Dentist Case Acceptance: Fewer Big Cases

In this survey, we found that there’s lots of variation among dentists in case acceptance on treatment plans over $20,000. However, everyone seems to agree that large treatment plans are fewer and farther between.

“We get about15-20 cases of at least $20k currently per doctor each year,” said a dentist whose practice is apparently doing much better than most. But even at the top, things are more difficult… “Those numbers are half of what they were just two years ago.”

The most common large cases involved dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, and sedation dentistry.

Here are some dentist thoughts on case acceptance:

• “People aren’t as willing to commit larger treatment plans as they used to be. We do a lot more phasing of treatment over time.” (Illinois dentist)
• “How many Americans can afford treatment plans over $20,000? Most of my patients could not afford that much if their life depended on it (i.e. a heart transplant for example).” (General dentist)
• “I am seeing more people with more need, but case acceptance is significantly down.” (Florida dentist)
• “I used to get one or two of these cases every month; now they are rare. People can’t get much in the way of dental financing these days, so they have no choice but to do lower cost treatment or a part of their treatment plan.” (Tennessee dentist)
• “The economy has not changed the acceptance rate significantly, but it has drastically reduced the flow of new patients. The patients who make appointments usually go ahead with their work.” (Illinois dentist)

Read more: Large Case Acceptance for Dental Treatment Plans