The Dental Billing Podcast
Welcome to The Dental Billing Podcast, where dental billing, insurance reimbursement, leadership, compliance, and revenue cycle management are discussed without the fluff or gatekeeping.
Hosted by Ericka Aguilar, founder of Fortune Billing Solutions, this podcast was created for dentists, office managers, dental billers, and front office teams who want practical strategies to improve collections, reduce insurance headaches, and build stronger systems inside their practices.
Ericka began her career in dentistry in 1995 and moved into dental billing in 1998. Since then, she has managed large group practices, built a successful national dental billing company, and helped hundreds of dental offices increase insurance reimbursement and improve billing performance. She has taught dental coding and billing workshops in 31 states, educated thousands of dental professionals, and developed one of the first Dental Administration Programs registered with the Private Postsecondary Board of Education.
Each episode delivers real-world guidance on dental billing, insurance claims, coding, denial management, compliance, leadership, artificial intelligence, and practice growth. You'll hear candid conversations, industry insights, and proven strategies that can be implemented immediately.
Whether you're new to dental billing or a seasoned professional, The Dental Billing Podcast will help you navigate the ever-changing world of dental insurance, protect patient benefits, and create a healthier, more profitable practice.
Because great billing isn't just about getting claims paid. It's about protecting revenue, supporting patients, and helping dental practices thrive.
Episodes
110 episodes
Built to Get Paid Series - The Foundation (Part One)
Your billing should not feel like a surprise every month. When collections swing up and down, it’s rarely because “insurance is just hard” it’s usually because the foundation was never built correctly. I walk through the core projects I use to ...
Built to Get Paid: Introduction to The 6-Part Billing Framework Series
If your practice feels slammed but collections still don’t line up with production, that’s not “just insurance.” That’s a billing system problem, and it’s fixable. We walk through the exact framework we’ve used to help hundreds of dental office...
Denti-Cal Decoded: The Mistakes Costing You Time and Money
Prop 56 is on the way out, and if your practice depends on Denti-Cal reimbursements, the impact won’t be theoretical. I’m joined by Adriana, a seasoned dental billing pro who’s built her reputation on getting Denti-Cal approvals by mastering wh...
Medical Billing For Wisdom Teeth - with Jennifer Lyman RDH
Your medical insurance may be able to cover wisdom teeth extractions, and the reason most people never find out is painfully simple: nobody asks the right way. We sit down with Jen from Hygiene Unlocked and unpack a real, recent moment where a ...
90% of Patient Ledgers Are Wrong - Here's Why.
What if the number on your AR report is giving you false comfort and your patient ledgers are quietly wrong? We dig into a hard truth from dental billing and revenue cycle management: most practices have never audited their ledgers line by line...
How I’d Train a Brand New Dental Biller in 2026
Hiring someone with no dental experience can feel like a gamble, but it doesn’t have to. I walk through the same onboarding system I’ve used for years to turn true beginners into capable, confident front office team members without wrecking you...
How Dental Insurance AR Gets “Cleaned” Without Getting Collected
Your insurance AR report can look perfect while your practice quietly bleeds money. I’m Erica Aguilar, and I’m pulling back the curtain on the uncomfortable truth: “clean” dental insurance accounts receivable can be manufactured, and the pretti...
How Smart Dental Billing Boosts EBITDA And Practice Health
Profit doesn’t come from working harder or cramming more patients into the schedule. Real profit comes from running your billing department like a business within a business—and using it to lift EBITDA, create predictable cash flow, and make sm...
Worst Billing Case of 2025 - Part III - Harmful Habits that Feel Harmless with Jennifer Lyman RDH
A weekend meetup in Phoenix turned into a deep dive on the “harmless” shortcuts that quietly drain dental practices and invite compliance trouble. We compare notes from a brutal 2025 billing case, unpack the defensiveness that often surfaces wh...
