Finish the Year Strong: Patient Retention, Collections & Insurance Claims
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Release Date: 10/19/2026
Finish the Year Strong: Patient Retention, Collections & Insurance Claims
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
As the end of the year approaches, dental practices have opportunities sitting right in front of them. Overdue hygiene patients, unscheduled appointments, outstanding balances, and unpaid insurance claims can all impact production and profitability. In this episode, Dana and Sandy discuss how dental practices can finish the year strong by improving patient retention, strengthening recare systems, and collecting money they've already earned. Sandy explains why pre-scheduling every hygiene patient may actually contribute to broken appointments, how to build a recare system that works, and why...
info_outline
How Much Dental Production Is Sitting in Your Unscheduled Treatment Report?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Could your dental practice be sitting on thousands of dollars in unscheduled treatment? As 2026 comes to a close, dental practices are focused on production goals, patient scheduling, and preparing for 2027. But before looking for new patients or cutting expenses, what if some of your biggest opportunities are already sitting in your practice management software? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and dental practice management consultant Sandy Pardue discuss how to uncover missed production opportunities, reconnect with patients who haven't scheduled recommended treatment, and...
info_outline
Who’s More Important in a Dental Practice: Front Office or Clinical Team?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
A Dentaltown post started a bigger conversation: A dentist wanted to bring back a former dental assistant, but a current front office employee didn’t want her back. Then someone argued that the assistant was more important because she directly contributed to production. So, who is more valuable to the practice? In this episode, Dana and Sandy talk about what really makes someone valuable to a dental practice, what to consider before bringing back a former employee, and why front office vs. back office conflict is often a symptom of a bigger issue. They also discuss why patients can feel...
info_outline
Will AI & AEO Recommend Your Dental Practice?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
AI is changing how patients search for dentists, but simply creating more content isn't enough. As AI-generated content floods the internet, credibility, expertise, and proof may matter more than ever. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue welcome Grace Rizza, founder and CEO of Identity Dental Marketing, back to the show for a conversation about how AI is changing dental marketing, search visibility, content creation, and the way patients discover and evaluate dental practices. Grace explains why using AI effectively isn't as simple as asking ChatGPT to write a...
info_outline
Should We Pay Employees to Show Up?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
What if employees got a bonus simply for showing up? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana and Sandy tackle a surprisingly controversial question: Should reliable attendance be rewarded, or is showing up on time simply part of the job? Sandy shares an attendance incentive she has used in dental practices for years involving ping-pong balls, cash rewards, and one simple qualification: reliability. But the conversation goes much deeper than bonuses. Because an attendance incentive won't fix a practice that hasn't clearly defined its expectations. Dana and Sandy discuss the importance of...
info_outline
The Right Patients, the Right Marketing | Grace Rizza
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Getting more dental leads isn't always the answer. The real goal is attracting the right patients and giving them a reason to choose your practice. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue welcome Grace Rizza, founder and CEO of Identity Dental Marketing, for a conversation about what dental marketing looks like as AI, automation, Google Ads, Meta advertising, and patient expectations continue to change. Grace explains why effective marketing can't be one-size-fits-all. A startup practice looking for patient volume needs a very different strategy than a...
info_outline
The Employee Costing Your Dental Practice Its Best People
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Every dental practice has probably had one. They’re great at their job. Patients love them. They’ve been there forever. Maybe they even make the doctor’s life easier. But behind the scenes, they gossip, intimidate coworkers, ignore rules, create drama, or make new employees feel like they’ll never quite belong. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue tackle a difficult question: What is that “indispensable” employee actually costing your practice? Dana and Sandy discuss why practice owners often tolerate bad behavior from high performers, how resentment...
info_outline
Part 3 of Systems. Staff. Training. | Your Team Isn’t the Problem. Your Training Might Be.
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
You hired good people. You gave them a job description. Maybe you even told them to “go sit next to Jessica” for a few days. But did you actually train them? In the final episode of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Dana and Sandy tackle the training gap inside dental practices and why expecting employees to “just know” how to do their jobs can be an expensive mistake. Today’s dental team is expected to do far more than answer phones and schedule appointments. They’re handling insurance conversations, money, patient objections, unscheduled treatment, technology, scheduling,...
info_outline
AI, Accountability & the Opportunities Hiding in Your Dental Practice | Cory Pinegar of REACH, Part 2
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Technology can help your dental practice do more—but it shouldn’t replace the human experience that keeps patients coming back. In Part 2 of our conversation with Cory Pinegar, CEO of REACH, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue continue the discussion about the future of the dental team, beginning with the balance between automation, AI, and personal connection. Cory explains why technology should amplify good people rather than eliminate them and why some responsibilities are perfect candidates for automation while others still require empathy, communication, and human judgment. The conversation...
info_outline
Rethinking Dental Staffing: People, Technology & Creating Capacity | Cory Pinegar of REACH, Part 1
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
What if your staffing problem isn’t simply about finding more people? In Part 1 of this special two-part Dental Drill Bits conversation, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue sit down with Cory Pinegar, CEO of REACH, to explore how dental practices can rethink staffing, training, technology, and the way work gets done. Cory shares the story behind REACH and explains why practices often have more than a hiring problem. Missed calls, inconsistent follow-up, turnover, limited training, and too many competing responsibilities at the front desk can all create bottlenecks that affect growth and...
info_outlineAs the end of the year approaches, dental practices have opportunities sitting right in front of them. Overdue hygiene patients, unscheduled appointments, outstanding balances, and unpaid insurance claims can all impact production and profitability.
In this episode, Dana and Sandy discuss how dental practices can finish the year strong by improving patient retention, strengthening recare systems, and collecting money they've already earned.
Sandy explains why pre-scheduling every hygiene patient may actually contribute to broken appointments, how to build a recare system that works, and why front office accountability is essential to keeping patients and collections on track.
In This Episode:
-
Why pre-scheduling every hygiene patient can create more broken appointments
-
How to improve patient retention with a consistent recare system
-
What dental practices should monitor in accounts receivable
-
How to follow up on outstanding insurance claims and overdue balances
-
Verbal skills for collecting payments without sounding confrontational
-
Why clear responsibilities and a sense of urgency help practices finish the year strong
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Identity Dental Marketing – Helping dental practices grow through strategic marketing and branding. Learn more at https://identitydental.com
Practice by Numbers – Giving dental practices the data and insights they need to improve performance and profitability. Learn more at https://www.practicenumbers.com
Connect With Us
Listen to more episodes: https://www.dentaldrillbitspodcast.com
Learn more about Sandy Pardue's consulting and Front Desk Pro seminars: https://www.classicpractice.com
Join our Dental Drill Bits Facebook group for additional resources, including Sandy's Fall Insurance Letter.
Next week, we're continuing our year-end series with strategies for protecting your schedule, improving confirmations, and reducing broken appointments.