Cue the applause. Dentists are done playing the insurance company’s game.

For the last few decades, dental insurance companies have been running the show—dictating fees, shrinking reimbursements, and forcing hardworking doctors to do more for less. Meanwhile, inflation has marched on like a hungry lion, devouring practice profitability, staff salaries, supply costs, and your peace of mind. And yet, insurers have generously refused to offer meaningful fee schedule increases. It’s been a lovely relationship… for them.

But in the last five years, something exciting (maybe even revolutionary) has started to happen. Dentists are leaving the network. In large numbers. And it’s changing the entire landscape of dental insurance in ways that insurance companies never saw coming.

The Mass Exodus: Why Dentists Are Saying “No More”

Let’s be real—the math isn’t mathing anymore.

You’ve got overheads rising, wages going up, equipment costs ballooning, and the cherry on top: reimbursement fees from 1997. Every time you submit a crown, you’re wondering if the $654 fee allowance was calculated by someone who still thinks a loaf of bread costs 89 cents.

So dentists, smart and exhausted, have started stepping out of network. And it’s not just the solo doc in the suburbs—group practices, DSOs, even fee-for-service startups are ditching the PPO model and finally reclaiming control of their fees and their time.

But here’s where it gets juicy.

Insurance Strikes Back… And Misses

With more and more providers going out of network, insurance companies and self-funded employer plans are scrambling. Their brilliant solution? Cut out-of-network benefits and try to force patients into the shrinking pool of in-network offices.

But that strategy is about to spectacularly backfire.

Why?

Because if there aren’t enough in-network dentists left to serve the patients, guess who gets blamed?

Not the dentists. Not the patients. The employer. And the insurance carrier.

Employers who thought they were saving money are now facing an even costlier problem: access to care. Employees are frustrated. They can’t find dentists. Their favorite dentist went out of network and now they either pay out of pocket or travel 40 minutes to someone they’ve never met.

In short: restricting access doesn’t create loyalty. It creates chaos.

The Rise of Indemnity 2.0?

Remember the good ol’ days of indemnity plans? You know—the plans that didn’t care who you saw, paid a percentage of a “reasonable” fee, and didn’t play the downgrade or denial game every time you billed for SRP?

Well guess what… they might be making a comeback.

As employers realize that restricting patients to a limited network is a terrible long-term strategy, we’re already seeing signs of a shift toward open-access plan designs. Some PPOs are quietly morphing into indemnity-style hybrids—where the reimbursement is fixed regardless of provider network status, and the patient simply pays the difference in fees.

Think about it: if 40 to 50 percent of dentists in a region are now out of network, does it make sense to keep funneling patients to fewer and fewer providers? No way.

If the goal is access, indemnity-style reimbursement is the only way forward.

The Cultural Shift: Dentists as the Drivers of Change

This movement didn’t happen because of policy.
It didn’t happen because insurance companies got generous.
It happened because dentists are fed up with insurance.

Every dentist who had the guts to drop a terrible PPO contract and go out of network helped push the industry toward change. The risk-takers, the rebels, the ones who said “enough is enough”—they’re the reason we’re seeing this cultural shift in real time.

It’s not just about economics. It’s about taking back autonomy, practicing ethical dentistry without the interference of a third-party entity that’s never looked in a mouth, and refusing to let your career be dictated by a spreadsheet at insurance HQ.

What Dentists Should Do Now

Evaluate your contracts. If a PPO isn’t raising your fees in line with inflation, they’re effectively giving you a pay cut. Reconsider your participation.

Educate your patients. Patients respect transparency. Help them understand what it means to be out of network and why it allows you to provide better care.

Advocate for better plans. Encourage your employer contacts to consider indemnity-style options or PPO plans that don’t penalize patients for seeing out-of-network providers.

Celebrate the shift. This isn’t the end of insurance. It’s the beginning of better insurance. And it’s being driven by you.

Final Word: The Revolution Will Not Be Discounted

We’re standing at a pivotal moment in dentistry. As more doctors walk away from outdated insurance models, the system is being forced to adapt. That adaptation? It looks a lot like freedom. It looks like patients choosing the dentist they trust, not the one who signed the lowest fee schedule. It looks like a sustainable future for dental practices.

So raise a glass (or a handpiece) to the doctors who dared to go out of network. Because of you, the future of dental insurance may finally start serving the people it was meant to: patients and providers.

And no, insurance executives don’t get a toast.

Benjamin Tuinei
Founder – Veritas Dental Resources, LLC
Phone: 888-808-4513
Services: PPO Fee Negotiators · PPO Fee Negotiating · Insurance Fee Negotiating · Insurance Credentialing · Insurance Verifications
Websites: www.VeritasDentalResources.com | www.VerusDental.com