Worst Billing Case of 2025 - Part II - End of Day Checklist
We show how chart prep sets expectations and end of day confirms reality, so money stops leaking and compliance issues get fixed the same day. A practical checklist, time blocking, and coaching turn chaos into a repeatable close that protects r...
Inside The Worst Dental Billing Case Of 2025 - Part 1 of 3
We pull back the curtain on a “busy” practice that bled revenue because trust replaced systems. A full audit, legal counsel, and a frank lunch reveal how missing chart prep, no route slips, and zero checks led to fraud risk and wild collections...
Raising Perio Performance with Ed Faton RDH (The Hygiene Coach) Part Two
Stop letting a benefits table decide your standard of care. We sit down with dental billing expert Ed to tear down the fear, myths, and mixed messages that keep teams from coding honestly, educating clearly, and treating confidently. From fluor...
Raising Perio Performance with Ed Faton RDH (The Hygiene Coach) Part One
If your perio percentage hovers around 15% while half your hygiene notes mention bleeding, you don’t have a production problem—you have a calibration problem. We sit down with Ed, a clinician-turned-hygiene coach with a billing background, to u...
Inside a Dental Billing Company: Password Chaos, Dentrix-Vyne Fallout, and the AR Trap
A candid look at why AR rises even when production is strong and how access, clarity, and team alignment restore cash flow. We share the biggest blockers we see inside practices—password chaos, clearinghouse issues, unread billing emails—and th...
Maximize Your Schedule's Potential - with Lori Streeter
What if your dental practice's schedule management system worked like your most brilliant team member instead of just another piece of software? That's the game-changing perspective Lori Streeter brings to this episode as she unpacks how modern...
Front Office Essentials - Results From a Survey of 300 Dentists
Have you ever wondered what dentists truly value in their front office teams? This spontaneous episode reveals the surprising answer, and it hasn't changed in over a decade.When a scheduled interview fails to materialize, I take the opp...
Credentialing vs. Contracting: What Dental Practices Need to Know
Credentialing versus contracting - these terms are often used interchangeably in dental offices, but as Ericka Aguilar explains in this essential episode, they represent entirely different processes with significant implications for your practi...
Evolving Not Ending: How Listener Voices Changed Everything
What happens when you try to end something, only to discover it's just beginning? After announcing what I thought would be the final episode of the Dental Billing Podcast, something extraordinary happened—hundreds of messages flooded in from li...
Final Episode + Lessons From Thousands of Billing Conversations
Pivotal moments often arrive unexpectedly. After years of helping dental practices decode insurance denials and maximize reimbursements, I've made a significant discovery that's reshaping our journey together. What began as technical discussion...
3 Things Every Dental Biller Should Know About the Insurance Commissioner
Dental insurance companies often deny necessary treatment claims not because they should, but because they can—and we explore how to fight back effectively through appeals and regulatory complaints.• 59% of denied claims are upheld simp...
Billing, Burnout, and Building a Life That Feels Like Yours
The entrepreneurial journey can be isolating even when surrounded by loved ones who don't fully understand what we're building. Success looks different for entrepreneurs than those in traditional jobs, and the lack of understanding can create a...
Episode 88: How to Bill D4346 - From Bloody Prophy's to Perio Conversions
Are you leaving money on the table while your patients remain undertreated? After analyzing over 300 dental practices across the country, I discovered a shocking truth: the average dental practice with a full-time hygienist treats only 17% of t...
Episode 87: Stop Verifying Insurance Like It's 1995
Dental insurance verification is stuck in the 1990s, but insurance companies have dramatically changed how they operate—leaving dentists with surprise balances, frustrated patients, and a mess of accounts receivable. In this eye-opening episode...
Episode 86: Are You Giving Insurers Permission to Deny Your Claims?
Insurance companies are using AI to evaluate dental x-rays, denying claims when specific landmarks aren't visible in the images. This shift means approximately 70% of claims are now processed through artificial intelligence systems that disqual...