October 8, 2026
The products and services section of a dental practice business plan describes what your practice offers, what services you refer out and what it takes to deliver each one.
Every service is judged by one number: net collections per doctor hour. Anything below your average gets referred out or earns a written reason to stay.
It matters more in 2026. The ADA reports dentists are busier this year, while consumer dental spending rose just 1 percent. Full chairs, flat collections. Your service mix is usually the reason.
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THE SHORT TAKE
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Five short parts, about two pages. Here is a finished example for a single-doctor general practice:
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Part |
Example |
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What you offer |
Exams, hygiene and general restorative, plus anterior and premolar root canals, implant crowns and clear aligners. |
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What you refer out |
Molar root canals, implant placement, third molars and children under six, to four specialists within ten minutes. |
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Why patients choose you |
The only same-day crowns within 15 minutes. Evening hygiene two nights a week. |
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What it takes |
Equipment, team certifications, lab and supply vendors. Quotes go in the appendix. |
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What comes next |
A CBCT scanner in Q2 2027. Break-even is 12 scans a month, and we referred out 15 a month last year. |
Buying or starting a practice? Same five parts. Build them from the seller's production reports, or from your market analysis in Step 4.
Keep it if it nets more per doctor hour than your average. Refer it if it does not.
To find your average, take doctor collections, subtract supplies and lab, and divide by doctor hours. For example, $780,000 less $78,000 in supplies and lab is $702,000. Divide by 1,300 doctor hours and your bar is $540 an hour.
Dr. A nets $717 an hour on a molar root canal and keeps it. Dr. B nets $430 on the same tooth and the same fee, and refers it. The difference is speed, and only you can measure yours.
Referring is now the norm. According to the American Association of Endodontists, 53 percent of root canal cases go to endodontists, up from 43 percent in 2012.
Divide the monthly cost by what one case nets. That is how many cases you need every month just to break even. Here is the math for an in-office CBCT scanner:
Now open your referral log. If you already send out 15 scans a month, the demand is real. If you send out four, wait. Use what you actually collect per scan, not your posted fee.
Taxes help, but they come second. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made 100 percent bonus depreciation permanent for equipment acquired after January 19, 2025. A bigger deduction lowers the cost. It does not create the cases. Our depreciation guide covers the timing.
What you offer, what you refer out, why patients choose you, what it takes to deliver, and what you will add next. Keep it to about two pages and put quotes and fee schedules in the appendix.
Refer the ones that net less per doctor hour than your average. For many general dentists that means keeping anterior and premolar cases and sending molars.
Divide the monthly cost by what one case nets. If last year's referrals for that service already exceed that number, the demand is there.
Step 7 covers industry background: where dentistry is heading, and where your practice fits. If you want your own number per doctor hour, or the break-even on a purchase you are weighing, that is the work we do with practice owners every day.
Not where to start? Contact us today.
General information for private practice owners, not legal or tax advice. Fees, times and costs in the examples are illustrative.
References
American Association of Endodontists. (2026, May 4). More dentists are referring to endodontists, new AAE survey finds. https://newsroom.aae.org/featured-stories/more-dentists-are-referring-to-endodontists-new-aae-survey-finds/
American Dental Association, Health Policy Institute. (2026). The state of the U.S. dental economy: Second quarter 2026 update. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/state_us_dental_economy_q22026.pdf
Internal Revenue Service. (2026). Treasury, IRS issue guidance on the additional first year depreciation deduction amended as part of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (Notice 2026-11). https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-on-the-additional-first-year-depreciation-deduction-amended-as-part-of-the-one-big-beautiful-bill