Average Order Value in Dentistry: A Simple Number That Gives Clarity

Ask a practice what its turnover was last month and someone can usually find the answer. Ask what the average patient spends, or the average value of a completed treatment order, and the answer is often less certain.

I understand why. Dental practices already track appointments, production, treatment plans, recalls and an impressive number of other figures. Another metric sounds like another spreadsheet. But understanding average order value has helped me make clearer decisions in my own business. It can do the same for a practice if the number is defined properly and used alongside patient outcomes and profitability.

This article gives you a practical way to calculate it, shows what the result can reveal, and explains how a dependable laboratory service supports the value of the treatment you provide.

What is average order value?
Average order value, or AOV, is the average revenue received for each order during a defined period.
The calculation is straightforward:

Average order value = revenue from completed orders ÷ number of completed orders
If your practice completes 100 relevant orders worth a total of £40,000 in a month, the AOV is £400. The arithmetic takes a moment. Agreeing what counts as an “order” is the important part.

A practice might define one order as a completed treatment plan, a single course of treatment or one invoice. Those definitions produce different results. Choose the one that answers your question, document it and use it consistently. Otherwise, a change in how you raise invoices can look like a change in performance when nothing meaningful has happened.

AOV is a measure of revenue per order. It is not profit, and it does not tell you whether a patient received suitable care. Its value is in making the pattern of your work visible.

Average order value and average revenue per patient are different
Suppose one patient receives a denture and later returns for a repair. Another receives a crown. Depending on how you record the work, you may have three orders across two patients.

If those orders total £3,000, your average order value is £1,000. Your average revenue per patient is £1,500. Neither calculation is wrong. They answer different questions.

The first can help you understand the typical value of a completed piece or course of work. The second can help you understand revenue across the patients treated during the period. For recurring patients, be especially clear about the time window and whether you are counting unique patients or patient visits.

I would encourage a practice to begin with whichever figure it can measure reliably. A consistent, useful number beats a sophisticated figure that changes definition every month.

Why this number changed how I looked at my business
In a dental laboratory, it is easy to focus on how many jobs arrived. Volume matters, but ten jobs of very different value and complexity do not tell the same story as ten identical jobs.

Looking at average value helped me ask better questions. What kind of work are we producing? Are we charging appropriately for the time and skill involved? Are we building a service that supports the work we want to be known for? Is higher revenue actually accompanied by healthy margins and reliable delivery?

A practice can use the same lens. If your appointment book is full but your financial results do not reflect the effort being put in, the number can prompt a closer look. It may reveal pricing that has not kept up with costs, a change in the type of treatment being provided, or treatment plans that are not being completed. It does not tell you which explanation is correct. It tells you where to investigate.

A five-minute exercise for your practice
You can test the concept without changing your software or producing a major management report.
Choose one complete month and decide what you will count as an order. Then:

• Add the revenue from those completed orders for the month, using the same treatment category and accounting basis throughout.
• Count the completed orders included in that revenue.
• Divide the revenue by the order count.
• Record the definition and the result so you can repeat the calculation next month.
  
  

For example, 80 completed private treatment plans generating £48,000 give an AOV of £600. If the following month has 75 completed plans generating £48,750, the AOV is £650. You have a useful observation: average value rose while the number of completed plans fell.

That observation is the beginning of the discussion, not the conclusion. Look at what changed before calling it an improvement. There may have been more complex treatment, a fee adjustment, or a different case mix. There may also be fewer patients progressing with simpler care.

Separate the work that behaves differently
A single practice-wide AOV can conceal more than it reveals. A hygiene visit, an emergency appointment and a full-arch implant restoration are very different kinds of work.

Once you have a reliable overall figure, consider measuring a few sensible groups, such as routine restorative treatment, prosthetics or implants. Keep the groups broad enough to be useful and make sure each has enough activity to show a pattern.

You could also compare new and existing patients, or individual clinicians, provided the definitions are fair and the context is clear. One clinician may see a different mix of patients or work fewer sessions. A ranking without that context invites the wrong decisions.

If your software cannot group the work neatly, start with one category you can identify accurately. There is no prize for producing a beautiful dashboard built on inconsistent entries.

