Is a $75 dental diagnostic exam fee actually working in a complex-case practice?
No. The standard $75 to $150 exam fee, copied from insurance coding designed for routine dentistry, breaks complex-case selling at the qualifying step. A meaningful diagnostic fee filters Type 1 patients (no means) and Type 2 patients (means but unwilling) before they consume chair time. At $100, almost everyone pays without thinking. At $300 or higher, the fee itself qualifies the patient: those genuinely serious pay it without resistance, those just curious self-disqualify. The fee also begins to cover the actual cost of the comprehensive diagnostic work being done (photos, models, simulations, CT scans, occlusal studies). Practices stuck at $75 give away their best diagnostic work and attract less serious prospects. Both problems compound.
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.