Customer Story
She was producing $70K a month. Only $58K was showing up.
A cosmetic practice that couldn't figure out why collections never matched production.
"I'd look at our production numbers at the end of the month and think, okay, solid month. Then I'd check the bank account and it just... didn't match. I couldn't figure out where the money was going."
Dr. Shweta Gandhi
Founder, Dental Cosmetic Center of Edison
Quick Background
Dental Cosmetic Center has been in Edison, New Jersey for 12 years. Dr. Shweta Gandhi runs it with a small team. Veneers, implants, Invisalign, whitening. Cosmetic work that makes people feel good about their smile.
Dr. Gandhi kept seeing the same pattern. Good production month. Collections that didn't match.
The gap wasn't huge on any single case. But it added up:
⏳ Insurance verification took days. Patient ready to schedule? "We'll call you back once we hear from your insurance." Some of them never came back.
😕 Patient estimates were often wrong. Insurance paid less than expected. Patient got a surprise bill. Some paid it, some didn't.
🕳️ Charges slipped through the cracks. Second visit of a treatment plan? Sometimes it just didn't get billed. Nobody noticed until months later.
📭 Patient balances sat there. $300 here, $500 there. Nobody followed up. Eventually it felt awkward to ask.
Dr. Gandhi kept seeing the same pattern. Good production month. Collections that didn't match.
The gap wasn't huge on any single case. But it added up:
⏳ Insurance verification took days. Patient ready to schedule? "We'll call you back once we hear from your insurance." Some of them never came back.
😕 Patient estimates were often wrong. Insurance paid less than expected. Patient got a surprise bill. Some paid it, some didn't.
🕳️ Charges slipped through the cracks. Second visit of a treatment plan? Sometimes it just didn't get billed. Nobody noticed until months later.
📭 Patient balances sat there. $300 here, $500 there. Nobody followed up. Eventually it felt awkward to ask.
Annual collections
$840K
Happy patients
2,400+
Years in practice
12
Here's what was actually happening
General dentistry billing is straightforward. Cleanings, fillings, crowns. Insurance knows what to do with it.
Cosmetic is messier:
💄 Cosmetic codes often get denied, but there's a workaround. Veneers might be "not covered" but pay at 50% if you bill them as crowns. Bonding might pay as a filling. You just have to know how each plan works.
📅 Annual maximums run out fast. Patient needs $4,000 in work but has a $1,500 max? You either phase it across two years or they pay way more out of pocket than they expected.
🧾 Patient portions are confusing. When someone owes $1,800 out of pocket and they thought it would be $1,200, they get frustrated. And frustrated patients don't always pay.
⏰ Small teams don't have time for this. When the front desk is checking patients in, answering phones, and scheduling, they can't also spend 45 minutes on hold with Cigna.
Cosmetic is messier:
💄 Cosmetic codes often get denied, but there's a workaround. Veneers might be "not covered" but pay at 50% if you bill them as crowns. Bonding might pay as a filling. You just have to know how each plan works.
📅 Annual maximums run out fast. Patient needs $4,000 in work but has a $1,500 max? You either phase it across two years or they pay way more out of pocket than they expected.
🧾 Patient portions are confusing. When someone owes $1,800 out of pocket and they thought it would be $1,200, they get frustrated. And frustrated patients don't always pay.
⏰ Small teams don't have time for this. When the front desk is checking patients in, answering phones, and scheduling, they can't also spend 45 minutes on hold with Cigna.
"My front desk is great with patients. But I was asking them to also be insurance experts. That's two different jobs. And we only had time for one."
Dr. Shweta Gandhi
Founder, Dental Cosmetic Center of Edison
After Lavender Dental
Metric
Before
After
Collection rate
83%
94%
Time to verification
4 days
Same day
Patient AR over 60 days
$17K
$5K
Dr. Gandhi's evenings
Aging reports
Her kids
✅ Patients trust the numbers now. When she gives an estimate, it's accurate. No surprise bills. That builds trust and closes cases.
📈 She's thinking about growth again. Hard to invest in marketing when 27% of revenue is disappearing. Now the foundation is solid.
"A patient told me she'd talked to two other offices about veneers. We were the only ones who gave her a clear number on what she'd owe, same day. She scheduled that afternoon. That didn't used to happen."
Dr. Shweta Gandhi
Founder, Dental Cosmetic Center of Edison
What we actually did
We took over billing and rebuilt it around how a cosmetic practice actually runs:
⚡ Same-day insurance verification. Patient interested in veneers? By the time they leave the consult, we know what their plan covers and what they'll owe. No more "we'll call you in a few days."
🧮 Accurate patient estimates upfront. We check the fee schedule, the annual max, what's already been used. Patient gets a real number, not a guess.
📋 Every visit tracked and billed. Treatment plans with multiple appointments? Each one gets logged and billed. Nothing falls through.
📞 Patient balance follow-up on a schedule. 30 days, 45 days, 60 days. Friendly but consistent. No more money sitting there for months.
🎯 Cosmetic coding done right. We know which plans pay veneers as crowns, which ones don't, and how to maximize what the patient gets back.
First month, we collected $4,200 in patient balances that had been sitting there untouched. That was money just waiting to be asked for.
⚡ Same-day insurance verification. Patient interested in veneers? By the time they leave the consult, we know what their plan covers and what they'll owe. No more "we'll call you in a few days."
🧮 Accurate patient estimates upfront. We check the fee schedule, the annual max, what's already been used. Patient gets a real number, not a guess.
📋 Every visit tracked and billed. Treatment plans with multiple appointments? Each one gets logged and billed. Nothing falls through.
📞 Patient balance follow-up on a schedule. 30 days, 45 days, 60 days. Friendly but consistent. No more money sitting there for months.
🎯 Cosmetic coding done right. We know which plans pay veneers as crowns, which ones don't, and how to maximize what the patient gets back.
First month, we collected $4,200 in patient balances that had been sitting there untouched. That was money just waiting to be asked for.