For dental clinics

Dental clinic software for treatments, patient balances and lab costs

A dental practice bills in stages but buys in one go. The crown is fitted in week six, the lab invoiced you in week two, and the patient paid a third of it in week one.

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The gap between the work and the money

Dentistry is one of the few trades where you buy the goods before the patient decides whether to come back. A crown or a denture is made by an outside lab, and the lab bills you on thirty-day terms whether or not anyone turns up.

The patient, meanwhile, pays in pieces. Something at the impression, something at the fitting, the rest next week. Nine unfinished plans in a month is normal for a two-chair practice.

Few practices can say, on a given Tuesday, how much of the lab's invoice has been collected from the patients it belongs to. PesaScope keeps the balance on the patient and the lab bill on the supplier, so the two sit side by side.

How a practice runs a treatment plan

  1. Record each visit as it happensExamination, scaling, extraction, root canal stage one — each visit its own record at the price for that stage, against the same patient.
  2. Take what the patient pays that dayPart-payment is the norm. Enter what was handed over; the shortfall becomes a balance on that patient rather than a pencil note on a card.
  3. Put the lab bill where it belongsThe lab is a supplier. Record its invoice as a purchase so the cost of the crown falls in the same month as the crown.
  4. Settle up at the fittingWhen the plan finishes, the profile shows every visit and every payment. Print the statement and there is nothing to argue about.

The treatment list a practice sets up

Pick "Dental clinic" at sign-up and this list is already there. Price each item the way you quote it at the chair, per stage.

Examination & consultation Scaling & polishing Composite filling Simple extraction Surgical extraction Root canal (per stage) Crown fitting Denture or partial

Pricing per stage is what matters. A plan entered as one lump sum tells you nothing once a patient stops coming halfway through.

A month, with the lab counted against the work

Fillings & extractions × 128UGX 6,400,000
Root canal & crown work, 14 plansUGX 8,400,000
Scaling & polishing × 46UGX 2,760,000
Dentures & partialsUGX 3,200,000
Outside lab invoices− UGX 4,600,000
Composite, anaesthetic, burs− UGX 1,750,000
Wages, rent, sterilisation, power− UGX 7,900,000
Earned this monthUGX 6,510,000

The lab's UGX 4,600,000 fell due in thirty days, in full. UGX 3,100,000 of the work it covered was still unpaid by patients. The fillings and scalings financed the lab — workable, once you know you are doing it.

No charts, no clinical records

PesaScope is not a dental records system. No tooth chart, no periodontal charting, no radiographs, no treatment notes, no clinical history, and none of it planned. It is not an EMR.

A patient here is a name, a phone number, what they were billed for and what they have paid. Charting stays where it lives now, on paper or in your imaging software.

What you get instead is the answer a chart cannot give: which plans are half-finished and half-paid, what the lab has cost you, and whether the month covered its bills.

Where a practice loses money

  1. Plans abandoned after the lab workThe impression is taken, the lab is paid, the patient stops answering. The balance stays on their profile, so the loss is visible rather than forgotten.
  2. Consumables nobody costsComposite, anaesthetic and burs are bought in bulk and never set against a treatment. Recording them is the only way a filling price gets tested.
  3. Free reviewsA follow-up at no charge still uses a chair, a nurse and twenty minutes. Recording it at zero keeps it countable.
  4. Discounts given at the chairEnter the price actually charged, never the list price. Record list prices and collect less, and you will believe you are doing better than you are.

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Questions dentists ask

Is this dental record software?

No. PesaScope holds no clinical information — no charting, no radiographs, no treatment notes, no medical history. It is the money side of the practice only.

Can I follow a treatment plan across several visits?

Yes, by recording each visit against the same patient at the price for that stage. Their profile shows the sequence and the balance outstanding.

Does it chase patients for their balance?

Not on its own — automated customer reminder emails are part of Pro. Otherwise you work from the debtors list and call, which is what most practices do anyway.

How do I handle the outside lab?

Record the lab as a supplier and its invoice as a purchase or expense. The cost then lands in the same month as the work, not whenever you pay it.

Can I see which treatments actually pay?

Yes, if each treatment is separately priced. Reports show what each brought in over a period; setting that against lab and consumable cost is a short sum.

Does it book appointments or send six-month recalls?

No. There is no appointment diary and no recall list. Keep the diary you have and use PesaScope for the figures.

Can two dentists work under one account?

Yes. Each treatment is tagged to whoever performed it, so you can see what each dentist brought in over any period.

Set it up in about three minutes

Pick your trade at sign-up and PesaScope loads your starting list for you. Change any price, add what's missing, and record your first sale the same day.

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