Signal Team

Practice Management

Dental Lab Fees as a Percentage of Production: What the Benchmark Is and How to Audit Yours

A Four-Point Swing on $700,000 Is $27,937 of Profit Move your lab bill from 12% of collections to 8% on a $700,000 practice and you keep an extra $27,937 a year, which is roughly what a full-time hygienist costs in most markets. Now the uncomfortable part:

Marketing

Your Website Converts 2% of Visitors. Here's What 5% Looks Like

You're paying $2,000/month for Google Ads. You're getting 800 website visitors.

Dental Economics

Dental Office Rent as a Percentage of Collections: The Rule of Thumb and When It Breaks

Six points of overhead doesn't sound like a crisis. On an $800,000 practice it compounds to $1.92 million of income you never see over 30 years, according to the Academy of General Dentistry, which puts the recommended overhead target for general practice at 59% of collections.

Marketing

Google Ads vs SEO vs Referrals: Cost Per Patient (2026)

You spent $4,200 on marketing last month. Google Ads ate $2,500.

Practice Management

Dental Supply Cost as a Percentage of Collections: What the Benchmark Actually Is

Six percent of collections. That's the number, and it comes from a dental CPA, not a supply catalog. The American Dental Association's own practice management guidance puts inventory costs at no more than 5% to 6% of collections, with office supplies capped separately at about 2%

Dentistry

A Solo Practice Paid $70,000 Because a Records Request Sat for Three Years

HHS fined a one-dentist Maryland office $70,000 for answering a patient records request three years late. No breach required. The front-desk process that prevents it.

pro-content

Inside the Data #2: Staffing Tipping Points, Valuation Expanders, and the Geography Effect

When staff costs cross 30% of collections, profitability drops nonlinearly. Plus: the 4 factors that actually move practice valuation multiples.

Dental Economics

Inside the Data: Why Production Is Flat and Profit Is Shrinking

National survey data shows flat production and rising overhead. Where the margin goes, line by line, and what to do about it this week.

pro-content

Q2 2026 State Benchmark Report: Overhead, Staffing, PPO, and Valuation Data

State-by-state dental practice benchmarks for Q2 2026. Overhead, staffing costs, PPO write-offs, and valuation multiples across the top 10 markets.

Dental Economics

Dental Lab Costs Climbed 22% Since 2024. Here's How to Push Back.

Lab fees are your third-biggest expense. Most practices haven't renegotiated in years. Here's the playbook.

Practice Management

From LinkedIn

Free calculators + operator playbooks for dental practice owners. No signup required to use the tools.

Dental Economics

The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast Every Dental Practice Needs

Most dental practices manage cash flow by checking their bank balance. Here's the 13-week model that actually works.