Why charge a diagnostic fee for the Complete Dental Physical instead of including it in a free workup?
Because the fee serves several purposes beyond covering the in-person hour. It qualifies the patient as serious. A patient who declines to pay a reasonable diagnostic fee is signaling that they are not yet committed to investing in a real solution, which saves both sides the time and embarrassment of going further. It functions as a second qualifying step beyond the information packet. It also positions the doctor’s time and expertise as genuinely valuable rather than something given away. The fee does not have to cover the full all-in cost of preparing a treatment plan, which for a medium-to-large case can involve five to fifteen hours of doctor and team time once everything is added up. The fee covers the visible hour the patient is in the chair and signals professional value. The reciprocity built earlier in the free or very-low-cost consultation balances against the structured cost of the diagnostic visit. The math works because the qualifying effect lifts case acceptance on the work that follows.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.
