3 ways to grow your dental practice without growing your team

When you set a goal for higher revenue, you might assume that it requires more staff—that’s a myth we’re here to debunk. You can increase your revenue without adding more overhead, and here are 3 proven ways to do it.

Many dental practice owners are eager to boost their bottom line, but not every dentist can add more salaries to their list of expenses. But hiring more staff isn’t the only way—or always the best way—to increase revenue. 

While adding team members might feel like a natural next step when trying to bump up your practice’s profits, hiring comes with its own set of challenges: rising labor costs, a shrinking pool of qualified candidates, lengthy onboarding, and the risk of costly turnover.

The good news? Bringing on more people isn’t your only path to higher profits.

In this article, we’ll show you 3 proven ways to grow your dental practice without growing your dental team. With the right tools, systems, and insights, you can streamline your operations, increase efficiency, and improve the patient experience—all leading to greater profitability without adding to your overhead.

As a dental billing provider, DCS has helped dental businesses of all shapes and sizes increase their bottom line without increasing their number of team members. And it’s actually easier than you might think.

Key takeaways when growing your dental business: 

• Technology is your friend when it’s time to boost revenue
• Standardized processes not only increase your revenue, they reduce stress and chaos in your office
• If you’re a business owner, you should always know how your business is performing so you can make informed decisions instead of taking a guess—or not taking action 

1. Complete routine tasks faster with low effort (or no effort) through easy automations

As the popular saying goes: Work smarter, not harder. That’s the promise of today’s dental technology, and it’s the easiest way to grow your dental practice without expanding your team.

By automating routine administrative tasks, you offer your staff more time to focus on patient care and higher-value work, like following up with unscheduled treatment, reaching out to new patients, updating your practice’s website, and more. Plus, automation helps reduce human error and keeps operations running smoothly and consistently.

Here are easy-to-implement ways technology can help you scale without adding staff:

• Billing automation: Tools like ZeroBalance send statements, track and follow up on outstanding balances, collect payments, and even write-back automatically—with no involvement from your staff.
• Online scheduling and patient forms: Give patients the power to schedule their appointments and complete intake forms online. This reduces call volume and streamlines the check-in process, along with providing the convenience that today’s patients want.
• Automated reminders and two-way texting: Keep patients engaged and reduce no-shows with appointment confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups—all sent automatically to their phones by text and email.
• Integrated systems: Sync your practice management software with billing and payment platforms to eliminate double data entry, which reduces errors while cutting down on time-consuming admin work.

Automation isn’t just about doing less—it’s about doing more with less.

2. Treat more patients through improved workflows and processes 

Seeing more patients doesn’t have to mean hiring more people. It can just mean working more efficiently—with improved workflows and systems in place, your existing team can handle a higher patient volume. 

A more efficient office starts with looking at the processes you already have, and then making them simpler and stronger. When you have step-by-step, standardized workflows, tasks are completed on time, easily, and consistently because there’s never a doubt in anyone’s mind about when, how, and how often something should be done.

Standardization reduces confusion and also procrastination, leading to optimized office systems with a capacity for more patients.

Here’s how:

• Train your team in case acceptance skills. If your staff isn’t confident presenting treatment plans, you’re leaving money on the table. Use these tips to improve treatment presentation and have more patients say “Yes, please” instead of “Later” or worse: “No thanks.”
• Follow up on unscheduled treatment. Patients with incomplete care represent untapped revenue. Use this step-by-step guide to bring them back in.
• Deliver a patient experience worth raving about. Smooth check-ins, financial transparency, and patient-friendly billing keep patients coming back—and referring their friends and family.
• Encourage online patient reviews. Happy patients are your best marketers. Ask them to share their experience online to help grow your practice’s reputation.

These strategies allow your current team to operate at their best and increase production without burnout.

3. Make better business decisions by knowing your numbers and using the insights strategically

You might be surprised to hear that many dentists or dental practice owners don’t know how much money is coming into and going out of their practice. Dental school didn’t teach you how to run a business, but you don’t need an MBA to make better business decisions. You only need the right reports and a few key performance indicators (KPIs) to signal how well your business is doing.

Understanding your numbers will give you clarity on what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus effort for the biggest impact.

Here are 3 ways to take action:

• Respond to patient analytics. Focus on high-value procedures and identify which patients are most likely to benefit from them.
• Optimize your schedule. Use calendar data to reduce open chair time, cluster similar procedures, and maximize production per hour.
• Track the vital KPIs regularly. Know your production per provider, hygiene reappointment rate, collection percentage, and more. These reports help you identify opportunities and spot problems before they become disasters. Luckily, your PMS provides these numbers for you—see our list below.

Your most valuable KPIs can be found in the reports below. These reports will paint an accurate picture of how your dental practice is performing financially right now: 

1. Dental Production Report
2. Write-Off Report or Net Production Report
3. Collections Report or Collection Percentage Report
4. Accounts Receivable Reports: Patient A/R and Insurance A/R
5. Daily Deposit Report or Reconciliation Report

Read more: 5 reports that are vital for running a successful dental practice

With the right data and a strategic mindset, you can grow your profits and your benefits—and without increasing your overhead. You’ll see trends and lulls in production, and also be able to pinpoint what needs to change or adjust.

You don’t have to increase your overhead to increase your profits

To recap, here are 3 ways to grow your practice without growing your team: 

1. Complete routine tasks faster with low effort (or no effort) through easy automations
2. Treat more patients through improved workflows and processes
3. Make better business decisions by knowing your numbers and using the insights strategically

Scaling your practice doesn’t have to mean increasing payroll costs. In fact, we have client-partners who are profitable dental practices that are growing without hiring new staff. Instead, they’re using automation, better processes, and data-driven decisions to increase production and profits. 

DCS can help you grow your practice or group without adding more people to your staff—or more stress to your life. We’re here with talented specialists and today’s technology to handle the behind-the-scenes tasks, so your in-house team can be front and center for your patients, and you can enjoy higher revenue and a calmer office. 

DCS client-partner Steve Kuchuris describes their own experience with us: 

“Before working with DCS, we had too many old claims and were not able to get caught up. Once we partnered with DCS, we noticed an immediate reduction in AR due to catching up on posting, then starting to work aging. They were very responsive, and Ana was amazing: Very knowledgeable and friendly! We continue to be impressed with the great communication and ease of onboarding with DCS. I absolutely recommend DCS!” —Steve Kuchuris, Chief Operating Officer, Yellowstone Family Dental

Book a free 30-minute consultation with one of our dental revenue experts. Let’s explore your growth opportunities together.