The 10 numbers every dental practice manager must know

The 10 numbers every dental practice manager must know

One of the conversations I have with tech-savvy practice managers goes something like this.......

They proudly show me a beautifully designed KPI dashboard. It has dozens of charts, colourful graphics, percentages and comparisons. It looks impressive. The problem is that by the time we reach the bottom of the report nobody is quite sure what they should actually do next.

The truth is that running a dental business does not require fifty numbers. It requires a small handful of numbers that tell you whether the practice is healthy or heading into trouble.

Over the last thirty years I have learned that the best managers focus on ten numbers. They review them weekly, they discuss them in the morning huddle, and they use them to make decisions.

If you know these ten numbers, you know your business.

1. The first number is total revenue for the week or month. This is the scoreboard. Dentistry may be healthcare, but it is also a commercial enterprise. If revenue is falling, the business needs attention.

2. The second number is operating cost per utilised surgery per day. This is the financial engine of the practice. If you know what it costs to run a surgery for a day, you immediately know the production required to make a profit.

3. The third number is chair utilisation. What percentage of available clinical time is actually being used? Most practices believe they are busy when they are operating at 70–75%. A healthy practice should be aiming for somewhere between 90% - 92%.

4. The fourth number is average value per appointment. This reveals whether clinicians are diagnosing and presenting treatment effectively, or simply delivering low-value dentistry.

5. The fifth number is new patient enquiries. If this number drops, future revenue will drop a few months later. Marketing and reputation both show up here first.

6. The sixth number is new patients actually booked and attended. Enquiries alone are meaningless if the front of house team cannot convert them into appointments.

7. The seventh number is treatment plan conversion. How many patients who receive a treatment plan actually go ahead with treatment? A well-run practice should expect around 50% conversion or higher.

8. The eighth number is recall effectiveness. How many existing patients are returning for their routine examinations and hygiene visits? This is the quiet engine of stability in every dental practice.

9. The ninth number is Google reviews or recommendations gained. Word of mouth is still the most powerful form of marketing in dentistry. If nobody is asking for reviews or referrals, the practice is leaving growth to chance.

10. The tenth number is FTA and late cancellation rate. Every empty slot represents lost production that can never be recovered. A disciplined system should keep this figure comfortably below three percent.

If you review these ten numbers every week, patterns emerge quickly. Capacity problems reveal themselves. Marketing weaknesses become obvious. Team training needs become clear.

Most importantly, the conversation changes. Instead of asking “how are we doing?”, the team starts asking “what should we change?”

And that, ultimately, is the purpose of measurement. Not to admire spreadsheets, but to run a better business.