Merchant Accounts for Dentists: Card Payments, Treatment Plans & Dental Software

Dental Payments: The Quick Answer

Dental practices often need a more flexible payment setup than a standard card machine at reception.

A patient may pay an NHS dental charge, book a private consultation with a deposit, pay several thousand pounds for implants or orthodontic treatment, make staged payments during a course of treatment or use third-party finance for a larger treatment plan.

At the same time, the dental practice may need those payments to work alongside appointment booking, treatment plans, patient records, accounting and dental practice-management software.

For this reason, choosing a merchant account for a dentist should normally involve looking at the whole patient payment journey, including:

• face-to-face card payments;
• NHS patient charges;
• private dental treatment;
• booking deposits;
• higher-value treatment plans;
• payment links;
• telephone payments;
• online booking;
• patient finance;
• staged payments;
• dental practice software;
• refunds and cancellations;
• multiple dentists or associates;
• multiple practice locations; and
• payment reconciliation.

The lowest advertised transaction percentage will not necessarily represent the best payment arrangement if it creates more work for reception teams or does not integrate with the systems the practice already uses.

Find Your New Processor

Who Is This Dental Payments Guide For?

This guide is designed for UK dental businesses including:

• private dental practices;
• NHS dental practices;
• mixed NHS and private practices;
• cosmetic dentists;
• implant practices;
• orthodontic practices;
• specialist dental clinics;
• dental groups;
• multi-site dental businesses;
• practices offering hygiene and therapy services;
• practices offering patient finance; and
• dental businesses reviewing an existing card-processing arrangement.

The payment model can vary significantly between these businesses.

A largely NHS practice taking relatively standard patient charges can have very different requirements from a private implant clinic processing treatment plans worth several thousand pounds. 

This guide focuses specifically on dental payments. For a broader comparison of merchant accounts, card payments, software integrations and recurring-payment requirements across healthcare, read our Healthcare Payment Solutions UK guide.

Why Dental Payments Are Different From Ordinary Retail Payments

A conventional retail transaction typically involves a customer selecting a product and paying the full amount immediately.

Dentistry can involve a much longer payment journey.

For example, a patient may:

1. book a consultation;
2. pay a deposit;
3. attend an assessment;
4. receive a treatment plan;
5. agree to proceed;
6. pay another amount before treatment begins;
7. make further payments as treatment progresses; and
8. settle a final balance at completion.

Alternatively, another patient may attend for routine NHS treatment and simply pay the relevant NHS patient charge.

The payment system therefore needs to support both simple transactions and longer treatment-payment journeys.

NHS Dental Payments vs Private Dental Payments

Many UK dental practices provide a mixture of NHS and private care.

These payment flows should be clearly distinguished.

NHS dental charges

In England, most adults contribute towards the cost of NHS dental treatment through nationally defined patient-charge bands.

The NHS groups treatment into three main charging bands. Patients who are eligible for free NHS dental treatment or help with costs may not need to pay the full patient charge.

The dental practice therefore needs a process that can accurately record:

• the NHS treatment provided;
• the relevant patient charge;
• whether the patient is exempt;
• how the payment was made; and
• whether anything remains outstanding.

The exact NHS charges can change, so practices should use current NHS guidance rather than building permanent payment documentation around a historic price.

Private dental treatment

Private treatment is priced by the dental practice rather than through the NHS dental charge bands.

This can include services such as:

• private examinations;
• hygiene appointments;
• private crowns and bridges;
• cosmetic dentistry;
• teeth whitening;
• veneers;
• dental implants;
• private orthodontics;
• clear aligner treatments;
• specialist treatment; and
• other privately funded dental services.

The NHS currently states that dentists should make clear which treatment can be provided through the NHS, which treatment is private and the costs associated with each.

This makes accurate treatment plans and payment records particularly important for mixed practices.

Mixed NHS and Private Treatment

Mixed dental practices can have one of the more complicated payment environments in healthcare because the same patient may receive both NHS and private treatment.

The practice needs to make clear what is being provided under each route and how the patient is being charged.

NHS guidance states that where a patient receives Band 2, Band 3 or a mixture of NHS and private treatment, a written treatment plan should normally set out the proposed treatment and costs.

