---
title: "What Is Overhead? Dental Practice Glossary | Copeland Consulting Services"
description: "Overhead is the cost of running a dental practice, such as team payroll, supplies, lab fees, rent and equipment, usually discussed as a share of collections."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/overhead
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Finance and valuation

# Overhead

Overhead is the cost of running a dental practice, such as team payroll, supplies, lab fees, rent and equipment, usually discussed as a share of collections.

The ADA's guide to practice financial basics defines overhead as the ratio of expenses to collection, expressed as a percentage. Expenses is the dollar amount the practice spends. In ordinary use, people also say overhead for the costs themselves. Typical lines include payroll, [lab fees](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/lab-fees), [supply costs](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/supply-costs), rent, utilities and insurance. Because overhead divides by [collections](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/collections), it can fall when collections rise even if spending is unchanged. ADA News (March 2022) reported that industry-wide practice overhead averages around 62 percent. See overhead percentage for the ratio and how sources define it.

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Overhead percentage](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/overhead-percentage)
-   [Collections](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/collections)
-   [Lab fees](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/lab-fees)
-   [Supply costs](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/supply-costs)

## Sources

1.  [ADA, How to purchase with confidence](https://www.ada.org/resources/careers/career-planning/how-to-purchase-with-confidence)
2.  [ADA News, Ask the Expert: Practical strategies to reduce dental practice expenses (March 2022)](https://adanews.ada.org/new-dentist/2022/march/ask-the-expert-practical-strategies-to-reduce-dental-practice-expenses/)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)