Production vs collections in a dental practice

Production and collections are two of the most used numbers in a dental office. They are not the same number, and mixing them leads to wrong comparisons. This post explains both terms with a worked example from the American Dental Association (ADA). Sources were opened on October 26, 2026. It is general information, not accounting advice. Ask your CPA how your books define these terms.

What is dental production?

Production is the value of dental work the practice bills. The ADA’s compensation page for associates defines total production as the total amount the office will bill for a procedure under its established fee schedule. It defines adjusted, or billable, production as the amount the office is contractually allowed to collect, usually set by third-party payors.

Practices often track these as gross production and net production. Names vary by software and office, so ask for the formula behind any report.

What are collections?

Collections is the net amount the office actually collects. The ADA page defines it that way. It counts money from insurance and from patients after write-offs and adjustments. A write-off is a fee the practice agrees not to collect, often because of an insurance contract.

The ADA formula for the collection percentage is collections divided by production, times 100. The same page warns that you must know whether the practice uses total production or adjusted production as the base.

How do the numbers differ in a real example?

The ADA page walks through one crown. The fee schedule lists $1,500, and a PPO allows $1,000. The plan pays $500, and the patient pays $450. The practice writes off $50.

Same crown, same payments, two percentages. The base changes the answer. This is why a goal such as “collect 98%” is unclear until someone says which production figure is meant. The ADA page uses the example to show how pay for an associate can differ: 35% of collections, 35% of adjusted production and 30% of total production give different dollar amounts for one crown. The post on associate compensation models covers that side.

How does insurance change the gap?

The ADA page says that when a practice accepts many discounted plans, such as PPOs or DMOs, total production will probably differ from billable production. The variance may be small, but if it is large, the page advises associates to ask how it affects pay. The questions it suggests include which patients each dentist sees, what the reimbursement rates are, whether the practice has trouble collecting from any plan, and whether lower-paying plans could be dropped.

Owners can use the same questions on their own books. Two practices with the same total production can collect different amounts if their payer mix differs.

What does the ADA say about collecting net production?

An ADA finance page says many successful practices collect 100 percent of net production. It says many teams settle for 97 or 98 percent. Its example: $100,000 of gross production a month results in $92,000 net after insurance write-offs, professional courtesies and other adjustments, and the practice should collect at least $92,000.

The page draws on work by consultant Ken Runkle. It is guidance, not a published standard, and the $100,000 figure is an illustration. The result depends on a consistent definition of net.

How can an owner set up a simple check?

An owner can test the definitions with one month of data. These steps are a worksheet idea, not an accounting standard.

1. Pull total production from the practice management report.
2. Pull adjusted production after write-offs and contract adjustments.
3. Pull collections for the same period.
4. Divide collections by each production figure.
5. Write down the formula and the base next to the result.

Repeat the check each month with the same definitions. A trend with a stable definition tells more than a one-time number. Ask your CPA how to treat timing, such as payments that arrive after the month ends.

Why do production figures need a definition?

A 2025 Dental Economics survey by Levin Group reported average production per doctor of $1,004,178, and it said that figure includes hygiene production. If one office reports doctor-only production and another includes hygiene, the two numbers are not comparable. The survey covered mostly independent general dentists, so it does not describe all practices.

Keep these checks in mind.

1. Name the base: total, adjusted or net production.
2. Say whether hygiene production is included.
3. Use the same time period for both numbers.
4. Note whether adjustments are posted when treatment is done or later.

The collection ratio is the glossary term for this comparison. The guide on dental practice KPIs and benchmarks lists related measures, and the post on overhead percentage shows how the base choice changes another number.

Next step

To compare production, collections and other numbers in one place, read the guide on dental practice KPIs and benchmarks. The guide to dental practice management covers the systems behind them. Contact Dr. Copeland about consulting questions. Dr. Jon Copeland, DDS, is a general dentist in Wildwood, Missouri.