose money, from the same research that built DentistOpFlow.

Costs & benchmarks

Getting a Grip on Dental Supply Costs by Procedure

Supply prices have climbed since early 2025, and the true cost of any procedure is scattered across many supplier invoices. How to map supply spend to procedures and see where margin leaks. For Canada and the USA.

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Costs & benchmarks

Dental Lab Fees and Their Effect on Procedure Margin

Lab fees commonly run 6 to 8 percent of collections and land heavily on a few restorative procedures. How to fold lab cost into a per-procedure margin rather than an average. For Canada and the USA.

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Costs & benchmarks

Setting Dental Fees Against Your Own Costs

In 2025 many practices raised fees to keep pace with rising costs. A cost-first way to review fees using your own numbers rather than the regional average. For dental practices in Canada and the USA.

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Operations

A Practice Self-Assessment You Can Take to a Lender

When a lender or insurer asks about your practice, a self-assessment of your own cost and margin figures, optionally reviewed by your accountant, gives you something concrete to bring. For Canada and the USA.

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Costs & benchmarks

Dental Practice Overhead: What the Numbers Mean in 2026

How dental overhead is measured, the common cost categories and their benchmark ranges, and why a healthy overall ratio can still hide procedures that lose money. For practices in Canada and the USA.

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Costs & benchmarks

What a Dental Procedure Costs Your Practice to Deliver

How to estimate the loaded cost of a crown, filling, or cleaning from your own chair time, supplies, lab, and overhead, so you can see the margin a fee schedule leaves out. For Canada and the USA.

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Costs & benchmarks

How to Tell if a Dental Fee Still Earns a Margin

A cost-first way to check whether each fee still covers what it costs to deliver, using your own numbers rather than the regional average. For dental practices in Canada and the USA.

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Operations

The Hygiene Appointment That Loses Money

Why a routine cleaning priced at the regional average can quietly sit below its true chair cost, and the one calculation that finds it. For dental practices in Canada and the USA.

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Operations

What a Fee Schedule Can't Tell You

A fee schedule lists prices, not costs. Why two procedures at the same fee can have opposite margins, and how loaded cost reveals which dental procedures actually make money. For Canada and the USA.

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Operations & cost intelligence

The Economics of a Dental Practice: What We Know, What We Could Know, and What Is Not Worth Measuring

What dental practice owners actually know about their costs, what they could know (estimated cost and margin per procedure), and what is not worth measuring. Benchmarks for Canada and the USA.

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See it on your own numbers

Reading about it is one thing. Check one of your own fees in about a minute, no login.

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