What a dental office manager does
A dental office manager runs the business side of the practice. They build and protect the schedule, oversee insurance billing and collections, manage recall, supervise front-office staff and keep the office organized for the dentists and hygienists. In many practices they also track production, handle supplier accounts and keep records for X-ray equipment and sterilization up to date. When this role is filled well, owners spend less time on administration and more time with patients.
Managing a dental office is different from managing a medical clinic. Patients pay directly or through private plans, the Canadian Dental Care Plan has its own rules, and larger treatment plans often need predeterminations before work begins. Finch asks about your software, claims volume, team size and the reports you rely on. We screen for dental-specific experience with billing, scheduling and staff leadership, then arrange interviews with managers who can run your office the way you want it run.
Typical responsibilities
- Plan the daily schedule to balance production, hygiene recall and emergency appointments
- Oversee insurance billing, predeterminations, claim follow-up and patient balances
- Manage Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) claims and any other public programs your office accepts
- Hire, train and schedule front-office staff, and coordinate clinical team schedules
- Track production, collections and recall reports and review them with the owner
- Maintain supplier accounts, office policies and compliance records
Qualifications and credentials
- Substantial experience in a dental front office, ideally including a supervisory role
- Strong working knowledge of dental insurance, CDAnet electronic claims and predeterminations
- Experience with CDCP claims submitted to Sun Life, which administers the plan for Health Canada
- Proficiency with dental practice management software such as ABELDent, Dentrix, Tracker or ClearDent
- Familiarity with the ODA Suggested Fee Guide and how your practice sets its fees
- Staff leadership, conflict resolution and day-to-day bookkeeping skills
Who hires a dental office manager
- Single-dentist and multi-dentist general practices
- Specialty offices with complex referral and treatment-plan billing
- Multi-location dental groups
- Practices that have recently changed ownership or software
Where we recruit dental office manager candidates
We fill dental office manager roles for employers across Toronto and the GTA, including North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Burlington, Oshawa and Pickering, and for employers across Canada. GTA employers can meet us at our North York office by appointment.
What Finch checks before you meet a candidate
- Confirm hands-on experience with your practice management software or a close equivalent
- Test understanding of predeterminations, coordination of benefits and CDCP co-payments through scenario questions
- Ask how the candidate has improved recall follow-through or reduced outstanding claims
- Discuss leadership style and how they have handled conflict within a front-office team
- Check references from practice owners or associate dentists
Interview questions to ask
- How do you explain a CDCP co-payment to a patient who expected full coverage?
- What reports do you review each week, and what do you do when production drops?
- How do you keep the hygiene schedule full when patients cancel at short notice?