Your Guide to Fee-for-Service Dentistry

March 22, 2026
Written by: Jordon Comstock

Your Guide to Fee for Service Dentistry (The Smart, Profitable, and Sanity-Saving Way to Practice)

“You can be the PPO’s puppet—or you can be the boss.”
— Me, Jordon Comstock (while eating a donut and yelling at insurance hold music)


So, you’re thinking about ditching the PPOs?
Getting off the hamster wheel of claim denials, predeterminations, and “negotiated” fees that feel more like ransom notes?

Well, congrats my friend, you’ve just stumbled into the most badass, sanity-saving, revenue-generating business model in dentistry.

This is your no-BS, data-backed, rock-band-energy guide to Fee-for-Service Dentistry.

Buckle up. 🎸


🚀 What Is Fee-for-Service Dentistry?

Fee-for-service dentistry means you run your practice without relying on insurance companies to pay you.

You provide treatment.
Your patient pays YOU.
No third parties.
No negotiations.
No waiting 6 weeks for a check that’s missing $400 and comes with a letter that says “not medically necessary.”

Just value. Clean. Direct. Cash.

It’s your practice. Why should Delta Dental be your boss?


💸 Why Fee-for-Service Dentistry Is So Dang Powerful

Here’s the honest truth: most practices don’t realize how much money they’re flushing every month just by playing the PPO game.

🤯 The PPO “Invisible Tax”

You produce $1 million in dentistry.
You’re in-network with a handful of carriers.
Your write-offs? 25%–45%.

Let’s do the math:

  • $1,000,000 x 30% average write-off = $300,000

  • Over a 30-year career? $9 MILLION GONE
    (That’s like… 3 houses, 4 Teslas, and 1 lifetime supply of Crumbl cookies.)

And don’t even get me started on:

  • Admin overhead

  • Time on hold

  • Denied claims

  • Patients delaying treatment waiting on pre-auths

  • Credit card fees to get paid by “virtual” insurance checks

You discount your work, pay staff to manage the discount, then pay a fee to collect it.
That, my friend, is the rat race.


🔥 What Fee-for-Service Actually Gives You

Profit margins you can feel in your bank account
Freedom from insurance micromanagement
Time to do dentistry, not paperwork
Loyal patients who choose YOU, not their PPO card
Sleep—you know, that thing where you don’t wake up panicked at 3AM over A/R reports


📊 Real Data: Patients Spend More When They’re Not Chained to Insurance

You don’t have to guess. I brought numbers.

Patient Type Treatment Acceptance Avg Annual Spend
Cash Patient 24% $900
PPO Patient 32% $950
Membership Patient 40% $2,350

BOOM. 💣

Membership patients (which we’ll get to in a sec) spend 2–3X more and are way more likely to say yes to treatment because they value YOU—not their insurance “coverage.”


🧠 Is It Risky to Drop PPOs? Only If You Don’t Have a Strategy

Look, I’m not saying you should go full Cold Turkey tomorrow and send break-up letters to every carrier.

I am saying:

  1. You should know how much you’re writing off

  2. You should build a recurring revenue engine

  3. You should slowly transition the worst PPOs OUT of your life like a toxic ex who still has your Netflix password


🔍 Use Dental Intel to Get the Data You Need to Drop PPOs Like a Boss

Dental Intel is the Tony Stark suit to your Iron Dentist self.

Here’s how you use it:

  • Pull scorecards by carrier

  • See your write-offs, collections, and margin killers

  • Identify the WORST 10% of PPOs

  • See how many patients are attached to those plans

  • Model potential drop-off vs. cash flow gained

I’ve seen practices recover $300,000+ PER YEAR just by eliminating their worst PPOs.

Not even kidding. That’s more than most associate dentists make in a YEAR.


💰 BoomCloud™: Your Fee-for-Service BFF (That Brings in $50K a Month Without a Drill)

Dental Membership plans are the glue that holds the fee-for-service strategy together.

BoomCloud lets you:

  • Create customizable in-house membership plans

  • Automate billing (monthly or yearly)

  • Offer real value to patients with no insurance

  • Track recurring revenue (hello MRR!)

  • Run employer group plans

  • Build loyalty like Costco


💥 Real BoomCloud Results (Yup, these are real practices)

Wood River Dental (Idaho):

  • 1,000+ members

  • $50K/month in recurring revenue

  • No feast and famine months

  • “We start every month at $50K… and breathe easier.”

Pine City Dental:

  • 401 members

  • $14.7K/month in recurring revenue

  • $178K/year without treating a single crown

Ala Moana Dental (Hawaii):

  • 1,000+ members, discount-only model

  • Vacation income = unlocked

$1M Practice Case:

  • 2,400 members

  • $84K/month

  • More MRR than most tech startups


🧭 The Transition Game Plan (AKA, How to Escape PPO Prison)

Here’s the step-by-step breakdown:

Step 1: Pull your numbers

Use Dental Intel to see what you’re writing off.

Step 2: Start a membership program

Use BoomCloud. Don’t build it in Excel. That’s what nightmares are made of.

Step 3: Market it like it’s your new front desk

Tell every patient, every time, every channel. Membership patients BUY MORE.

Step 4: Drop the worst 10% of PPOs

Not all at once—start with the biggest leeches.

Step 5: Track the shift

More revenue. Better margins. Happier team. You’ll see it in the data.


😴 Fee-for-Service Dentistry = Better Sleep, Better Cash Flow, Better Life

I’ve seen it. I’ve helped practices make the leap.
And now I’m telling you:

Fee-for-service dentistry isn’t just a buzzword. It’s your ticket to taking your business (and your LIFE) back.

Tired of giving 30% of your income to PPOs and 70% of your time to claim fights?

Build a better model.
Be the boss again.
Sleep like you’re not $250K behind in write-offs.


🎁 Next Steps

Ready to make the shift? Here’s your next move:


Fee-for-service dentistry isn’t just about money. It’s about freedom, control, clarity, and confidence.

Now go get yours. 🦷⚡

My Top Podcasts

How Smart Practice Owners Attract, Retain & Create Recurring Revenue

Get the book that’s helping over 65,000  practices ditch insurance, boost cash flow, and create financial freedom with a patient membership program.

Membership Plans For Optometrists

vision-membership-plan-ebook Creating a patient membership plan is the smartest strategy to implement in your practice. You will increase patient satisfaction & loyalty, Increase predictable recurring revenue & increase sales!

Fire The PPOs!

Say goodbye to PPOs and hello to a thriving, independent dental practice. Don’t miss out – your journey to financial freedom starts here!

Subscribe to Our Podcasts!

Jordon Comstock

Author Bio

Jordon Comstock is the Founder & CEO of BoomCloud™, a software that allows practice, clinic & spa owners to build, manage and scale a membership program. This helps practice & clinic owners to create recurring revenue & improve loyalty via membership programs. Jordon is passionate about Music, Hawaii, Healthcare businesses like: dentistry, optometry, med spas and massage spas. Schedule a demo of BoomCloud™ and learn how membership programs can improve your business. Here are more dental books to improve your practice

Calculate Your Potential

with BoomCloud™

Recurring Revenue Growth Calculator

Discover the revenue potential of your practice’s membership plans. This calculator helps you project growth by analyzing key factors like patient volume, plan pricing, and service utilization. See how implementing a custom plan can boost your bottom line.

Revenue Calculator

 PPO Loss Calculator – How Much are YOU Losing?

Calculate the hidden costs of relying on traditional PPO plans. Our PPO Loss Calculator reveals the revenue you could be missing out on and helps you strategize for greater profitability with a membership-based model.

PPO Loss Calculator