From a payments perspective, this means reception and finance teams should be able to identify:

• the NHS charge;
• any private treatment fee;
• amounts already paid;
• deposits;
• outstanding balances;
• refunds; and
• the treatment or invoice each transaction relates to.

Simply seeing a £500 card transaction on a merchant statement is not enough if the practice cannot easily identify what that £500 relates to.

Card Machines for Dental Practices

Reception remains the main payment point for many dental practices.

A reliable card machine should make it easy to accept:

• debit cards;
• credit cards;
• contactless transactions;
• Apple Pay and Google Pay where supported;
• deposits;
• part-payments;
• final treatment balances; and
• refunds where required.

Practices should consider more than just terminal rental.

Useful questions include:

• Does the practice need one terminal or several?
• Should terminals be countertop or portable?
• Can transactions integrate with dental software?
• Can refunds be restricted to authorised users?
• Can the practice identify which site took a payment?
• How quickly do funds settle?
• How are card fees reported?
• Can transactions be reconciled against patient accounts?

Integrated Dental Payments Can Reduce Manual Work

Where payments are not integrated with dental software, reception staff may need to enter the same amount twice.

For example:

1. a patient's account shows £850 outstanding;
2. the receptionist selects £850 within the dental system;
3. £850 is manually typed into the card terminal;
4. the patient pays;
5. the payment is manually recorded against the patient account.

This works, but it creates opportunities for:

• keying errors;
• payments being assigned incorrectly;
• missed transactions;
• differences between terminal totals and patient accounts; and
• additional reconciliation work.

An integrated payment workflow can reduce some of this manual activity by passing transaction information between the practice-management platform and payment technology.

Our guide to integrated payment solutions explains the wider principles.

Dental Practice Software and Payment Providers

Payment-provider choice can be affected by the dental software already used by the practice.

Practice-management systems can sit at the centre of:

• patient records;
• appointment booking;
• treatment plans;
• invoicing;
• deposits;
• online booking;
• patient communications;
• payment collection;
• financial reporting; and
• associate calculations.

A dental practice should therefore check its software before changing processor.

Dentally and Payment Processing

Dentally is one example of why software dependency matters when reviewing merchant services.

As of September 2026, Dentally's current documentation states that Stripe is used for its online payments, payment links and deposits through Dentally Portal.

Dentally's partnership hub separately lists integrations with providers including Dojo and Worldpay for connected card and terminal payments.

This means a Dentally practice could potentially have more than one payment component within its wider setup.

Before switching any provider, establish exactly which functions are connected to it.

For example:

• Which provider processes reception payments?
• Which provider handles online booking deposits?
• Which provider processes payment links?
• What appears automatically in the patient account?
• Which transactions need to be recorded manually?
• Can another terminal provider integrate with Dentally?
• What happens to existing online-payment functionality if Stripe is removed?

The answer may be different for the practice's online and face-to-face payment channels.

Find Your New Processor

Using EXACT or Other Dental Practice Software

Other dental businesses use platforms such as EXACT and a range of specialist dental-management systems.

The same principle applies regardless of software:

check what your practice-management system supports before choosing your next payment provider.

Questions to ask include:

• Which card-terminal providers integrate with the software?
• Which processor handles online payments?
• Can booking deposits be collected automatically?
• Can payment links be sent from the patient record?
• Are transactions written back to the patient's account?
• How are refunds handled?
• Can multiple locations use different merchant IDs?
• Can accounting software receive payment information?
• Will changing processor remove existing functionality?

The cost of additional administrative work should be considered alongside transaction pricing.

Taking Deposits for Dental Appointments

Deposits can be particularly useful in dentistry because appointment and treatment slots can require substantial clinical time.

A practice might take a deposit for:

• new-patient private consultations;
• implant consultations;
• orthodontic assessments;
• clear-aligner consultations;
• cosmetic dental appointments;
• hygiene appointments;
• long treatment sessions;
• sedation appointments; or
• other appointments that are difficult to replace at short notice.

However, NHS and private payment rules should not be confused.

Current NHS guidance in England states that an NHS dentist should not charge a deposit before assessing the patient's mouth and teeth or checking their symptoms.

A mixed practice therefore needs to make sure staff understand when a private booking deposit is appropriate and when NHS rules apply.

