Med spa · Austin, TX
$2,100–$4,900 /mo
Unanswered calls. ~30% of first calls hit voicemail, and 85% never call back.
First calls → voicemail
You30%
Healthy<10%
Where the rest goes
Every cost as a share of revenue, before owner pay and profit. If one of yours is well outside these, that is usually where the margin went.
| Line | Typical | Top performers |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | 36–48% | 26% |
| Dental supplies lab | 12–20% | 14% |
| Rent occupancy | 5–10% | 6% |
| Marketing | 3–8% | 6% |
- Labor: hygienists, assistants, front office; hygiene pay is the biggest lever Low bound is measured 2022 Economic Census payroll as a share of receipts for NAICS 621210; that figure counts employees only, so the upper bound adds an allowance for owner compensation, which Census payroll excludes.
- Dental supplies lab: chairside supplies plus outside lab on crowns and dentures — in-house milling shifts this line
- Marketing: top performers spend more here — but they measure cost per new patient exam
The numbers that decide a dental practice
| Metric | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Revenue per employeeAnnual collections per full-time team member, including the owner-dentist. | $100k – $175k |
| Avg visit ticketAverage production per patient visit, blending hygiene and restorative, for a single-location general practice. | $300 – $900 |
| Rebooking rateShare of hygiene patients pre-appointed for their next visit before leaving. | 75% – 93% |
| Inbound voicemail shareShare of new-patient calls that reach voicemail at a practice this size. | 20% – 45% |
| Afterhours booking shareShare of new-patient scheduling interest that happens outside office hours. | 30% – 55% |
What to watch, in plain English
Hygiene reappointment rate
Healthy range: 85–95%
how many patients leave with their next cleaning already on the schedule
Hygiene recall is the engine that feeds the doctor's schedule. Every patient who walks out without a next visit becomes a re-activation phone call six months later, and most of those never get made.
Production per operatory per day
Healthy range: $1,200–$2,500 per operatory per day
how much each chair produces in a day
Operatories and doctor time are the capacity ceiling. An open chair hour and a same-day cancellation are revenue you never get back.
How dental practices lose money
- Unanswered phones — new-patient calls come in while the front desk is checking someone out, and most callers just dial the next practice.
- No pre-appointing at checkout — patients leave hygiene without their six-month visit booked.
- Unpresented or unscheduled treatment — the diagnosis is in the chart but never turned into an appointment.
- Open chair time from last-minute cancellations with no short-call list to fill it.
- Letting insurance write-offs and stale fee schedules quietly set your pricing instead of your local market.
What dental practices charge
Typical US ranges. Metro markets sit at the top of these; rural sits at the bottom.
| Service | Typical price |
|---|---|
| New patient exam xrays | $150–$350 |
| Adult prophy cleaning | $95–$180 |
| Composite filling one surface | $180–$320 |
| Porcelain crown | $1,100–$1,900 |
| Root canal molar | $1,000–$1,600 |
The year, month by month
January
Benefits reset; push new-patient exams and start the year's hygiene recall list.
August
Back-to-school exam and sealant rush; block hygiene capacity early.
November
'Use it or lose it' insurance-benefit push; strongest month for scheduling pending treatment.
These are the ranges. Want yours?
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Common questions
What is a good profit margin for a dental practice?
A typical dental practice keeps 12–25% of revenue as profit once the owner has been paid. Below 12% usually means labour or occupancy costs have crept up; the strongest operators sit at or above 25%.
How much does a dental practice owner make?
Owner compensation runs 15–25% of revenue. On the $1,173,000 a typical dental practice turns over in a year, that is roughly $176,000–$293,000 before any profit distribution on top.
How much revenue does a dental practice make per year?
A typical US dental practice turns over about $1,173,000 a year with roughly 7.7 people on the payroll, according to the 2022 Economic Census for NAICS 621210.
What percentage of dental practice revenue goes to wages?
Labour typically takes 36–48% of revenue at a dental practice. It is almost always the largest single cost, so a few points either way decides whether the year works.