If you run a general dentistry benchmark against an endodontic practice, you get the wrong answer every time. Endodontics runs differently: fewer, higher-value procedures, a referral-based pipeline, and different staffing needs.
A well-run practice targets total overhead of 58 to 65 percent of collections, with top performers between 55 and 60 percent. Inside that, staff labor typically runs 25 to 30 percent. If your overhead is meaningfully above the range, that is a signal worth investigating before it becomes a crisis.
The gap rarely comes from one big line item. It is usually staffing set for a different season, supply pricing never revisited, leases that renew higher, and facility costs from an earlier stage of growth, stacked together.
Overhead a few points above benchmark compounds. A practice running 8 points over on $1.2M in revenue leaves roughly $96,000 a year on the table. Filed correctly. Never flagged.
You need two things to check your own number: your actual overhead broken into categories, and a real endodontic benchmark to measure it against. If you do not have both, that is the gap a free 30-minute review fills.