Every ₹ figure in this guide is an illustrative example to show the method. They are not market rates and not a recommendation. Use your own numbers.
Step 1: work out your cost per chair-hour
Your chair earns only while a patient is sitting in it. So the question is: what does it cost to keep that chair available for one hour?
- Add your monthly fixed costs: rent, staff salaries, electricity, internet, software, maintenance, loan EMIs, insurance and your accountant.
- Count your available chair-hours: working days × hours per day × number of chairs.
- Estimate how much of that time is actually filled. Not every hour is booked, so use a realistic share, not 100 per cent.
- Divide the monthly costs by the hours you really fill.
Example: monthly costs of ₹1,40,000, 26 working days, 6 hours a day, one chair and 70 per cent of hours filled. That is about 109 filled hours, so the cost is roughly ₹1,280 per chair-hour. A clinic that fills 50 per cent of hours would face about ₹1,800. Filling the chair is a pricing lever as much as the fee itself.
Step 2: add your own time, materials and lab
Next, decide what you want to earn per hour of clinical time. If you pay yourself nothing in the model, your prices will be too low. Then add the materials used (anaesthetic, burs, composite, gutta-percha, disposables) and any lab bill.
| Item | Chair time | Chair cost | Your time | Materials / lab | Cost total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Root canal (molar) | 2.25 hrs over 3 sittings | ₹2,880 | ₹2,250 | ₹600 | ₹5,730 |
| Ceramic crown | 1.5 hrs over 2 sittings | ₹1,920 | ₹1,500 | ₹1,700 (incl. lab) | ₹5,120 |
| Scaling and polishing | 0.5 hr | ₹640 | ₹500 | ₹80 | ₹1,220 |
Assumptions for the table: ₹1,280 per chair-hour and ₹1,000 per hour as the dentist’s target pay. Round the totals up to a clean fee, then add the margin you need for growth, equipment replacement and bad debts.
Step 3: check the local market
Your cost sets the floor. The market sets what patients will pay. Ask a few colleagues what they charge, look at what clinics in your area publish, and note what the patients who leave say. Do not copy a competitor’s price without checking their costs; they may be loss-leading, or using cheaper materials.
If the market is below your floor, you have three options: lower your costs, fill more chair-hours, or compete on quality, experience or convenience. Pricing below cost to win patients is a slow way to close.
Common pricing mistakes
- Forgetting your own time. If the model gives you no pay, the fee is too low.
- Using 100 per cent chair utilisation. Cancellations, no-shows and gaps are real. Use the share of hours you actually fill.
- Ignoring repeat sittings. A root canal done in three visits uses three slots of setup and cleaning, not one.
- Leaving out lab and consumable costs that arrive weeks later and are easy to forget.
- One discount for everyone. It trains patients to haggle and hides which treatments are really profitable.
- Never raising fees. Costs go up every year, and a fee that was fair three years ago may now be a loss.
Packages and part payments
Treatments such as braces, implants or full-mouth rehabilitation cost a lot for most Indian families. A package with a stated total and fixed instalments makes the treatment feasible and gives you predictable cash flow. Put the number of instalments, the amount and the due dates in writing. Managing treatment instalments is covered in a separate guide.
Give written estimates
Patients trust a clinic that tells them the likely cost before treatment starts. A good estimate lists each procedure, the fee, any lab charge, the number of sittings and what could change the plan (for example, a root canal that turns out to need retreatment). Mention what is included and what is not, such as a post and core, a crown or follow-up visits. Have the patient sign or acknowledge it.
If the plan changes during treatment, tell the patient and revise the estimate before you carry on. Surprises on the final bill cause more disputes than a high but honest fee.
Discounts without damaging your margin
- Decide the policy in advance: who may give a discount, how much, and in which cases (for example, family members, senior citizens, staff).
- Discount the package, not each procedure, so your catalogue price stays clear.
- Give discounts for something, such as paying upfront or referring a patient, not just for asking.
- Record every discount on the bill so you can review them later.
- Never discount below your cost floor for any treatment you do regularly.
Also check the tax treatment of what you charge. See our guide to GST on dental services.
Revisit your prices every year
Rent, salaries, materials and lab fees rise. Once a year, rerun the calculation with fresh numbers: your costs, your filled hours and your target pay. Review which treatments earn the most per chair-hour and which lose money. Raise prices gradually and tell regular patients early. A small yearly change is easier than a big jump every few years.