The mistakes that make AOV misleading
The most common mistake is mixing dates and stages. An accepted treatment plan is not the same as completed, invoiced or paid treatment. Decide which stage you are measuring, then keep both the revenue and order count at that stage.

Another mistake is counting a multi-stage treatment as several orders in one month and one order in the next. Refunds, credits and adjustments also need consistent handling. If the practice changes its invoicing process, make a note of it before comparing periods.

Finally, a higher AOV does not automatically mean a healthier business. A complex case may generate more revenue but demand far more chair time, laboratory work, materials and follow-up. Review the figure alongside:

• Completed order or patient volume.
• Gross margin or contribution after the relevant direct costs.
• Chair time and appointment capacity.
• Case acceptance and treatment completion.
• Remakes, adjustments and avoidable follow-up visits.

Together, these measures give the AOV some meaning. On its own, it is simply an average.

Use AOV to improve clarity, not to push treatment
There is an important difference between understanding the value of the work you do and trying to increase a number at any cost.

AOV should never decide what treatment a patient needs. Clinical suitability, informed choice and the patient’s goals come first. The metric helps the business understand whether it can deliver that care sustainably and whether its fees reflect the resources involved.

For example, a practice may discover that a particular type of denture treatment takes more appointments than it assumed. The useful response is to examine the workflow, clinical complexity, fee and laboratory communication. It is not to steer patients towards a more expensive option regardless of need.

Clarity makes commercial decisions more responsible. When you understand the work behind the number, you can make changes that support both patients and the practice.

Where the laboratory affects the result
A practice does not earn value simply by sending a case to a laboratory. The treatment has to reach a satisfactory outcome.

If a crown needs extensive adjustment at fit, or a denture arrives with an issue that could have been caught earlier, the practice may lose chair time. The financial effect can extend beyond the laboratory invoice: there may be another appointment, extra administration and a patient whose confidence needs rebuilding.

At Bremadent, our role is to support the clinical value of each case through clear communication, appropriate material choices and careful technical work. We aim for restorations that fit accurately and reduce avoidable adjustments and remakes. That helps a practice protect the time and service behind its treatment fee.

No laboratory can promise that every case will require no adjustment. Clinical information, impressions or scans, preparation design and changing conditions in the mouth all matter. What we can do is raise questions early, follow the agreed prescription and take ownership of the work we produce.

A simple example of hidden chair time
Consider two otherwise similar crown cases with the same patient fee. One fits with the expected checks and minor finishing. The other requires an additional appointment because a problem was missed.

Both appear as the same order value in an AOV report. But they have not delivered the same return on the practice’s time, and they have not given the patient the same experience.

That is why AOV should open a wider conversation about operational reliability. If a practice improves the quality of its records, captures useful shade and occlusal information, and works with a laboratory that communicates promptly, it has a better chance of using its available appointments well.

From my perspective as a laboratory owner, reliable work is a commercial benefit because it supports the practice’s ability to deliver what it has promised. It is also simply better for the patient.

What to do with the number next month
Once you have a baseline, compare it monthly using the same definition. Ask what changed in the mix of treatment, fees, volume and direct costs. Look for a pattern over several periods before making a major decision.

A useful monthly conversation might include three questions. Has average order value changed? Do we know why? Did the change improve the patient experience and the practice’s financial position once time and costs are considered?

If you cannot answer the second question, examine a small sample of cases. Numbers become much more useful when you can connect them to actual treatment and workflow. That is how this metric helped me: it made me look more closely at what our business was doing, rather than relying on a busy diary or a headline sales figure.

Start with one month. Write down your definition, do the calculation and repeat it. You may find that a simple average gives your team a clearer basis for decisions than another complicated report.

We provide a trusted laboratory service delivering consistent quality, saving chairside time, and supporting predictable patient outcomes.

Important Disclaimer
This blog is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax or accounting advice. Bremadent Dental Laboratory is not a financial advisory firm, and we do not provide regulated financial or tax advice. Every individual’s circumstances are different, and you should always seek guidance from a qualified accountant, tax advisor or financial professional before making any financial decisions.

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