To start a dental membership plan, set goals, review your patient base, choose included services and tiers, price each tier from your own fees, review the agreement for your state, set the plan up in your practice management system, train your team, launch and market it, then review results after six to twelve months. With a platform like Clerri, most practices are live in about two weeks.
What a dental membership plan is
A dental membership plan, also called an in-house or in-office plan, is a plan your practice offers directly to patients. Members pay a set fee to your practice and get a defined set of preventive services each year, plus a percentage off other treatment. There is no third party setting your fees or processing claims, and the recurring revenue goes to your practice.
Dental membership plans are not insurance. They are a direct arrangement between your practice and your patients, which is why the agreement, the pricing, and state rules matter as much as the services you include.
How to start a dental membership plan in 9 steps
Step 1: Set goals for the plan
Decide who the plan is for and what it should do for the practice. Most plans start with patients who pay for their own care, families who want predictable costs, and patients who are overdue for hygiene. Common goals are more recall visits, higher treatment acceptance, recurring monthly revenue, and less dependence on PPO contracts.
Pick two or three numbers to track from day one, such as members enrolled per month, renewal rate, and visits per member. You will use them in step 9.
Step 2: Review your patient base
Your existing patients are usually your first members. Pull three lists from your practice management system: active patients who pay for their own care, patients overdue for a hygiene visit, and patients with unscheduled treatment. The size of those lists tells you how many members you can realistically expect in the first year and which tiers you need.
Step 3: Choose included services and design your tiers
Start from the common baseline: two cleanings, two exams, and routine X-rays per plan year, plus a discount on other treatment. Then decide which add-ons each tier includes, such as fluoride, an emergency (limited) exam, or periodontal maintenance.
Adult, child, senior, and perio maintenance tiers cover most practices. Perio patients get their own tier so the plan matches their clinical schedule instead of discounting it. The American Dental Association advises being "very specific" about which procedures a plan includes and how often, so write every service with its frequency.
Our free dental membership plan template has fill-in tier templates for all four tiers and a printable worksheet.
Step 4: Price each tier from your own fees
Pricing works backward from your fee schedule:
- List each included service, your usual fee, and how many times per year it is included.
- Add the lines to get the annual value of the bundle at your fees.
- Set the annual fee below that total so joining is a clear saving, but above what the bundle costs you to deliver at full use.
- Set the monthly fee: the annual fee divided by 12, or slightly more to reward paying up front.
- Set the discount on other treatment. On average across the Clerri platform, members save 10% to 25% on other procedures.
- Set family pricing. Most plans on the Clerri platform offer a 5% to 10% discount for adding family members.
For example, a bundle worth $500 a year at your fees might be priced at $399 a year or $35 a month. The ADA adds one more test: whether revenue lost by discounting fees for existing patients who pay for their own care is offset by new patients and by treatment they would not otherwise accept. For more on that math, read how to start a plan without losing money.
Step 5: Write the agreement and check your state's rules
The member agreement should state exactly what the member pays, what they get, how the plan renews and ends, and that the plan is not insurance. At a minimum, cover:
- Fee and billing: amount, monthly or annual, billing date, and written consent to recurring charges
- What's included and excluded, with frequencies
- Discount terms and which procedures they apply to
- Auto-renewal, cancellation, refunds, and notice before plan changes
- A plain statement that the plan is not insurance, plus any disclosures your state requires
State rules vary. 36 states license discount medical plan organizations, California regulates plans under Knox-Keene, and some states exempt discounts a provider gives its own patients while others do not. If you are in network with any carriers, check your contracts for "most favored nation" clauses, which the ADA notes could affect what a carrier pays you. Have the final agreement reviewed by an attorney who knows your state's rules.
Clerri holds DMPO licenses in all 36 states that require them and builds plans to the applicable rules in all 50 states. The membership plan compliance guide covers the state-by-state details.
