Why Your Dental Practice Needs a Membership Plan in 2026

Overdependence on Insurance Is Hurting Your Business

Let’s paint the picture of what running a dental practice actually looks like today.

You went to dental school to help people. You may have taken on significant debt to make that happen. Then you opened or bought a practice, hired a team, and got to work.

But here's what nobody told you: You don't actually control a significant portion of your income. Insurance companies do.

Insurance negotiates your rates (or more likely, tells you the rates), and you either accept them or lose access to their patients. Most practices accept these terms because they need the patient volume.

You place a crown that costs $800 in lab fees, materials, and chair time. You bill $1,200. The insurance company says they'll pay you $900. They then apply the patient's deductible, state the patient owes $300, and will send you $600. You just made a whopping $100!

Now compound that over multiple procedures, day in and day out, year after year.

Meanwhile, your rent goes up. Your supply costs increase. Your staff wants raises (and they deserve them!). But your reimbursements? Flat. Or worse, declining.

This scenario is why dentists feel trapped. You're working harder, seeing more patients, and making the same money. Or less.

Patients Without Insurance Disappear

Here's the other side of the equation.

About 77 million Americans have no dental insurance. These people need dental care. And many of them want dental care. But when they call your office and hear that a cleaning and exam costs $250 out of pocket, they hesitate. When they hear a crown costs $1,200, they say, "Let me think about it," and never call back.

These patients don't have a dental home. They show up at your office or a neighboring practice when something hurts, receive the minimum treatment, and vanish. They don't build relationships with their dentists. They don't get preventive care. Their oral health suffers, and your practice never sees them again.

You know you could help these people. But they can't afford to walk through your door on your current terms.

So you're stuck in the middle.

The Membership Effect

A dental membership plan changes the math entirely.

Instead of billing patients per visit, offer them a care plan directly. They pay $35 a month and receive two cleanings, two exams, necessary X-rays, and additional savings on treatment.

Think about what just happened.

That uninsured patient who couldn't afford a $250 cleaning? They can afford $35. That's a phone bill. That's a streaming subscription. It feels manageable.

And once they're paying you $35 a month, something psychological shifts. They've committed to your practice. They're a member now. They don't want to waste their membership, so they actually show up for their appointments.

You just turned a stranger into a loyal patient.

Follow the Money

Let’s see why this matters financially. You can also access the full analysis in our Membership Effect report.

A typical cash patient:

●     Visits 1.7 times per year

●     Completes 2.4 procedures

●     Generates $469 in production

●     No-shows 13% of the time

A membership patient:

●     Visits 3 times per year

●     Completes 5.9 procedures

●     Generates $1,276 in production

●     No-shows <5% of the time

Same type of patient. Completely different behavior.

Why? Because membership removes friction. They’ve already invested in care, and now they're just using what they paid for. That $35 a month is recurring revenue. It appears whether patients visit or not. If you have 200 members paying $35 per month, that's $84,000 in predictable cash flow before they even sit in your chair. No insurance claims. No write-offs. No waiting 30 days for reimbursement.

When practices implement membership plans well, they see cash production grow by 50% or more within two years. Insurance production in those same practices grows about 10%.

Why This Actually Feels Good

Beyond the money, there's something else happening.

Dentists who run membership programs report feeling a sense of control. They're not writing off 40% of their production. They're setting their own fees, keeping what they earn, and, in many cases, working less.

Teams are happier, too. Instead of fighting insurance verification and claim denials, the front desk is enrolling patients in a program that actually helps them.

And patients feel like they belong to your practice and can easily afford care.

Why Clerri?

You could build a membership program yourself. Some practices do. They print a flyer, create a spreadsheet, and track everything manually.

It works for about six months. Then someone forgets to charge a patient. Renewals slip through the cracks. The spreadsheet becomes a mess. The one person who understood the system leaves. And you have no idea if you're compliant.

Clerri makes membership work at scale without adding work to your team.

The Clerri Care Membership Platform automates enrollment, payments, renewals, and patient communications. A dashboard shows you exactly how much revenue you’re generating, and how members compare to cash-pay and insured patients.

Clerri also handles compliance across all 50 states, giving you peace of mind that your membership plans meet federal and state regulations.

Want to practice dentistry on your terms? See why 20,000+ dentists trust Clerri to build recurring revenue and ensure membership plan success.

Schedule a time to get started.

Author
Carla Nichols, Chief Customer Officer at Clerri