The production split, not just the base
An associate offer often reads as the greater of a guaranteed base or a percentage of collections once production crosses a set threshold, plus a sign-on bonus, a continuing education allowance, and terms around who covers malpractice insurance.
Countering that offer means naming which piece to push on: a higher base while the patient panel is still building, a lower production threshold, a larger CE allowance instead of a bigger sign-on figure. An internal-raise conversation looks different.
An associate who's grown their own patient panel over a year or two, or taken on a specific procedure category the practice used to refer out, has a real case to bring to an owner, but it's a different conversation than countering a fresh offer, closer to asking a current employer to recognize production the practice is already collecting on.
New offer and internal raise, run as separate conversations
New-offer mode fits the moment right after an offer lands, weighing a guaranteed base against a production percentage and threshold, a sign-on figure, and CE or malpractice terms, and deciding what's worth pushing back on versus what's already fair.
Internal-raise mode fits an associate who's been at a practice a while, built up a patient panel or taken on procedures the office used to send elsewhere, and wants to bring that case to a current owner rather than negotiate against a new offer. Neither mode judges whether you'd get hired.
Both put an AI on the other side that responds and pushes back the way a real practice owner or hiring dentist would.
Scoring
How the conversation gets reviewed afterward
The report scores the conversation itself and explains, in written reasoning rather than a bare number, whether you held your position under pushback and whether you asked for the specific pieces dental compensation actually includes, a production threshold, a CE allowance, malpractice terms, rather than only a base figure. The penalty for an abruptly ended conversation applies directly here.
A negotiation that trails off without landing on a next step, a restated number or a timeline for a decision, scores worse than one that closes deliberately, which matters when a practice owner filling an associate seat is weighing your response against how the conversation actually ended.
Frequently asked questions
Can I practice negotiating the production threshold, not just the base salary?
Yes. You can raise the production threshold and the split between base and collections percentage directly, and the AI on the other side responds the way a real practice owner would to that kind of ask.
Will the AI on the other side actually resist, or fold once I state a number?
It resists. The AI plays a hiring dentist or practice owner and answers a production-threshold ask with a counter, a question about your patient panel, or plain hesitation, the way a real owner weighing an associate seat would rather than agreeing on the spot.
Which mode fits negotiating a raise after growing my own patient panel?
Internal-raise mode. It fits a case for more from a current practice, including growth in your own patient panel or new procedures you've taken on. New-offer mode fits a fresh offer from a practice you haven't started at yet.
Is a CE allowance or malpractice coverage something I can actually negotiate?
The session lets you raise both as part of the conversation, since dental offers commonly treat a continuing education allowance and malpractice coverage terms as negotiable pieces alongside base or production pay, not a fixed line.
Related pages
Rehearse the production-split conversation
Practice negotiating an associate offer's base and production terms, or a raise after building your own patient panel, with an AI that pushes back before the real conversation.