Fixing Operational Leaks:
How Dental Practices Lose Revenue

Episode Summary

Shane and Brad Billings dig into why dental practices struggle to balance clinical production and smooth operations. Brad shares how most dentists focus on treating patients but miss out on the business skills needed to run a profitable practice. He explains that many dental offices lose revenue to operational “leaks” like poor billing processes and unused tools, often because dentists don’t have time or training to manage the business side.

Brad points out that strong operations—like clear revenue tracking and having an office manager who understands the numbers—are just as important as clinical skills. He highlights the trend of dentists joining dental support organizations to offload operational headaches so they can focus on patient care.

The episode makes one thing clear: a healthy practice needs both strong production and tight operations. Investing in people and tools pays off only if you use them to close the gap between what you produce and what you collect.

Key Insights

Stop Revenue Leaks by Tracking Collections, Not Just Production

Many dental practices measure success by how many patients they see or procedures they complete. But real financial health comes from what gets collected, not just what is produced. 

Revenue leaks happen when billing errors, poor follow-up, or unclear processes cause money earned to slip through the cracks. Practices that track their collections as a percentage of production—aiming for 97% or higher—spot problems sooner and recover lost income faster. 

Getting clear on this number and understanding the gap between what is billed and what is banked is the first step to plugging leaks. It’s not enough to generate work; teams must close the loop with strong billing and collections habits.

Operations and Clinical Care Need Equal Focus

Dental teams often prioritize patient care and clinical production, leaving operations as an afterthought. This imbalance leads to missed revenue, staff burnout, and inefficient systems. 

The most successful practices separate clinical and operational leadership, with each side owning its domain while supporting the other. A strong office manager—someone who understands numbers and can drive process—makes a big difference. 

When practices give equal attention to operations and clinical care, they build more resilient teams, reduce costly mistakes, and free up clinicians to do what they do best.

Invest in Tools—But Use Them or Lose Money

Dental practices spend thousands on software, reporting tools, and technology designed to improve efficiency and profitability. But many teams let these investments sit idle because no one has time to learn or use them. 

Money spent on tools is wasted if teams never review the data or change how they work. The true value comes from building habits around regular use, learning from reports, and driving change based on what the numbers show. 

Tools should make life easier, not add clutter. Practices that get the most from their investment make sure someone owns these tools and builds them into daily routines.