Step 6: Set up enrollment, billing, and tracking
Someone has to enroll members, charge cards every month or year, retry failed payments, send renewals, and track which included services each member has used. You can run a plan from a spreadsheet, from your practice management system, or from a membership platform.
| Task | Running it yourself | With a membership platform |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment | Paper or PDF forms, entered by hand | Enroll from the schedule inside your PMS |
| Recurring billing | Card charges run and reconciled by staff | Automatic monthly or annual billing |
| Failed payments and renewals | Tracked and chased manually | Automatic retries, reminders, and renewals |
| Benefit tracking | Spreadsheet or notes on the patient record | Used and remaining services on the patient record |
| Compliance | Your own legal review in your state | Platform-held licenses where required |
| Marketing | Built by your team | Often included |
Whatever you choose, create the plan in your practice management system so visits and used benefits are tracked on the patient record. Clerri Bridge connects to 13 practice management systems, including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Denticon, and CareStack, and staff enroll a patient in about 30 seconds from the schedule.
Step 7: Train your team
The front desk and hygienists will sell the plan, so give them a one-sentence explanation and decide who offers it and when, for example at check-out, during treatment presentations, and when a patient asks about cost. A simple script:
"Our membership plan includes your cleanings, exams, and X-rays for one monthly fee, and you save on any other treatment you need."
Practice the common questions, especially "Is this insurance?" (no, it is a plan with our practice) and "Can I cancel?" (answer from your agreement). Our patient FAQs are a useful starting point.
Step 8: Launch and market the plan
Launch to the lists you pulled in step 2 first: patients who pay for their own care, overdue hygiene patients, and patients with unscheduled treatment. Then keep the plan visible with recall messages, chairside and front-desk signage, a page on your website, and a mention in every treatment presentation. Patient marketing is often the difference between a plan that grows and one that stalls.
Step 9: Review and adjust after six to twelve months
Check the numbers you chose in step 1: enrollment, renewal rate, visits per member, treatment acceptance, and failed payments. Adjust tiers or pricing if a tier is not selling or members use more than the fee supports, and give members the notice your agreement requires before any change. A membership base matures over the first one to two years as enrollment compounds.
How long does it take to start a dental membership plan?
Designing the plan takes days. The longer steps are the agreement review and setting up billing and tracking. With Clerri, most practices are live in about two weeks:
| Phase | What happens | Typical time with Clerri |
|---|---|---|
| Configure | Services, tiers, and pricing set with a specialist | Days |
| Go live | Agreement reviewed, team trained, plan open to patients | About two weeks |
| Grow | Patients join at visits and through marketing | The first one to two years |
Common mistakes when starting a plan
- Copying another practice's prices instead of pricing from your own fees
- Vague included services ("routine care") instead of each service with its frequency
- Skipping the state review, or assuming the plan name decides which rules apply
- No one on the team owns the plan, so enrollment stalls after launch
- Tracking renewals and failed payments by hand until they slip
- Launching quietly, without telling the patients most likely to join
What results to expect
Membership changes how patients use the practice. Once patients join a Clerri plan, they average 76% more visits, 146% more treatment, and 172% more cash production than before they joined, about $807 more production per member each year. See the full data in The Membership Effect.
Starting a dental membership plan: FAQs
How long does it take to start a dental membership plan?
Designing the plan takes days. With a platform like Clerri, most practices are live in about two weeks, including the agreement review and team training. The member base then grows over the first one to two years.
Do I need software to run a membership plan?
Not to start. A small plan can run from a spreadsheet and your practice management system. As enrollment grows, recurring billing, renewals, failed payments, and benefit tracking add front-desk work every week, which is what membership software automates.
Is a dental membership plan insurance?
No. A dental membership plan is a direct arrangement between a practice and its patients: members pay the practice a set fee for defined services and a discount on other treatment. Your agreement should say so plainly.
Is it legal to offer a membership plan in my state?
In-house plans are offered in every state, but the rules differ. 36 states license discount medical plan organizations and California regulates plans under Knox-Keene. Have your agreement reviewed for your state, or use a platform that holds the required licenses.
How much should I charge for a dental membership plan?
Price each tier from your own fees: total the included services, set the annual fee below that total but above your cost to deliver, and divide by 12 for the monthly fee. The template has a worksheet.
Can I offer a membership plan if I am in network with PPOs?
Yes, many practices do. Review your carrier contracts first, since the ADA notes that "most favored nation" clauses could affect what a carrier pays if your plan fees are lower.
Sources
- American Dental Association, Is an in-office dental plan right for your practice?
- Clerri, Dental membership plan compliance guide
- Clerri, The Membership Effect
- Clerri, Dental membership plan template
