When dental practices think about growth, the first instinct is often to expand, hire more providers, open new operatories, or even launch additional locations. But true growth isn't always about getting bigger. In many cases, it’s about getting smarter by eliminating operational drag, streamlining workflows, and unlocking capacity that’s already there.
I’ve consistently seen that the biggest barriers to growth aren’t external. They’re hidden inside the day-to-day operations. Below, we’ll break down the most common blockers to dental practice growth and offer tactical solutions to overcome them.
Administrative bottlenecks at the front desk
Dr. Derek Giddon.
Your front desk is the engine of your practice and often its biggest bottleneck.
Manual insurance checks, lengthy check-ins, fragmented plan data, and constant payer calls not only slow down your staff and strain already limited resources, but they also create a poor first impression for patients.
According to the ADA Health Policy Institute’s Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry, about 62% of dentists cited staffing recruitment and retention as a top concern heading into 2025, closely followed by insurance-related challenges like low reimbursement and delayed payments at 57.7%.
This administrative burden consumes hours each week, time that could be better spent onboarding new patients, managing follow-ups, or supporting treatment acceptance. Automating front-desk workflows, especially around insurance, not only improves staff efficiency and satisfaction, it streamlines your entire patient experience.
How to solve it
- Automate eligibility checks before the appointment
- Centralize payer data and plan information
- Use integrated tools that connect with your practice management system, not spreadsheets or sticky notes
Hidden patient frustrations that hurt retention
Patients rarely know the ins and outs of their insurance coverage, and they expect your office to fill in the gaps. When that doesn’t happen, it shows up in the worst places: on Google, Yelp, and in your reviews.
According to an expert analysis shared by Ryan Campbell in American Dental News, “Nearly 50% of negative dental practice reviews stem from billing and insurance concerns rather than clinical care.”
The connection between insurance workflows and patient experience is often overlooked. But in an industry where trust is critical and referrals drive growth, that disconnect can stall your momentum.
How to solve it
- Provide detailed cost estimates before care using real-time benefits info
- Train front-desk staff to communicate plan coverage clearly
- Flag limitations and frequency violations before the patient is in the chair
Denied claims and billing delays are increasing
Even a single denied claim can set off a chain reaction, forcing your staff to chase down benefits, call the patient, refile the claim, and delay revenue. Multiply that by dozens or hundreds of patients a week and you’ve got a serious obstacle to sustainable growth.
In Experian’s 2024 State of Claims survey, 73% of providers agreed that claim denials are increasing, and 55% reported that errors in claims are increasing.
Many of those issues trace back to incorrect or incomplete confirmation of the patient’s insurance plan details. When eligibility checks are rushed, skipped, or done manually across different systems, errors slip through the cracks, and your revenue takes the hit.
How to solve it
- Implement software that auto-verifies and detects common insurance issues that lead to denials
- Check insurance for every patient, not just new ones
- Reverify the day of to catch last-minute plan changes
Fix the foundation first
To meet your growth goals, the answer may not be to open a second location or double your team. In many cases, your next wave of growth is already within reach -- in the hours lost to manual tasks, in the patients who don’t return, and in the dollars tied up in claim denials that could’ve been avoided.
Before investing in new equipment, more ads, or another location, invest in optimizing what you already have. Because growth doesn’t start at the top of your funnel, it starts at the front desk.
Dr. Derek Giddon is the founder and CEO of AirPay, a software system for dentists to enable them to run more efficient and profitable practices.
The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.
