Dentrix Treatment Manager: Fill Your Schedule Before Year-End

September is one of my favorite times of year. Football is back, fall is around the corner, and dental practices have a huge opportunity sitting right inside their Dentrix software.

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This is the time to start reaching out to patients with unscheduled treatment and remaining dental insurance benefits.

Why start now instead of waiting until November or December?

Because your patients need time to schedule. Your practice needs time to complete treatment. And your team needs time to follow up before those year-end schedules get packed.

For many dental plans, unused benefits expire at the end of the year. While not every plan renews January 1, many do. That gives us an opportunity to educate patients and help them maximize benefits they've already paid for.

Make Year-End Dental Benefits a Team Conversation

This isn't just an admin-team project.

I recommend bringing it up during your next morning huddle. Let your entire team know that you're entering the time of year when conversations about unscheduled treatment become even more important.

Your hygienists can review outstanding treatment when patients are in the chair. Your dental assistants can reinforce recommendations when they see treatment still sitting on the patient's plan.

Simple language works:

"I see you still have this crown on your treatment plan, and you may have dental benefits remaining for this year. Let's make sure you don't lose an opportunity to use them."

We're not pressuring patients. We're educating them so they can make informed decisions.

And remember, getting patients to move forward isn't just about insurance benefits. How your team presents, tracks, and follows up on treatment matters too. If you want to dig deeper into that process, I explain how case acceptance is tracked in Dentrix and how to manage it more effectively.

Use Dentrix Treatment Manager to Find Unscheduled Treatment

For the admin team, one of my favorite Dentrix tools is Treatment Manager.

If you've heard me speak before, you know my nickname for Treatment Manager: mining for gold 💰

That's because your Dentrix Treatment Manager can uncover patients who already have diagnosed treatment but walked out without scheduling.

I recommend starting with recently diagnosed treatment. Look back approximately two weeks to five months.

Why?

This is your low-hanging fruit. The diagnosis is still relatively fresh in the patient's mind, and you have a natural reason to reconnect.

If Treatment Manager isn't already part of your team's regular workflow, read my step-by-step guide to using Dentrix Treatment Manager to increase case acceptance and recover unscheduled treatment. This is one report I believe every treatment coordinator should know how to use.

Filter Dentrix Treatment Manager by Remaining Benefits

This time of year, I make one important adjustment to my usual Treatment Manager workflow: look at remaining insurance benefits.

Dentrix Treatment Manager allows you to narrow the list based on remaining benefits. For example, you might look for patients who:

• Have unscheduled treatment
• Were diagnosed within the past five months
• Have at least $500 in remaining benefits
• Belong to a particular insurance plan

If your practice has a large employer or insurance plan in your area, you can become even more strategic.

Instead of randomly calling patients, you're creating a focused list of people who have diagnosed treatment and potential insurance dollars available to help pay for it.

That's a much more productive use of your team's time.

Don't Print the Dentrix Treatment Manager Report

Treatment Manager is an interactive Dentrix report, so please don't print it.

Work from it electronically.

You can also export Treatment Manager information to Excel if you have a specific reason to work with the data outside Dentrix. Depending on your patient engagement software, you may also be able to create email or text campaigns for patients with unscheduled treatment.

Your message can be simple:

"We're getting close to the end of the year, and it looks like you may still have dental benefits available. You also have treatment that hasn't been scheduled. Please call or text us so we can review your treatment and benefits with you."

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Document Treatment Follow-Up in the Dentrix Office Journal

Once you start reaching out, document everything in the Dentrix Office Journal.

I love the Office Journal because it gives your team one centralized place for communication notes.

Document:

• Treatment follow-up calls
• Text or email conversations
• Financial arrangement discussions
• Financing conversations
• Patient questions
• Next follow-up date

You can even create an Office Journal reminder for yourself.

If Mrs. Jones tells you she's applying for financing and asks you to call back Friday, create the reminder. When Friday arrives, Dentrix can remind you that it's time to follow up.

That's how you turn follow-up from something your team tries to remember into an actual system.

If your team isn't sure what belongs in the Office Journal versus other areas of the patient's record, my guide on where to make notes in Dentrix explains where different types of documentation should live so your entire team can find the information they need.

Start Now, Not in December

Don't wait until December to start sending "use it or lose it" messages.

By then, your schedule may already be full.

Start in September. Give your clinical team time to educate patients. Give your treatment coordinator time to follow up. Give your patients enough time to make financial decisions and schedule treatment.

Dentrix Treatment Manager isn't just a report. It's a tool for filling your schedule, improving case acceptance, and helping patients complete diagnosed treatment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Dentrix Treatment Manager?

Dentrix Treatment Manager is an interactive tool that helps dental teams identify patients with diagnosed treatment that has not yet been scheduled.

Can Dentrix Treatment Manager show remaining insurance benefits?

Yes. Treatment Manager includes filtering options that can help you identify patients with remaining insurance benefits and unscheduled treatment.

When should dental offices start year-end insurance follow-up?

I recommend starting around September for plans that renew January 1. This gives your team and patients several months to schedule and complete treatment.

How far back should I search for unscheduled treatment?

For routine treatment follow-up, I recommend starting with treatment diagnosed approximately two weeks to five months ago. This keeps your team focused on relatively recent opportunities.

Where should my team document treatment follow-up in Dentrix?

I recommend using the Dentrix Office Journal. It creates a centralized record of patient communication and allows your team to create reminders for future follow-up.

Turn Your Unscheduled Treatment Into Completed Dentistry

Your patients may have thousands of dollars in diagnosed treatment sitting unscheduled in Dentrix right now.

Don't let it sit there.

Use Treatment Manager. Review remaining benefits. Get your entire team involved. Document your conversations in the Office Journal and create reminders for the next step.

Most importantly, start early.

Your goal isn't simply to fill holes in the schedule. It's to help patients move forward with treatment they already need while building a consistent follow-up system your team can use all year long.

If your team needs help creating better systems for Dentrix treatment follow-up, case acceptance, and scheduling, schedule a Discovery Call with me. I'd love to help you optimize the software you already have and build workflows that support a high-performing dental team.