Dental practices lose much of their revenue to outstanding balances from unpaid patient and insurance bills. These are stuck in accounts receivable, which practices can’t collect and write off the amount.
But, this amount is your right, for which providers and staff have worked very hard. And it must not be just left unpaid!
The good news is that you can recover your amount in dental accounts receivable, but it requires a strategic approach.
Here, we’ll discuss some key strategies for effective dental A/R management, through which you can recover unpaid dues, reduce A/R, and maintain a healthy revenue for your dental practice.
Evaluate Your Practice’s Dental A/R
First, review your practice’s dental accounts receivable, and plan strategies accordingly.
For that, you need to divide your accounts receivable into A/R aging buckets and then generate reports which show the number of days in A/R for each account and bill. Divide these buckets into:
- 0-30 days
- 30-60 days
- 60-90 days
- 90-120 days or beyond
Aim to control A/R aging by keeping 60-70% of your A/R under 30 days. It’s easy to collect new unpaid balances, which are under a month, but if A/R aging gets older, recovery becomes harder.
Effective Strategies to Reduce A/R
Now, we’ll review some strategies according to your A/R. These strategies help your practice improve your practice’s dental revenue cycle.
Verify Insurance Eligibility
Dental insurance eligibility verification is an important step in your practice’s front-end revenue cycle.
If you verify a patient’s treatment and coverage details before a dental procedure, you can submit claims correctly and get paid faster, so the amount is not stuck in A/R.
For that, your front end staff should contact the insurance company or access payer portals to check treatment costs that insurance covers, and expenses which the patient needs to pay.
Real-time eligibility verification reduces claim denials and also helps your staff explain what insurance covers and what your patient has to pay on the counter. Your staff can provide patients with written estimates about treatment costs. This builds trust between you and your patients, as patients can take their time and decide if they can afford a treatment and want to pay for it.
Collect Patient Balances on the Time of Service
The best way through which you can control A/R aging is to charge patients for the costs on the counter and collect the amount before you treat them. It’s much easier than pursuing and following up with patients for recovery later on.
If you want them to pay fast, create patient statements in simple language that patients can easily read and understand.
These statements or invoices should clearly explain all the treatment charges, payment methods, date of service, and deadline for clearing payments.
And offer multiple payment options like cash, credit cards, debit cards, and online payment portals for patients. So, they can easily clear their dues through their preferred method.
Set Clear Financial Policies
Set up clear financial policies for your staff, so they can deal with patients and charge them according to it.
These policies should clearly state patient responsibilities like co-pays, deductibles, and other charges that insurance doesn’t cover. Patients should get clear information of what they’re going to pay, and you should explain charges before treatment. They don’t expect surprise bills!
And mention all the policies on a written agreement and get patients’ signed consent, which is a proof that they agree to the policies and charges. This protects your practice in case of disputes.
Offer Flexible Payment Options
If your patients can’t afford to pay large dental bills, set up flexible payment plans. In that case, patients can easily pay via monthly installments over a period of 6 months or 1 year.
By doing so, you can recover the amount from these balances very smoothly and prevent your dental accounts receivable from aging.
Submit Clean Claims
Claim submission is the core mid-cycle process in your revenue cycle. Make sure that all details in claim forms are accurate, and the documents that you attach with it are complete, according to your insurer’s requirements.
Each insurance company or state’s Medicaid/Medicare program has their own requirements for:
- Accepting CDT codes
- Submitting claims
- Requiring documents
- Demanding pre-authorization for certain dental procedures
Follow your state or insurer’s requirements and submit claims according to their expectations.
Submitting clean claims reduces chances of claim denials. You can get paid faster and earn more. As a result, you can control A/R effectively.
Monitor Your Claims
Track your claim progress by checking payer portal or contacting insurance companies. It helps speed up payments by insurers. And once you receive payments, submit them to the right patient ledgers to control A/R aging.
By regular tracking, you can also follow up on claims that remain in pending status in insurance. A daily or weekly follow-up makes your back-end cycle strong, helping you recover faster from pending claims to prevent A/R.
