By: Someone who feels your pain (and really wants you to thrive)

Let’s talk about the elephant in the operatory.

Your overhead is up. Your team wants raises (understandably). Supplies cost more. Labs cost more. Rent is ridiculous. But guess who didn’t get the memo about inflation?

That’s right, insurance companies.

And while inflation punches you in the gut, the value of the dollar tap dances out the back door, leaving you to run a business on yesterday’s money, with today’s expenses, for tomorrow’s patients.

A Brief (Depressing) History of the Dollar

Let’s go back to when dental insurance first rolled onto the scene in the 1950s.

Back then, the average annual maximum was $1,000. Sounds familiar, right?

Here’s the kicker. In today’s money, that $1,000 would be worth $11,762 after adjusting for inflation (based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data).

Yes, you read that right. $11,762.

So when a plan today still offers a $1,000 annual maximum, what they’re really giving patients is less than 10% of the original value. And they're charging more than ever in premiums to do it.

Meanwhile, your fees have inched up a few percent here or there (if you’re lucky) but insurance reimbursements? They’ve stayed so stagnant, you’d think they were cryogenically frozen in 1997.

Financial Time Bombs Dentists Are Living With

If you're feeling squeezed, it’s not just your imagination. It's math. Brutal, relentless math. Here's what you're up against:

• Inflation: 3–8% annually depending on the year

• Dollar devaluation: Your money buys less each year

• Insurance reimbursement stagnation: A nice way of saying they're screwing you

• Rising business costs: Payroll, tech, supplies, marketing—all up

• Patients expecting more for less: Because they think insurance “should cover it”

And you? You're the one doing mental gymnastics trying to make this whole mess work.

The Real Problem: A Broken, Outdated Insurance Model

Insurance hasn’t evolved in 70 years. It's like trying to play PS5 with Pong-era code.

But here’s the genius (and by genius, I mean villainous) move from insurance companies. They’ve tricked patients into believing that if something isn’t covered, it’s because the doctor is “overcharging” or “upcoding.”

Meanwhile, they're collecting higher premiums every year, offering weaker benefits, and somehow still avoiding blame.

Dentists? You’re stuck explaining to a confused patient why their crown isn't fully covered and their cleaning got downgraded. Again.

How Dentists Can Navigate This Economic Whirlwind

If you're going to survive and thrive, you can't keep playing a rigged game. You need to change how you run your business, how you present treatment, and how you manage insurance.

Business Tactics for a Changing Economy

• Audit your PPO participation. Are you in-network with plans that pay you less than your cost to provide care? Time to reconsider.

• Negotiate, or delegate the negotiation. If you're still in-network, don't accept fees as final. Hire professionals (cough Veritas Dental Resources cough) to negotiate higher reimbursements.

• Strengthen your in-house membership plans. Give uninsured or fed-up patients an attractive alternative to insurance.

• Train your team to educate patients. Shift the narrative. Patients must understand that insurance is a benefit, not a guarantee, and not a measure of what is necessary for their health.

Clinical Tactics

• Focus on high-value, high-trust services. Cases built on relationships and education are harder for insurance to undermine.

• Document like a lawyer. Detailed notes, photos, radiographs—make every denial appeal-proof.

• Offer phased care plans. Inflation is real for patients too. Help them plan treatment over time if needed, without compromising care quality.

A Shamelessly Honest Plug for Veritas Dental Resources

Let’s face it, you shouldn’t be spending your evenings fighting with insurance reps or begging for fee increases. That’s not why you went to dental school.

Veritas Dental Resources exists because the insurance industry has failed dentists. We’ve helped hundreds of practices:

• Fight for better PPO reimbursements

• Transition out of network successfully

• Set up in-house membership plans

• Educate teams on handling insurance objections

Eliminate the guesswork and the stress.

Let us help you stop playing defense and start building a profitable, sustainable future.

Final Thought

Your dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, but your time, talent, and training are more valuable than ever.

Dentistry is still one of the most rewarding professions out there when it’s run like a business, not a hostage negotiation with insurance.

So stop apologizing for wanting to get paid what you’re worth. Stop bending over backward to make insured patients happy because their insurance sucks. And start designing your practice around freedom, fulfillment, and financial sanity.

And if the insurance machine doesn’t like that?

Too bad. The machine wasn’t built for you anyway.

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