Summer has a way of flying by. Between a full schedule, staffing coverage, and the day-to-day demands of running a practice, it's easy to reach August without ever pausing to look at the bigger picture. But this time of year, is one of the best opportunities to do exactly that. Check your numbers, compare them against benchmarks, and make focused adjustments before Q4 arrives.
You don't need a formal review process or an outside consultant. You need a handful of key metrics, the right benchmarks to compare them against, and an honest look at where you stand.
Start with production and collections
Gross production is the total value of services your practice has delivered so far this year, before adjustments and write-offs. Pull your year-to-date figure and compare it against your annual target. Are you running ahead, behind, or roughly on pace?
From there, look at your collections rate, the percentage of production you're actually collecting after adjustments. A healthy collections rate runs at 98% or higher. Anything below 95% typically points to unresolved insurance claim delays, excessive write-offs, or accounts receivable follow-through gaps at the front desk.
New patient volume is the third metric worth reviewing now. The ADA recommends tracking new patient volume as a growth rate rather than an absolute count. A healthy practice should be seeing more new patients year over year, with 10% to 15% annual growth as a general benchmark. The absolute monthly number depends entirely on your market, capacity, and how long you've been open; the trend is what matters.
Check overhead by category
Once you have a production and collections baseline, layer in your overhead. Total overhead for a healthy general practice should run between 58% and 65% of gross collections. Practices above 68% are experiencing margin compression that compounds quickly and warrants a category-by-category diagnosis.
The most useful way to review overhead is by breaking it into its components and comparing each against its benchmark:
- Staff costs: 25% to 28% of collections. The largest single category and the most common reason overhead drifts high.
- Dental supplies: 5% to 7% of collections. One of the most controllable categories when tracked consistently.
- Lab fees: 6% to 8% of collections. Worth reviewing annually; high remake rates often signal a workflow issue worth fixing.
- Rent and facility: 5% to 7% of collections. Largely fixed, but space utilization is worth reviewing if you have unused operatories.
- Marketing: 2% to 4% of collections for established practices.
As Dental Practice Insider's 2026 overhead benchmarks note, the difference between operating at 55% overhead versus 70% is $150,000 in additional profit on a practice collecting $1 million annually. That's not a marginal difference. It's a year of retirement contributions, a new hire, or a significant equipment upgrade.
Look at case acceptance
Case acceptance is one of the highest-leverage metrics in the practice, and one of the most under reviewed. The industry average case acceptance rate in 2025 was 58%. Meaning nearly half of all recommended treatment goes unscheduled. The ADA's target is 75% to 80% of presented treatment plans accepted, a gap that represents significant unrealized revenue for most practices.
If your case acceptance is below 60%, a mid-year review is the right time to look at how treatment plans are being presented, whether financial options are being discussed clearly at chairside, and whether follow-up on unscheduled treatment is happening consistently.
Set two goals for Q4
A review is only useful if it drives action. Once you've worked through your numbers, identify two specific, measurable goals for the remainder of 2026. Keep them tight. Broad goals like "grow production" don't drive behavior the way specific ones do.
A few that tend to move the needle:
- Bring supply spend from above 7% back into the 5% to 7% benchmark range by consolidating vendors and setting a weekly ordering cadence
- Close the gap between case acceptance and the 75% benchmark by updating your treatment presentation process
- Reduce accounts receivable over 90 days by assigning dedicated weekly follow-up time at the front desk
There's still a full quarter ahead. The practices that use this time of year to recalibrate are the ones that finish 2026 in a stronger position than they started it.
The value of pausing
Most practices that struggle at year-end aren't dealing with problems that appeared suddenly in Q4. They're dealing with issues that were visible in August but never addressed. A collections rate that slipped, a supply spend that crept above benchmark, a case acceptance number that nobody looked at. These things compound quietly.
The mid-year mark isn't just a calendar milestone. It's one of the few natural pauses in a busy clinical year where there's still enough time to act. Two focused goals, measured consistently through Q4, will do more for your practice's 2026 finish than any reactive adjustment made in December.