Submit Appeals on Time
If your claim is denied or underpaid:
- Check the reason mentioned on the Explanation of Benefits
- Contact the insurance company and submit appeals
Insurers have set their deadlines to submit appeals, and if you delay the process, insurers don’t approve your appeal requests.
Now, your appeal request depends on the claim denial reason.
If insurers deny your claim due to a valid mistake, submit a corrected claim with an appeal letter. Your appeal letter should include all the key details including:
- Patient’s information (name, date of birth, subscriber ID)
- Claim details (date of service, CDT code, claim number)
- Reason for denial on the Explanation of Benefits
- Corrected claim form with attachments like clinical notes, radiographs, or narratives
- Request for claim reprocessing
Example: You’ve submitted a claim with the CDT code D1352 (preventive resin restoration) for a procedure, in which you control a patient’s tooth decay with a tooth-colored filling. However, ADA has discontinued the code in its latest update for 2026 and replaced it with D2391 (resin-based composite, one surface, posterior), which covers the filling process.
Since it’s a coding error, insurance denies it, and you need to resubmit the claim by mentioning the denial reason, using the right code for the procedure, and attaching an appeal letter. Below is an example:
Dear Appeal Review Team,
I am writing to formally appeal the denial of the dental claim referenced below and to request reprocessing with the corrected CDT code.
According to the Explanation of Benefits, this claim was denied due to the CDT code submitted. CDT code D1352 has been discontinued by the American Dental Association effective January 1, 2026, and is no longer valid for claim submission.
The procedure performed involved controlling early tooth decay using a tooth-colored filling to prevent further progression of caries. This service is more accurately reported using the current CDT code D2391 (Resin-based composite, one surface, posterior), which replaces the discontinued code and appropriately reflects the treatment rendered.
Enclosed with this appeal is a corrected claim form, along with supporting documentation including clinical notes, radiographs, and a narrative, to substantiate the medical necessity and accuracy of the procedure billed.
We respectfully request that this claim be reconsidered and reprocessed using the corrected CDT code. Please advise if any additional information is required to complete your review.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Provider Name]
[Practice Name]
[NPI]
[Tax ID]
[Phone / Fax]
Now, if insurance has mistakenly denied your correct claim, attach an appeal letter to it and mention details like patient information, claim details, and denial reason. Then explain why the denial is incorrect and attach treatment details, radiographs, clinical notes, and other details to prove that your claim is correct and you should be paid fairly. This is an example:
Dear Appeal Review Team,
I am writing to formally appeal the denial of the dental claim referenced below. The claim was submitted using the correct CDT code and accurately reflects the procedure performed; however, it was denied in error.
According to the Explanation of Benefits, the claim was denied for the following reason: [insert exact denial reason from the EOB]. After reviewing the patient’s dental benefits and the clinical documentation, we believe this denial is incorrect.
The procedure performed was medically necessary and appropriately billed in accordance with the CDT guidelines and the patient’s benefit plan. The service was rendered to treat active dental disease and prevent further progression, and it meets the coverage criteria outlined in the plan.
Enclosed with this appeal are treatment details, radiographs, clinical notes, and a narrative supporting the necessity and accuracy of the procedure billed. These records clearly demonstrate that the service was performed as submitted and should be eligible for coverage.
We respectfully request that this claim be reconsidered and reprocessed for payment in accordance with the patient’s benefits. Please contact our office if additional information is required.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
[Provider Name]
[Practice Name]
[NPI]
[Tax ID]
[Phone / Fax]
The same rule applies in underpayments, when you’re paid less than the contracted fee for a claim. Submit an appeal and mention your set contracted fees with the insurer, and request for repayment.
Dear Appeal Review Team,
I am writing to formally appeal the underpayment of the dental claim referenced below and to request adjustment in accordance with our contracted fee schedule.
According to the Explanation of Benefits, payment for this claim was issued in the amount of $[paid amount], which is less than the contracted allowable fee for this procedure.
