Spilling the Teath: Patients Aren't Saying No to Treatment - They're Saying No to Your Experience

In this month’s Spilling the Teath episode, Dr. Ryan Hungate, Chief Clinical and Strategy Officer, Henry Schein One, is breaking down his top takeaways from The 2025 Catalyst Index. We’re sharing his top thoughts below:  

First of all, average case acceptance rates are shockingly low. And it's no secret why. Nearly 60% of patients turn down treatment at the average practice. That is ridiculous. Nobody comes to a practice hoping to say no to their health. Either we're not establishing enough trust with those patients,  we're not educating them enough, or maybe we're not meeting them where we're supposed to when it comes to cost.   

A lot of times, when we get down to it, patients ask, "What is this going to cost doc?" And we say, "I think it's going to cost you, out of pocket, about $84." Imagine checking out on Amazon, and at the very end it said, "I think it's going to cost $62." Would you hit the checkout button? Of course you wouldn't.    

Second, our experts were most surprised by the appointment lead times. Right now, the average emergency appointment lead time is not the same day, it's not the next day, it's six days. The emergency is gone. The tooth is dead after six days. I don't know what we're thinking there. The average new patient lead time? 31 days. If I'm thinking I need to see a dentist, I'm looking for somebody that can get me in that week or the next week max.  

Next, let's talk about gross production. Gross production grew nearly 50% year over year for the top 10%. This is the interesting part – it didn't grow for the reason that you think. Top earners saw a big jump in profits despite a drop in daily appointments. That sounds like my dream. A little bit less work, more profitability. Our experts agree it's because top practices prioritize education and encourage treatment plan acceptance of more involved procedures over more basic procedures. So if I'm just doing filling after filling and cleaning after cleaning, I'm having to really bust my butt to get a lot of volume done, or I can do a few implants, all-on-X, or clear aligners.  

Another takeaway: patient experience is now critical. The top 10% of practices know that any friction exacerbates patient anxiety and reluctance. It's that simple. Practices that prioritize the patient journey, offering online forms, flexible scheduling, and accurate billing see higher retention and treatment acceptance.   

The top 10%, right off the bat definitely have online scheduling. And what comes after online scheduling? Online forms. If you don't have that and you have those people sitting down in the office and filling everything out, thumbs down. You're already running 20 minutes behind. Now, when it comes to accurate billing, you have to get that information up front. If you don't have that information up front, you can't do the right math. Now, the good news is now with things like Eligibility Pro, it all happens within seconds.   

And here's where I'll leave all of this. A fortune is being left on the table. It's not an exaggeration to say that hundreds of thousands of dollars are being left on the table, and I think we all know this. This is the most apparent chairside, where the average practice's daily gross production is nearly four times less than the top 10% gross production per day. Think about this, the average is $11,000 gross production per day. The top 10% is $28,000. The good news is that technology can help you in a large way with this.   

For years, our annual benchmarking report has empowered thousands of dental practices to gain a better understanding of their performance by measuring it against their competitors. Our latest report raises the bar for the entire industry, sharing the specific strategies employed by the top 10% DSOs and private practices. Check out the full report to see where you stand