How to work out what one new implant patient is worth to your practice

"What should we spend on ads?" is one of the first questions any practice owner asks. The honest answer is that it depends on what a new implant patient is worth to your practice, and most practices have never written that number down.

This article gives you a simple, fill-in formula to work it out from your own numbers. It uses no industry averages, because yours are the only ones that matter. At the end, you will have a number you can use to set an ad budget you can defend.

What this number is for

Without a value per patient, ad spend is a guess. You either spend too little and never see enough visits to judge, or spend too much and feel uneasy every time you see the bill.

With a value per patient, the question changes from "how much can we afford to spend?" to "how much can we afford to spend to get one more accepted case?" That is a question you can answer with arithmetic.

Step 1: The value of an accepted case

Start with the average value of the implant treatment a new patient accepts. Use your own records from the last year or so.

Average accepted case value = total value of accepted implant treatment ÷ number of accepted implant cases

If you treat a mix of single implants and full-arch cases, you can either use one blended average or work out each type separately. Separate numbers are more useful if the mix is changing.

Next, adjust for what it costs you to deliver the treatment, so you are working with contribution rather than revenue:

Contribution per accepted case = average accepted case value × your contribution margin

Your contribution margin is what is left after the direct costs of treatment, such as lab fees, components and clinical time you would otherwise use elsewhere. Your accountant can help you estimate it. If you are unsure, be conservative.

Step 2: Add what comes after the first case

A new implant patient may stay with your practice for years. They may need further treatment, come for regular care, and refer family or friends.

You can include some of this value, but be careful. It is easy to talk yourself into spending more than you should by assuming a lot of future value.

Lifetime contribution per new patient = contribution per accepted case + expected contribution from further care over the next few years

If you prefer to stay conservative, use the first case only. Many practices do, and treat the rest as a bonus.

Step 3: Work backwards from the ad to the chair

Not every visit becomes a case, and not every booked appointment shows up. You need your own rates for each step:

Show rate = visits attended ÷ visits booked

Acceptance rate = cases accepted ÷ visits attended

Now you can work out what one booked appointment is worth to you:

Value per booked appointment = lifetime contribution per new patient × show rate × acceptance rate

This is the most useful number on this page. It tells you the most you could spend to get one booked appointment and break even.

Step 4: Decide how much of that value to spend

You do not want to spend the full value per booked appointment on acquisition. You want profit, and you need room for the cost of the people and tools that handle each lead.

Choose a target share of the value you are comfortable spending on getting an appointment booked. That share is a business decision, not a formula. Some owners pick a small share and grow steadily; others accept a larger share while they build.

Target cost per booked appointment = value per booked appointment × the share you're willing to spend

Step 5: Turn it into a monthly budget

Decide how many new booked appointments you want each month. Be realistic about how many your team and chairs can handle.

Monthly acquisition budget = target cost per booked appointment × booked appointments you want per month

This budget covers everything it takes to get an appointment booked: ad spend, and any management, tools and team time involved. If you work with an agency, include their fee.

A worked example with placeholder numbers

Here is the formula filled in with simple placeholder numbers, chosen for easy arithmetic. They are not benchmarks. Replace every one of them with your own.

• Average accepted case value: $A
• Contribution margin: M%
• Contribution per accepted case: $A × M%
• Further care, kept at zero to be conservative: $0
• Show rate: S%
• Acceptance rate: C%
• Value per booked appointment: $A × M% × S% × C%
• Share you're willing to spend: K%
• Target cost per booked appointment: value per booked appointment × K%
• Booked appointments wanted per month: N
• Monthly acquisition budget: target cost per booked appointment × N

To see the arithmetic, suppose a practice used A = 10,000, M = 50%, S = 80%, C = 50% and K = 20%, wanting N = 10 visits a month. Those are illustration values only. Value per booked appointment would be 10,000 × 0.5 × 0.8 × 0.5 = 2,000. Target cost per booked appointment would be 2,000 × 0.2 = 400. The monthly acquisition budget would be 400 × 10 = 4,000.

Your numbers will be different, and that is the point.

Show rate and acceptance rate change the economics as much as ad cost does.

What the formula tells you

Once the numbers are in, three things usually become clear.

Show rate and acceptance rate matter as much as ad cost. Improving either one raises the value of every booked appointment, which means you can afford to spend more to get each one. Reminders, follow-up and a good visit process are not side issues; they change the economics.

Calling back fast changes the cost side. If more of your inquiries become booked appointments because they are answered quickly, the cost per booked appointment falls even if ad cost per lead does not change.

You can judge any marketing offer. When someone quotes you a price per lead or a monthly fee, you can translate it into a cost per booked appointment and compare it with your target.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using revenue instead of contribution. It makes every channel look more affordable than it is.
• Assuming lots of lifetime value. Be conservative until you have evidence.
• Ignoring capacity. Budget for the visits your team can actually handle.
• Measuring cost per lead only. Cheap leads that never book are expensive.
• Never updating the numbers. Recalculate every quarter as your rates change.

The short version

Work out the value of an accepted case, adjust for your margin, multiply through your own show and acceptance rates, decide what share you are willing to spend, and multiply by the visits you want. The result is a budget built on your practice's numbers rather than on someone else's averages.