End of year checklist for dentists

End-of-year checklist for a flying start to 2026

Again, we find ourselves wondering where the year has gone, with the end of 2025 now on the horizon.

So, I think it’s high time I laid out a checklist of points I recommend you cover now to get off to a flying start in 2026.

Take stock of your practice and its performance now, and you improve its future…

Mystery shop your competitors – and your own practice(s) too!

Once the domain of the retail sector, ‘Mystery Shopping’ is now used by dentists. There are dental practices already gaining on their competitors as they learn how they can improve their initial patient experience.

So, decide who your closest competitors are and ask an appropriate person to call them to gauge how well their receptionists respond to your call, what information they offer, and what fees they are charging.

You can only find out about so much, so decide what’s most important to you first.

The fee information is especially useful at this time of year when you need to consider where you can and should raise your own prices from the start of 2026 to counter-balance your growing costs.

Then, ask someone to do the same for your practice so you can compare the initial impression your practice gives to the outside world with how well your team motivates potential patients to choose your practice over one of your competitors.

Review your patient experience

When was the last time you and your team took a step back to consider what it is like to be a patient at your practice?

It’s a vital thought process if you want to protect the patients you already have and encourage them to talk about you to others.

The above review will indicate whether you need to work harder on your initial phone impression to stand out from the crowd.

So you can start there and work through the different points of your patient ‘journey’ to ask yourselves where you can make the experience a little more ‘special’.

Remember, it’s the little things that count.

This can also be a process which helps rejuvenate and re-focus your team for the coming new year.

Review your key numbers

What numbers do you measure in your dental business? Profit? Turnover? Cost of materials?

These are all vital figures, of course – but consider for a second: where do these numbers come from? How are they generated?

Your bottom line financials don’t just appear. They are a result of what you do every day. Your efforts. Your systems. They are a consequence of these things.

As a consequence of these things, it makes sense that to improve them, you need to work on the underlying numbers that influence them, the factors that drive them, and make them better.

Take a look at your patient recall rate, treatment conversion rate, and other key metrics, and ask yourself whether you’re delighted with these numbers.

If you don’t feel they are as good as they can be, look at your working systems and think about how you can improve them.

Benchmark your financials

When a dental accountant reviews your accounts, they will calculate specific ratios based on the numbers provided.

I’m not referring to standard accounting ratios, such as current assets versus current liabilities, here.

A specialist dental accountant will also examine industry-specific ratios, such as the percentage of material and lab fees compared to overall costs, the wages bill as a percentage of fees, and so on.

And if, as a result of their specialist knowledge, they can see you aren’t achieving the kind of ratios they would expect you to, they’ll suggest constructive and realistic ways to redress the balance.

They’ll be able to help you review the return you have seen from your marketing investment as well.

It is essential to evaluate your marketing spending and success at this time of year so you can make informed decisions about whether to continue paying for advertisements, online directories, and other marketing efforts next year.

Book your 2026 holiday time

Another crucial point for maximising the performance of your business is protecting yourself!

As much as possible, sit down with the other people involved in the decision and earmark a time when you have time off next year.

Then, reserve it in advance in your practice diary.

The result?

You avoid working without a proper break for long periods during the year
You maintain a more refreshed and renewed approach to your practice, your patients and your work
You have an enhanced sense of purpose in your everyday activities as you look forward to your next break
Your team know in advance when you’ll be off, so there’s no confusion about when to book patients or how to allocate team members

(pssst…you are the owner of your business – shouldn’t you get ‘first dibs’ on holiday time?)