Vertical research · Ranked #7 of 10
Dental practices
Large, stable practices with strong retention, but a meaningful share of revenue arrives through insurance rather than the card rail.
- Opportunity score
- 71.2 / 100
- Recommended plan
- Growth
- Platform fee
- 0.60%
- Modelled revenue per merchant
- $5,508 / yr
- Businesses in scope
- 122,000
- Typical monthly card volume
- $60,000
- Average transaction
- $350
- Confidence
- 66%
How this industry scored
| Measure | Weight | Score (0–100) | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processing volume per merchant | 30% | 78 | Large practices, but insurance diverts card volume. |
| Expected retention | 20% | 86 | Extremely low voluntary switching. |
| Acquisition through search | 20% | 66 | Search demand exists but incumbents dominate results. |
| Fit for recurring billing | 20% | 58 | In-house membership plans are growing from a small base. |
| Risk profile (higher is safer) | 10% | 58 | Health-adjacent data and financing disputes. |
The overall opportunity score is the weighted average of these five measures.
Market size and merchant population
The American Dental Association Health Policy Institute publishes quarterly reporting on the state of the US dental economy, covering a large, stable population of practices with high average revenue per location.
Confidence 66%
How money actually moves
Patient responsibility is paid by card, but a substantial share of practice revenue arrives as insurance remittance that never touches a card rail. In-house membership plans for uninsured patients are the growth area and do recur monthly.
Confidence 64%
Modelled platform revenue per merchant
Modelled on the Growth plan at $99 a month plus a 0.60% platform fee, counting only patient-paid volume. Stripe processing is charged separately by Stripe.
| Scenario | Monthly card volume | Platform revenue per year | Over three years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $32,000 | $3,492 | $10,476 |
| Base case | $60,000 | $5,508 | $16,524 |
| Aggressive | $110,000 | $9,108 | $27,324 |
Confidence 58%
Search and AI answer opportunity
Search results for dental payments are dominated by practice management incumbents and patient financing companies. Membership plan billing is the one clear content gap.
Confidence 58%
Risks and objections
Insurance keeps a large share of revenue off the platform, which halves effective volume per merchant. Health-adjacent data handling and treatment financing disputes raise the compliance bar.
Confidence 62%
Our recommendation
Hold for later. Retention is excellent and membership plans are growing, but insurance remittance keeps a large share of revenue off the card rail and incumbent practice software owns the workflow.
- Sales difficulty
- Harder — practice management software incumbents are entrenched
- Retention
- Very strong — practices almost never change payment rails voluntarily
- Risk
- Elevated — health data adjacency and treatment-plan financing disputes
Sources
- American Dental Association — Dental Practice Research
Ongoing dental practice research and benchmarks.
Checked 2026-09-09
- American Dental Association Health Policy Institute — State of the US Dental Economy Q4 2025
Quarterly reporting on the state of the US dental economy.
Checked 2026-09-09
Revenue figures on this page are our own modelling of Enterprise Pay Gateway subscription and platform fees, not measured platform data, and they exclude Stripe's own processing charges. Cited facts link to their original source above.