Per our participating provider agreement with [Insurance Company Name], the contracted fee for CDT code [DXXXX] is $[contracted amount]. The claim was submitted correctly, the service was rendered as documented, and no contractual or policy-based reduction applies to this claim.
Enclosed with this appeal are supporting documents, including a copy of the provider fee schedule/contract, the Explanation of Benefits, and relevant clinical documentation, to substantiate that the claim should have been reimbursed at the contracted rate.
We respectfully request that this claim be reviewed, adjusted, and reprocessed for payment of the remaining balance in accordance with the contracted agreement.
Please contact our office if additional information is required. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
[Provider Name]
[Practice Name]
[NPI]
[Tax ID]
[Phone / Fax]
If you write detailed appeal letters and submit them on time, insurers are more likely to approve your claim and pay you fast, which controls your dental accounts receivable.
Follow Up on Unpaid Bills
Create a follow-up strategy for your A/R recovery staff, so they pursue unpaid insurance claims or patient balances according to A/R aging and payer patterns.
You may create a step-by-step process, in which you:
- Track a claim status within first 14-21 days
- Correct and resubmit it if it’s denied
- Follow up on a claim if it’s still not paid within 30 days
- Escalate to insurance supervisor and submit an appeal after 45-60 days
If your claim remains unpaid, you can use legal options.
The same process applies for unpaid patient balances, where you:
- Send a statement to your patient to clear remaining dues after insurance payment within 5-7 days
- Notify patients for payment reminders via calls, SMS, or emails
- Contact patients for a humble reminder
- Forward the case to collection agencies if bills remain unpaid
But, there is another way, through which follow up and recovery becomes easier without any stress. And that’s automating your dental A/R management!
Partnering with reliable A/R recovery partners like TransDental makes your A/R management a smooth process. TransDental’s AI automation technology and expert A/R teams recover 60-70% of your unpaid A/R balances within just 21 days. And they do it by:
- Verifying patient eligibility in real-time, so you know patient bills and charge them on time
- Submitting clean claims with right codes and documents to receive payments fast
- Tracking claim status daily by checking payer portals
- Submitting instant appeals once claims are denied or underpaid
- Following up with patients or insurers through a friendly and professional approach
With outsourcing, you don’t have to track and chase A/R. Your A/R partners do that for you and deliver effective results.
Conclusion
Managing dental accounts receivable becomes difficult, especially if unpaid bills get older. But you can control that if you:
- Verify insurance eligibility in real-time
- Collect patient balances on the counter
- Offer flexible payment plans if patients can’t pay
- Enable patients to pay through multiple mediums
- Submit compliant and clean claims according to payer requirements
- Track claims daily and submit appeals immediately after claim denials or underpayments
- Follow up on unpaid dues aggressively
Or you may automate the process by choosing reliable A/R service providers, who manage all these time-taking and complex tasks. With that, your staff can easily manage other practice tasks and dedicate themselves to patient care, while your revenue stays healthy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to reduce outstanding patient balances in a dental practice?
Verify insurance upfront, collect at the time of service, and send clear statements fast. Consistent follow-ups with insurers and payers can also help you recover balances which you often end up writing off.
How to improve dental accounts receivable collection rates?
Partnering with an A/R management company like TransDental helps improve your accounts receivable rates. TransDental’s proactive strategies, regular claim tracking, and consistent follow-ups help improve your A/R collection by 60-70%.
Which is the best software for managing dental accounts receivable?
TransDental’s automated billing process seamlessly integrates with your PMS or EHR systems, offers real-time AR tracking, and flags issues before they age out.
What are the top services that handle dental accounts receivable outsourcing?
TransDental stands out as a dental A/R outsourcing partner by handling multiple payers, tracking and monitoring claims regularly, sending timely appeals, and providing regular A/R reports.
Can I get a demo of dental practice management software with robust AR?
By connecting with TransDental’s A/R experts, you get a demo of how your practice management software works and manages your accounts receivable. These free demos show how AR-focused processes integrate with your existing systems and boost collections fast.
