How dental AI can get practice managers through the rest of 2026 without burning out

By November, a dental practice can feel like an airport during a holiday storm. Everyone wants a slot. Someone has canceled. Staff are out sick. And the people keeping things moving are also answering questions about insurance, treatment, and whether there’s time between appointments for a trip to Starbucks.

For practice managers, getting through it means keeping up with administrative work while staying available to patients—and resisting the urge to hop a flight to Bermuda before the shift ends. Dental AI and practice management software automation can take some of that work off their hands.

“I wanna look at anything and everything that will free me up and free the team up to be more patient facing,” says Steven J. Anderson, founder of Total Patient Service Institute.

Pearl’s tools put that approach into practice, helping teams identify outstanding care, prepare for appointments, and check coverage without spending the morning piecing together reports.

Beware the ‘use it or lose it’ email

Many practices have a standard year-end reminder email aimed at patients with remaining benefits. Practice management consultant Theresa Duncan, founder of Odyssey Management, endorses another approach.

“Most offices are already slammed,” Duncan says. “You send that letter, remind people they have benefits, and then they’re frantic when they can’t get in.”

Instead, she suggests practices first identify patients with unscheduled treatment. Pearl’s Practice Intelligence identifies patients with unscheduled dental treatment and organizes them into Smart Call Sheets by procedure type, giving the front desk a starting point for outreach.

Then, Duncan says, “make sure the team knows to look in Pearl to see whether there are benefits left.” Pearl RCM provides instant benefits details and treatment history to the tooth level. Make that part of your outreach call and, “when people come in, if they have benefits remaining, we should remind them.”

Meanwhile when time opens unexpectedly, Practice Intelligence’s Recently Cancelled list can help your team find patients who recently canceled and may be ready to reschedule. Again, pair those lists with benefits information verified by Pearl RCM, and the team has a useful reason to call beyond “the year is almost over.”

Put same-day dentistry on the morning agenda

Auditing charts and putting together your morning huddle takes work. It should be more than just a reading of the day’s schedule, it should be treated as your team’s opportunity to identify opportunities for same-day dentistry. That’s because uncovering outstanding treatment needs during the appointment can leave everyone scrambling to accommodate it.

“Being prepared ahead of time allows more same day dentistry,” says Sheela Roth, Pearl’s head of clinical education.

Practice Intelligence’s automated chart audits save you time by bringing scheduled, unscheduled, and AI-predicted treatment needs into the daily schedule. Its Daily Huddles give each provider a personalized view of what’s ahead, so the team can discuss potential care needs and available time before patients arrive.

Clinicians still evaluate the findings and determine treatment. The team gets more time to prepare for that decision, including checking coverage and making room in the schedule.

Help patients understand the recommendation

Patients weighing treatment before year-end need to understand both the clinical need and the likely cost.

Second Opinion highlights suspected disease on x-rays in color, helping dentists explain what they see. That gives patients something concrete to follow during a conversation that might otherwise depend on unfamiliar terminology and a grayscale image.

With current benefits details available through Pearl RCM, clinicians can also explain how coverage may apply. A patient considering treatment gets a clearer picture of what’s recommended and what they may owe.

“Make it easy for your patients to say yes, clear the clouds, clear the confusion,” Anderson says. “Present one fee with some easy options for them to choose from.”

Reduce the insurance backlog before January

Insurance work gets particularly messy at the turn of the year. Teams are checking remaining benefits while preparing for renewed plans, reset deductibles, and changes that aren’t always obvious.

“Today they don’t change the group number and the whole plan design could be different,” says insurance expert Theresa Duncan. That means an existing treatment estimate may need another look, even when a patient appears to have the same insurance.

Pearl RCM automates verification, reducing the manual work of retrieving benefits information. Before year-end, those details help teams discuss outstanding care with patients who want to use their remaining coverage. Once plans renew, fresh checks help practices update estimates before January appointments.

Duncan recommends starting with the employers that cover the most patients. “You should know your top 10 employers,” she says, and “know those benefits inside out.” Checking those plans when the new coverage year begins can help teams spot changes, then verify each patient’s benefits.

The time saved on routine verification also gives staff room to work aging claims and correct outdated insurance records. Add updated fee schedules and a review of new codes, and January starts with fewer surprises waiting at checkout.

Give AI the busywork. Give patients your time. Bermuda can wait until you’re off the clock.