As of October 2026, TSI’s Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) service collects past-due patient balances for dental practices and dental service organizations (DSOs). It starts with reminders in your practice’s name while patients keep paying you directly, then moves to TSI’s name only on accounts you choose. Practices on Denticon, Open Dental and Practice-Web send accounts from their software.
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub
What unpaid patient balances cost a practice
Dental balances are personal. The patient who owes $640 for an implant consult is also the one your hygienist sees every six months.
So most practices wait too long. Office managers say they’d rather eat a balance than send a good patient to a collection agency, and the receivables keep aging.
"My front desk is our collections department"
Every call about an old balance is a call your team isn’t making to fill tomorrow’s schedule.
"Insurance paid less than we estimated"
The patient’s share shows up weeks after the visit, when the patient thinks the bill was settled. That surprise is where most balances start.
"We don't want patients to feel ambushed"
Practices want a step between a polite statement and a collection agency. Without one, nothing happens at all.
"Each office does it differently"
DSOs inherit a different collections habit with every practice they add, and no one can see the whole picture.
How TSI works your accounts
- Flag accounts from your practice system
You see past-due accounts in your practice management system and send the ones that qualify to TSI with a few clicks, with no paper files. - Remind in your name first
TSI sends up to 5 reminder letters under your practice’s name and logo, about a week apart. Patients pay your practice directly, and you keep the relationship. - Step up with letters in TSI’s name
For accounts that still don’t pay, a series of letters in TSI’s name follows, about 2 weeks apart. Payments still go straight to your practice. - Collect only when you decide
Patients who ignore every letter can move to contingency collection, where TSI works as your medical collection agency: its collectors call and work out payment plans. You can send, suspend, reinstate or cancel any account. - Track it online
You see every account’s status in TSI’s online portal, and you tell TSI when a patient pays so contact stops.
TSI services that fit dental practices
Practice management integrations
Integrations with Planet DDS (Denticon), Open Dental and Practice-Web. See all technology partners.
Demand letters and reminders
Reminder and demand letter series, priced per account.
First-party collections
Calls and letters in your practice’s name before you write a balance off. First-party collections
Third-party collections
Contingency collection in TSI’s name on the accounts you choose.
Members of Dental Purchasing Group and of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (through AAOMS Services) have fixed-fee programs listed on tsico.com. Multi-specialty medical groups can see physician group revenue cycle. Small business collections shows how the three services work together for any practice.
Rules that shape dental collections
A practice may use or disclose protected health information “for its own treatment, payment, or health care operations” (45 CFR 164.506(c)(1)). Billing a past-due balance is payment, and TSI receives only what the work needs under a business associate agreement.
Letter programs carry their own rule. The FDCPA makes it unlawful to furnish a form that creates the false belief that someone other than the creditor is “participating in the collection” when it isn’t (15 U.S.C. 1692j). When a letter carries TSI’s name, TSI works that account, disputes included.
Once TSI collects in its own name, the FDCPA and Regulation F apply. Credit reporting on dental balances happens only when you direct it, since a federal court vacated the CFPB’s 2025 medical-information rule and many states limit medical debt reporting on their own.
TSI doesn’t file dental insurance claims or work payer appeals for dental practices on this page. Pricing differs by program and alliance, so ask for the terms that fit your practice.
Frequently asked questions
Will my patients know I sent them to collections?
Not at first. The reminder letters go out in your practice’s name, and patients pay you. Letters in TSI’s name start only on accounts that stay unpaid, and only if you send them.
Does TSI work with Open Dental, Denticon or Practice-Web?
Yes. TSI’s alliance pages on tsico.com list integrations with Planet DDS (Denticon), Open Dental and Practice-Web, so you can select and send accounts from inside the system.
Can a DSO run one program across locations?
Yes. Each location’s accounts can go through the same program and show in TSI’s online portal, so you can compare offices.
When should a dental office send a balance to collections?
After your own statements and a final notice, and before the patient forgets the visit.
See what your aged patient balances could return
The Recovery Performance Diagnostic looks at one segment of your receivables, such as balances over 90 days, sets a baseline and designs a test you can measure.
General information, current as of October 27, 2026. It isn’t legal advice. Rules change and differ by state, so check the sources linked here and talk to your own counsel before you act on it.