Finance Options for Orthodontic Patients: Helping More People Say Yes to Treatment

Yes — introducing patients to a finance product, including interest-free payment plans provided by a third-party lender, constitutes credit broking under FCA regulation and requires FCA credit broker authorisation. Practices that advertise or offer finance without authorisation are committing a criminal offence under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The FCA application process for credit broker authorisation is relatively straightforward for practices working with established dental finance providers and typically takes four to eight weeks. Most established dental finance providers (Chrysalis Finance, Medenta, Tabeo) will guide you through the authorisation process as part of their onboarding.

Interest-free credit over 18 to 24 months is consistently the most effective finance option for converting cost-sensitive orthodontic patients. The 0% APR removes the additional cost concern and makes the decision purely about the monthly figure relative to household budget. Short-term interest-free options (6–12 months) work well for lower-cost cases. For patients who need longer terms, low-APR instalment loans through established dental finance providers give access to 36 to 60 month terms. In-practice instalment plans (staged payments during treatment) avoid third-party involvement but do not provide the full upfront payment security that third-party finance does.

Under FCA financial promotion rules, any communication that states a monthly payment figure — including your website, treatment plan documents, and printed materials — must also display the representative APR and the total amount repayable. For example: “£138 per month, 0% APR representative (total £2,484 over 18 months)”. Omitting the APR or total cost when advertising a monthly figure is a breach of FCA financial promotion rules and a common source of enforcement action against dental practices. All finance-related content should be reviewed against the current FCA Consumer Credit sourcebook before publication.

Practices that introduce patient finance and present it proactively at the consultation — as a natural part of the treatment discussion rather than a fallback when price is declined — typically report case acceptance increases of 15 to 25 percentage points among cost-sensitive patient groups. The effect is larger for higher-value cases and for practices that have not previously offered finance. The conversion uplift needs to be weighed against the lender fee (typically 4–14% of the finance amount depending on the term and interest rate), but for most practices the net revenue effect of increased case starts significantly exceeds the cost of the finance arrangement.

Yes — introducing patients to a finance product, including interest-free payment plans provided by a third-party lender, constitutes credit broking under FCA regulation and requires FCA credit broker authorisation. Practices that advertise or offer finance without authorisation are committing a criminal offence under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The FCA application process for credit broker authorisation is relatively straightforward for practices working with established dental finance providers and typically takes four to eight weeks. Most established dental finance providers (Chrysalis Finance, Medenta, Tabeo) will guide you through the authorisation process as part of their onboarding.

Interest-free credit over 18 to 24 months is consistently the most effective finance option for converting cost-sensitive orthodontic patients. The 0% APR removes the additional cost concern and makes the decision purely about the monthly figure relative to household budget. Short-term interest-free options (6–12 months) work well for lower-cost cases. For patients who need longer terms, low-APR instalment loans through established dental finance providers give access to 36 to 60 month terms. In-practice instalment plans (staged payments during treatment) avoid third-party involvement but do not provide the full upfront payment security that third-party finance does.

Under FCA financial promotion rules, any communication that states a monthly payment figure — including your website, treatment plan documents, and printed materials — must also display the representative APR and the total amount repayable. For example: “£138 per month, 0% APR representative (total £2,484 over 18 months)”. Omitting the APR or total cost when advertising a monthly figure is a breach of FCA financial promotion rules and a common source of enforcement action against dental practices. All finance-related content should be reviewed against the current FCA Consumer Credit sourcebook before publication.

Practices that introduce patient finance and present it proactively at the consultation — as a natural part of the treatment discussion rather than a fallback when price is declined — typically report case acceptance increases of 15 to 25 percentage points among cost-sensitive patient groups. The effect is larger for higher-value cases and for practices that have not previously offered finance. The conversion uplift needs to be weighed against the lender fee (typically 4–14% of the finance amount depending on the term and interest rate), but for most practices the net revenue effect of increased case starts significantly exceeds the cost of the finance arrangement.