A new survey of 944 dental professionals reveals a significant disconnect between perceived and actual billing performance, suggesting that many practices need to audit their revenue cycle rather than rely on confidence alone.
- Ninety-one percent of dental practices have at least one accounts receivable or collections red flag, with 60% having two or more.
- Practices miss an average of $30,000 in revenue per practice, according to Wisdom's analysis of hundreds of practices.
- Forty-three percent of respondents reported high confidence in collecting all insurance dollars, but 21% cited claims submission as their biggest challenge.
- Nearly 70% of dental professionals prefer AI tools paired with human oversight rather than fully autonomous billing systems.
A new survey from Wisdom suggests that many practices may be more confident about their revenue cycle than their numbers can support. The survey drew 944 respondents, most of them close to daily practice operations and finances: Forty percent were office managers and 34% were practice owners or dentists.
Most practices have at least one red flag
Wisdom's review of hundreds of practice analyses found that 91% of practices had at least one accounts receivable or collections red flag, and 6 in 10 had two or more. Only about 9% came back clean across all three areas Wisdom reviews.
Confidence doesn't match the challenges practices report
In the survey, 43% of respondents said they were highly or extremely confident they were collecting every dollar owed to them from insurance. But other parts of the survey point to a disconnect -- 21% named claims submission and insurance follow-up as their biggest operational challenge, and nearly 24% said insurance collections was the top billing area they would improve if they could fix one thing tomorrow.
Across hundreds of practice analyses Wisdom has completed, the company said it has detected an average of $30,000 in missed revenue per practice. The takeaway, according to Wisdom, is that confidence in collections and the reality of collections are often two different things, and practices that assume their systems are working may want to look closer.
Dental professionals want AI involved, not in charge
The survey also asked how dental professionals want billing and insurance verification handled going forward. Only 1.6% said fully autonomous artificial intelligence, with no human review, was the most effective approach. The rest split across models that keep people involved: Nearly 38% preferred in-house staff using AI tools, about 32% preferred a combination of AI and human billing experts, and 15% wanted billing handled entirely by humans.
Taken together, nearly 70% of respondents chose an approach where humans remain responsible for the outcome while AI helps make the work more efficient. Wisdom's interpretation: Dental professionals aren't opposed to AI, they're opposed to autopilot.
Practices appear willing to use technology to speed up billing, but they still want someone who can apply judgment, handle exceptions, and be accountable when something goes wrong. As Wisdom put it, practices don't just need faster billing, they need to know their revenue cycle is actually working, and they want someone accountable when it isn't.
How Wisdom applies that thinking
Wisdom said it built its own billing model around that same principle. The company uses AI to automate repetitive tasks, surface issues earlier, and speed up billing work, but it relies on experienced billing experts to review exceptions, investigate discrepancies, communicate with practices, and take action when human judgment is needed.
In Wisdom's view, the right model isn't AI versus people; it's AI-directed but reviewed and acted on by people who remain accountable for the result.
What Wisdom customers report
Wisdom said survey results from its own customer base reflect the same priorities practices described wanting more broadly: less billing burden, better collections, and the efficiency of AI without giving up human oversight.
Among surveyed Wisdom customers, 29% reported a reduced administrative workload, 23% reported increased collections, and 15% reported faster insurance payments. Overall, 97% said they would recommend Wisdom to another practice.
The bottom line for practices
The survey's broader message is straightforward: A practice that feels confident about its collections isn't necessarily collecting everything it is owed. With 9 in 10 practice analyses turning up at least one red flag, and an average of $30,000 in missed revenue found across those reviews, the gap between perceived performance and actual performance may be wider than many practices assume.
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