The Power of Metrics: Unlocking Your Dental Practice's Full Potential

Insights from Dr. Barrett Straub, Smile Source, Kirk Behrendt, and Miranda Beeson, ACT Dental

Ever feel like your days are packed, but the numbers don’t quite add up? You’re not alone. Many dentists review their full schedule and assume their practice is performing at its peak, only to find at the end of the month that the financials tell a different story. That’s where metrics come in. Tracking the correct numbers isn’t about spreadsheets for the sake of spreadsheets—it’s about gaining control, reducing chaos, and building a practice that supports the life you want.

This post is inspired by insights from Dr. Barrett Straub, CEO of Smile Source, Kirk Behrendt (Founder of ACT Dental), and Miranda Beeson (ACT Dental’s Director of Education). We’ll dive into the critical metrics of production per day and capacity, showing you how data can remove emotion, guide smart decisions, and lead to a more fulfilling professional life.

Predict Your Practice's Profit: Mastering Production Per Day

Miranda Beeson emphasizes the role of production per day as a predictive metric in Episode 889 of the Best Practices Show: Metric Mondays: Production Per Day.  Tracking your daily production enables you to identify patterns, spot problems early, find solutions, and take control of your future.

What is Production Per Day?

Simply put, production per day measures the total dollar value of treatment completed and posted in a single day. “It’s a simple metric that’s easy to report on,” Miranda explains. “It’s also incredibly helpful for planning and building your schedule in a way that supports your goals—so you can work the number of days you want and still get where you want to go.”

This metric can be tracked for the entire office as overall daily production, by department (such as daily production per doctor or hygienist), or even more granularly, per provider (like Dr. A's production versus Dr. B's, or Hygienist C's versus Hygienist D's). “Whether you’re looking at gross or net numbers, what matters most is consistency,” says Miranda. “Over time, you’ll start to see patterns: what’s working, what’s not, and where your biggest opportunities lie.”

The Shift from "Busy" to "Profitable"

One of the biggest mindset hurdles in dentistry is equating “busy” with “successful.” It’s easy to fall into that trap. But being booked solid doesn't always mean you’re productive—or profitable.

Miranda shares compelling examples of practices where gross production dipped, sometimes by nearly half, but profitability soared. This significant shift in mindset, from merely chasing volume to truly optimizing efficiency, can feel counterintuitive, even "weird," to teams who are accustomed to chaotic, rushed days.

After implementing strategic scheduling, one practice's production, Miranda reported that they "started to plateau at a consistent weekly production amount week over week. And we talked about what it must feel like in that office to know that there's predictability now, even if we are a little slower and we don't feel as busy as we felt before. It’s nice to go to bed Sunday night knowing you don't have to face chaos on Monday morning."

The focus on production per day, combined with strategic scheduling, results in a significant reduction in stress and exhaustion. It also fosters more patient-centric care, as hygienists can expand their schedules, allowing more dedicated time with patients, and doctors feel less rushed during consultations. 

Consistent daily production creates a more stable and predictable financial flow for the practice, embodying the essence of "working smarter, not harder"—not as a vague platitude, but as a data-driven approach to creating a better practice and a better life.

The Hidden Profit Drain: Are Your Dental Chairs Truly Full? Unpacking Capacity

In Episode 883 of the Best Practices Show: Metric Mondays: Capacity – Are Your Existing Chairs Full?, Dr. Barrett Straub, asks, "How many butts are in your chairs? It’s a simple yet overlooked question,” he says. “We might feel busy, our schedules might look packed, and we might even be booked out for months. However, when we retroactively calculate chair utilization (what we refer to as capacity), the reality can be startling. Many practices operate well below the desired 95% utilization rate, leaving significant revenue on the table.”

Why Capacity Matters More Than You Think

Operating at a deficit, even unknowingly, can severely impact your profitability and long-term vision. Consider this simple mathematical breakdown: just one unutilized hour in an operatory means you're cutting your profit in half. “If two hours go unutilized, you're essentially working for free,” says Kirk Behrendt. “And if three hours are unutilized, you're operating at a deficit, meaning it would actually be more financially sensible to close the operatory for that day.”

"The truth of it is that dentists are operating in a deficit a lot, and they don't even know it."
-Kirk Behrendt, The Best Practices Show Podcast

The emotional response to "we need to do more" often leads to prematurely adding days or expanding capacity. But if your chairs aren’t consistently full, it’s a sign that there’s room to improve how you’re using the space, people, and time you already pay for, without adding more overhead.

Why Small Capacity Gains Matter

Even a modest increase in chair utilization—say, from 85% to 95%—can make a noticeable difference. That 10% jump can translate directly into increased production, more effective use of your team’s time, and reduced pressure to take on extra days or new expenses.

Imagine the possibility of working 200 days a year instead of 220, all while maintaining the same gross production, simply by filling your existing chairs more efficiently. “If you fill your chairs efficiently, you can reduce the days you need to work,” says Dr. Straub. “You reduce the number of new patients you need to see. You're already paying your staff and covering overhead for those hours; filling the chairs means maximizing the return on your current investment without the need for additional hours, nights, or weekends.”

Are Your Chairs Full but You’re Still Struggling? Pinpoint Your Practice's Real Money Problem

Once you've diligently tracked your capacity and found that your chairs are consistently 95% full, you might still feel a financial pinch. If so, it's time to dig deeper. Dr. Straub outlines four key areas to investigate in Episode 883 of the Best Practices Show:  Metric Mondays: Capacity – Are Your Existing Chairs Full?

