Lie #4: Lower Fees Attract More Patients

This is our fourth post in the Biggest Lies in Dentistry series. Things the dental industry repeats to itself until they sound true. See the full series here.

If you ask a group of dentists why another practice down the street is busy, it won’t take long before someone says it.

“They’re cheaper.”

It’s one of the oldest beliefs in dentistry. It’s also one of the biggest myths.

If Price Won, Nothing Else Would Exist

If lower fees automatically attracted more patients, the only car dealerships left standing would be second-hand lots and the only restaurants still in business would be fast-food chains. That is obviously not what happened.

People buy new cars every day. They eat at nice neighborhood restaurants. They hire good attorneys, accountants and contractors. There is almost always somebody cheaper. Yet somehow those businesses survive just fine.

Why? Because people aren’t simply looking for the lowest price. They’re looking for value.

What the Surveys Actually Say

Dentistry is no different. I’ve worked with practices charging well above average fees that are booked months in advance, and I’ve worked with practices charging bargain-basement fees that struggle to stay busy. If lower fees automatically created full schedules, that simply wouldn’t happen.

And this isn’t just my opinion. Year after year, patient surveys reach essentially the same conclusion. When patients are asked why they chose a particular dental practice, customer experience consistently ranks at or near the top of the list. Fees consistently rank near the bottom.

Think about that for a minute. The very thing many dentists spend the most time worrying about turns out to be one of the least important factors for most patients.

What Customer Experience Actually Means

Now before anyone rolls their eyes because “customer experience” sounds like something a consultant charges twenty thousand dollars to explain, let’s keep it simple.

Customer experience isn’t a slogan. It’s what the patient experiences. How long did they wait? Were they greeted warmly when they walked in? Was the office clean and organized? Did someone smile at them? Did someone listen to their concerns instead of interrupting them? Did the doctor spend enough time with them, or did they feel like they were on an assembly line?

Did anyone explain their dental problems in language they could understand, or were they bombarded with terminology that made them feel embarrassed to ask questions? Patients don’t know what an MOD composite is. They don’t know what a distal margin is. And that’s perfectly okay.

They came to you because you’re the dentist. Your job isn’t to overwhelm them with big words. Your job is to help them understand what is wrong, why it needs to be fixed, what happens if they choose not to do it, and why keeping their teeth for life is worth investing in.

Were they treated gently? If they were frightened, did someone reassure them without making them feel like a child? Did someone help them find a way to afford the treatment, or did they simply slide a treatment plan across the desk and wish them good luck?

That’s customer experience. It isn’t one thing. It’s everything the patient experiences from the moment they contact your office until the moment they leave. Patients rarely remember every detail of the conversation about tooth number nineteen. They almost always remember how your office made them feel.

The Mistake

Here’s what I see dentists do. Instead of improving the patient experience, they lower their fees.

Think about that for a second. The patient had a mediocre experience, didn’t fully understand why they needed treatment, waited too long, felt rushed, wasn’t given financing options, and left uncertain about the whole thing.

So, the solution is to knock two hundred dollars off the crown?

How exactly does lowering the fee fix any of those problems? The patient didn’t leave because your crown was two hundred dollars more expensive. They left because they didn’t see two hundred dollars’ worth of additional value.

A Race That Never Ends

Every market has someone willing to do it cheaper. Always. You can lower your fees today and tomorrow someone else will lower theirs even more. If your entire strategy is to become the cheapest dentist in town, you’ve entered a race that never ends because somebody is always willing to go lower.

More importantly, do you really want price to be the primary driver for a patient choosing your practice?

“Can I Get This Done Cheaper Somewhere Else?”

Every office eventually hears the question. Of course they can. They can almost always get it done cheaper somewhere else. The better answer isn’t to become defensive or immediately start discounting your fee. The better answer is simply to be honest.

“Absolutely, you probably can. The question isn’t whether you can find someone cheaper. The question is whether you’re going to receive the same quality, the same materials, the same laboratory, the same amount of time, and the same experience. We don’t try to be the cheapest office in town. We try to do it right, do it comfortably, and stand behind our work. I think that’s a fair fee, and it’s about what you should expect to pay for quality dentistry.”

That’s a very different conversation.

I’ve never had a patient say, “Doctor, your office was wonderful. Everyone was kind. You explained everything beautifully. The dentistry was exceptional. I completely trust you. But the office across town is seventy-five dollars cheaper, so I’m going there.”

It doesn’t happen.

When Price Really Does Decide

Now before somebody sends me an email explaining that price absolutely matters, let me save you the trouble. You’re right.

For a small percentage of the population, fee truly is the deciding factor. Some people simply don’t have financial resources. They don’t have savings. They don’t have available credit. They’re doing everything they can just to keep their heads above water. For those patients, price really may be the deciding factor.

But that’s a very different statement from saying patients, in general, choose dentists based on fees. The surveys don’t support that conclusion. Patients choose trust. They choose confidence. They choose the experience.

Where Your Fees Should Sit

Can you price yourself out of the market? Absolutely. Just as you can price yourself so low that patients begin wondering what corners you’re cutting.

Your fees should make sense. As a rule, I like to see the lower end of a private fee schedule around the 60th percentile of the Wasserman Guide. That keeps your fees competitive without turning your practice into a discount store.

Decide Which Competition You Want

Many dentists spend years trying to shave fifty dollars off a crown because they’re convinced that’s what’s costing them new patients. Meanwhile, they have patients waiting thirty minutes in the reception room, treatment coordinators explaining procedures in a way that nobody understands, financial arrangements that feel like mortgage applications, and frightened patients walking out thinking, “Nobody in that office actually listened to me.”

The fee wasn’t the problem. The experience was.

There will always be someone willing to be cheaper than you.

Very few practices are willing to become better than you.

Decide which competition you want to enter.

Part of The Biggest Lies in Dentistry. Read the full series here.

Smile Care Claims handles billing, insurance verification, and A/R management so your team doesn’t have to. If you’d like to find out whether we can help, book a consult with one of our billing specialists.