Top Tips for Reducing What Your Practice Spends on Dental Supplies



Dentistry is a profession that has a high overhead, and with the costs of equipment, rent, staff salaries, lab fees, and dental supplies, all those expenses can quickly eat into your bottom line. If you’re in a network with a specific insurance company, you’re limited in what you can charge, which makes it even harder to stay in the black.

If you’re looking for some dental savings that will improve your bottom line, start taking a look at your supply room. If you don’t know how to manage your supplies in a cost-effective manner, it can be a huge drain on your overhead. With a bit of planning and work, you can begin working to keep your supply costs down.

Where is Your Money Going?

You may not realize how much you’re spending on supplies until you stop and take a close look at where your money is going. Disposable safety glasses are an essential item for your practice, but when you’re using three per patient and if they cost $1 each, you’re spending $3 per patient. Think about how many patients you see daily. You could be spending more than $100 each day just on safety glasses. If you’re using disposable bite blocks for x-ray sensors, you could be spending over $1,000 a year on these disposables.

Image result for dental savings

Sure, you may only be spending dollars and cents here and there, but all that money adds up. You could be spending 7-10% of your overhead on dental supplies, but it’s actually possible to reduce that percentage so you’re spending less on supplies and enjoying big dental savings that put more money in your pocket.

Start with a Supply Budget

Figure out what percentage you’ve spent in the last year on dental supplies. Did you spend about 8% on supplies? If so, try to bring that down by aiming for just 6% in the following year. Set your budget and stick to it.

Order Monthly

When you come up with your supply budget, break it up into monthly amounts. Ordering monthly and only ordering the supplies you need can help you save. While you don’t want to run out of essential dental supplies, you also don’t want to leave too much inventory sitting on shelves – that’s just your money sitting around. Order items you use daily in bulk, but hold off on ordering items you don’t use often.

Check into Savings Plans

Do you order most of your dental supplies from one company? Check to see if they offer a savings plan. Many companies are happy to offer you some extra savings if you’re making most of your purchases from their company. It’s always worth your time to ask.

Start paying attention to how much you’re spending on dental supplies for your practice. Set a budget, start ordering monthly, and check into savings plans to start saving money to boost your practice’s profits this year.