First, consider if you're working enough days. Your overall schedule, despite high utilization, might not align with your broader financial goals. Second, assess whether your profitability model is off, meaning your practice might not be designed with sufficient profit margins. This can involve optimizing fee schedules and meticulously managing overhead.

Third, look for scheduling issues where your policies and processes might be hindering optimal production. For instance, taking too long for certain procedures can significantly impact your daily output. Fourth, analyze patient segment issues—consider whether you're attracting the right patients and if you're seeing patients whose insurance plans (PPOs), your out-of-network fees, and your membership models align with your financial objectives. Seeing patients who consistently seek the cheapest option, or those who found you merely via an insurance list, might not contribute to your long-term vision for a profitable practice. 

According to Dr. Straub, the above issues often cause dentists to ask, "Why do I have a money problem?” He recommends systematically investigating these specific questions:

• Am I working enough? 
• Is it a profitability issue? 
• Are my scheduling processes disorganized? 
• Am I seeing the wrong patients?

By systematically examining these questions, you can pinpoint the exact cause of your financial challenges and develop targeted, data-driven solutions.

If Your Chairs Are Not Full, Take Control 

The beauty of metrics lies in the profound, transformative impact they can have on your practice. Data helps you bypass bias and gain objectivity.  Dr. Straub recommends the following action plan for data-driven problem identification and solution. The plan begins with where we started in this article—knowing your production per day.

Study Your Production Per Day

To begin understanding your daily production, the first step is to consistently run reports from your practice management software. These reports can provide a clear breakdown of the daily output for the entire office, the department, and individual providers. 

Once you have this data, the second step is to analyze the patterns that emerge. Are there consistently slow days that drag down overall production? Are there certain days that feel packed but don’t yield high production? 

The next step is to set intentional goals. Based on your desired annual production and the number of days you wish to work, calculate your target production per day. Then, armed with this target, you can proactively build and adjust your schedule to meet those specific daily goals.

Track Your Capacity

To effectively track your capacity, start by utilizing a dedicated capacity tracker. Many valuable resources, such as the Best Practices Association app, offer simple tools; however, you can also use an Excel spreadsheet or a piece of paper to track this vital metric daily.

At the end of each day, for each operatory, determine how many hours were available versus how many hours had a patient in the chair (for example, 6.5 hours utilized out of 8 available). As Dr. Straub advises, it's "super easy and super simple—and often overlooked." Compile these daily numbers for the month to get your overall capacity percentage. 

Dr. Straub says it's critical to identify any discrepancies, especially if you have multiple hygienists or providers. Comparing their capacity numbers allows for sharing best practices among your team and helps pinpoint specific areas where improvements can be made.

Dig Deeper: Why Aren't Chairs Full?

If, after tracking, you find your capacity is consistently below the ideal 95%, resist the urge to jump to emotional conclusions or assign blame. Instead, the next step is to pull more data, specifically key performance indicators (KPIs), to truly understand the "why" behind the empty chairs.

Track your cancellation rate to see how often patients cancel or fail to show up, which can indicate scheduling or communication issues. Monitor your reappointment percentage. What percentage of patients schedule their next appointment before leaving your office? This is a key indicator of patient retention. Assess your diagnostic percentage, both in the hygiene and doctor chairs, to understand if enough treatment opportunities are being identified. Evaluate your patient acceptance percentage and treatment dollar acceptance to see how often patients accept recommended treatment and the value of that accepted work. Finally, track your new patient count to ensure your patient flow is sufficient to fill available capacity.

"Always suppress emotion,” says Dr. Straub. “Don’t jump to conclusions like it is her fault or my fault, or they're saying the wrong thing. Suppress these emotions until you pull more data." By analyzing these specific KPIs, you can pinpoint the exact breakdown in your system, whether it's a scheduling issue, a need for improved verbal skills, or a gap in patient communication. Each answer will guide you toward a tangible, data-driven solution. 

Gain Clarity with Data

Dr. Barrett Straub and Kirk Behrendt discuss the dentist’s tendency to “feel” like they need to produce more in Episode 880 of the Best Practices Show: Metric Mondays: “I Feel Like We Should Produce More!”  As Kirk Behrendt puts it, without data, you’re telling yourself a story—and most of the time, it’s the wrong one. You become frustrated. Data, on the other hand, provides clarity, allowing you to objectively identify the root cause of issues and implement solutions that genuinely work.

"Without any data, you're telling yourself a story, and most of it is a bad story, and you're getting angry and frustrated. We don't want you to do that."
-Kirk Behrendt, The Best Practices Show Podcast

For many practice owners, the idea of diving into data might seem overwhelming, especially if they don't consider themselves "great with numbers." But as Dr. Straub wisely advises, "Just pick a few and get started." Even something as fundamental as tracking capacity alone can unlock significant improvements in your practice. 

Your team members, particularly the most dedicated ones, are apt to embrace accountability and genuinely want to see how they can contribute to making the practice better. Giving them the tools to track their metrics empowers them and fosters a proactive culture of continuous improvement.

Transform Your Practice Today

The journey to a more profitable, efficient, and fulfilling dental practice begins with a clear understanding of your numbers. By focusing diligently on production per day and capacity, you can move beyond simply "feeling busy" to truly optimizing your operations. 

“With real numbers, you stop second-guessing and start leading with confidence. I often hear dentists and their teams say, ‘I feel better about myself.’”— Kirk Behrendt, The Best Practices Show Podcast

This isn't about working harder; it's about working smarter, guided by concrete data that illuminates the most effective path to success. If you're struggling to do anything, go to the Best Practices Association app. You can start the journey for free. By listening to the podcasts and using the tools, month over month, you'll understand what is going on in your practice, find solutions, experience progress, and, as Kirk says, “feel better about yourself.