The $1,500 Question Every Dental Owner Should Be Able to Answer

By Ed Gabriel, CPA, DrillDown Solution, and David Harris, Forensic CPA, CFE, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Prosperident

Most of the dentists we work with are excellent clinicians and capable business owners. Very few are trained investigators, and they should not have to be.

Yet there is an uncomfortable reality that comes with owning a dental practice: the person best positioned to steal from the business is often someone the owner trusts completely.

Embezzlement in dentistry is not a rare occurrence. Research suggests that 70% of dentists will be victimized at least once during their careers, and the median loss can be significant enough to change retirement plans.

Dental practices can be particularly vulnerable because of the way money moves through them. There are hundreds of small transactions, payments arriving through multiple channels, practice management systems that owners may not personally monitor in detail, and, in many cases, one trusted employee with significant control over the financial process.

The challenge is that embezzlement rarely begins with obvious proof.

It usually begins with a feeling that something does not add up.

When the Numbers Do Not Match the Story

One dentist recently shared an experience with Ed that illustrates how easily warning signs can hide in plain sight.

When the dentist purchased the practice, the seller’s longtime practice manager stayed on. She strongly objected when the new owner wanted to hire an outside bookkeeper and insisted that she continue handling the finances herself.

In hindsight, that was the first warning sign.

Over the following months, production continued to climb, but the practice’s bank account barely moved. After several strong production months failed to produce the expected cash flow, the owner began looking more closely at the numbers.

There was a significant gap between adjusted production and collections, and the difference could not be reasonably explained.

When the owner asked about it, the response was vague. The discrepancy was attributed to “double pre-authorizations.”

The explanation did not hold up.

That question became the starting point for uncovering years of embezzlement that had been hiding in plain sight. After learning about Prosperident at a dental conference, the dentist reached out for professional help.

The story is noteworthy because the warning signs were not dramatic. The practice was producing. Patients were being seen. The office was functioning.

The numbers simply did not make sense.

The Problem With Suspicion

That is the situation we encounter frequently.

Collections may look respectable, but the bank balance never seems to reflect them. An office manager has not taken a meaningful vacation in years and becomes uncomfortable when someone else handles deposits. Adjustments or write-offs gradually increase without a clear clinical explanation.

Something feels wrong, but the owner does not have proof.

Dentists in this position often feel caught between two bad options.

The first is to do nothing. A suspicion is not evidence, and accusing a longtime employee of theft could have serious consequences if the suspicion is wrong.

The second is to investigate personally.

That can create an entirely different set of problems. An amateur investigation may alert the person involved, compromise evidence, or reduce the practice’s ability to pursue recovery, prosecution, or an insurance claim later.

What has historically been missing is a reasonable step between ignoring a concern and launching a full forensic investigation.

A Diagnostic, Not a Diagnosis

FIRST LOOK, developed by Prosperident, is designed to fill that gap.

It is a screening service built to answer one specific question:

Do this practice’s records contain enough evidence of concern to justify a full forensic investigation?

The process is intentionally straightforward.

The practice owner contacts Prosperident and receives instructions through a secure intake process, including a list of reports to generate from the practice management system and recent bank statements to provide.

For most owners, assembling the requested information takes less than two hours.

A Prosperident analyst then reviews the information for patterns and warning signs associated with dental embezzlement. Within five business days, the owner receives a written assessment in plain language.

The cost is $1,500 per practice. If the findings warrant a full investigation, half of that fee is credited toward the cost of the investigation.

Just as importantly, the process is covert. There is no office visit, no employee interview, and no staff involvement that would signal that a review is taking place.

The service can be used by general dentists and specialists and is designed to work with North American dental practice management systems.

Why We Recommend It

From an accounting perspective, the value of FIRST LOOK is simple: it turns an unresolved concern into a more informed business decision.

A financial statement review, no matter how well performed, is not designed to identify a carefully concealed theft. Neither is a traditional financial statement audit, which most dental practices do not undergo.

Fraud screening is a different discipline, and suspected embezzlement should be evaluated by professionals who understand how theft occurs specifically within dental practices.

The economics are also worth considering.

A $1,500 screening fee is small compared with the potential financial impact of an embezzlement scheme that continues unnoticed for months or years.

If the review finds no meaningful signs of concern, the owner has greater confidence in the integrity of the practice’s financial activity and can stop wondering whether something is wrong.

If the review does uncover red flags, the owner learns that before taking actions that could compromise evidence or limit future options.

Either outcome provides something valuable: clarity.

The Question Every Owner Should Be Able to Answer

If production is strong but cash flow feels wrong, if financial explanations consistently leave you with more questions than answers, or if one employee has unusually tight control over the practice’s financial processes, those concerns are worth understanding.

That does not mean embezzlement is occurring.

It does mean the owner should have a reliable way to determine whether further investigation is warranted.

A suspicion that cannot be resolved affects more than a bank account. It can influence how an owner manages the practice, evaluates employees, delegates responsibilities, and makes long-term financial decisions.

For a defined fee and a matter of days, sign up here for your FIRST LOOK and replace uncertainty with an informed next step.

Ed Gabriel, CPA, is President and Partner of DrillDown Solution, which has served dental practices exclusively since 2004. David Harris, Forensic CPA, CFE, MBA, is Chief Executive Officer of Prosperident, the world’s largest dental embezzlement investigation firm.

Learn more or contact DrillDown Solution at https://drilldownsolution.com/