How Dental Deposits Should Work

A good deposit workflow should make it clear:

• how much is required;
• which appointment or treatment it relates to;
• whether it is refundable;
• the cancellation policy;
• how it appears on the patient's account;
• how it is allocated against a future invoice; and
• what happens if the planned treatment changes.

Dental software can increasingly handle this directly.

Dentally, for example, currently allows practices using its Stripe connection to request deposits remotely and allocate those deposits against patient invoices.

Payment Links for Dentists

Payment links allow the practice to request money without requiring the patient to return to reception.

They can be useful for:

• booking deposits;
• outstanding balances;
• treatment instalments;
• missed balances after appointments;
• remote consultations;
• advance payments; and
• payments requested by the practice's accounts team.

The patient is directed to a secure hosted payment page and enters their own card details.

This can be particularly useful for practices trying to reduce outstanding patient balances and the amount of time reception teams spend chasing payment.

Our guide to accepting online payments without a website explains payment links in more detail.

Telephone and MOTO Payments for Dental Practices

Dental practices may still need to collect card payments over the telephone.

This could include:

• a patient calling to pay a private deposit;
• a balance being settled after treatment;
• a family member paying on behalf of a patient;
• an outstanding invoice being collected by the accounts team; or
• a patient who cannot easily use an online payment link.

These transactions may be processed using a virtual terminal or another approved MOTO payment facility.

Practices should compare:

• MOTO pricing;
• PCI DSS implications;
• staff access controls;
• reporting;
• refund functionality; and
• whether a payment link could be used instead.

High-Value Dental Treatment

Dentistry can involve much higher card values than an ordinary healthcare consultation.

Examples can include:

• dental implants;
• full-mouth rehabilitation;
• private orthodontics;
• clear aligner treatment;
• veneers;
• cosmetic treatment plans;
• complex restorative dentistry; and
• other specialist procedures.

A dental practice processing these transactions should tell the payment provider what its genuine payment profile looks like.

Important information can include:

• average transaction value;
• maximum transaction value;
• monthly card turnover;
• how much is paid in advance;
• how treatment is staged;
• refund history;
• chargebacks; and
• how long treatment takes to complete.

A merchant account initially approved around routine dental transactions should not automatically be assumed to support much larger treatment payments without discussion.

Dental Implants and Merchant Accounts

Implant dentistry deserves specific consideration because the patient payment journey can involve several stages.

A patient might pay for:

• initial consultation;
• diagnostic imaging;
• a treatment deposit;
• surgery;
• laboratory or prosthetic work;
• follow-up treatment; and
• final restoration.

The practice may choose to collect the treatment cost:

• in full;
• in defined stages;
• through several card transactions; or
• using third-party patient finance.

How and when money is taken can affect both cash flow and merchant underwriting.

Orthodontics, Invisalign and Clear Aligner Payments

Private orthodontics and clear-aligner treatment can also involve a longer payment period.

A practice may take:

• an assessment fee;
• a treatment deposit;
• a larger initial payment;
• scheduled card payments; or
• payments through a patient-finance provider.

The business should distinguish between simple staged payments for services and a formal credit or finance arrangement.

This distinction has become particularly important following changes to UK consumer-credit regulation in 2026.

Patient Finance Is Not the Same as Card Processing

Many dental practices offer finance because larger treatments can cost considerably more than patients want to pay in a single transaction.

Patient finance and ordinary card processing are different products.

A merchant account allows a practice to accept card transactions.

A finance agreement involves credit being provided to the patient, either by the dental business itself or by a third-party lender.

Where a dental practice introduces patients to a regulated credit provider, consumer-credit requirements may apply depending on the exact arrangement.

The Financial Conduct Authority specifically includes dentists within its guidance for secondary credit brokers.

Dental Finance and the 2026 BNPL Changes

UK rules around interest-free instalment credit changed on 15 July 2026, when Deferred Payment Credit — commonly associated with Buy Now Pay Later — came into FCA regulation for lenders.

This means dental businesses should not assume that every instalment proposition operates in the same regulatory way.

The FCA currently states that broking of Deferred Payment Credit agreements is exempt from credit-broking regulation, but other forms of credit broking may still require appropriate permissions.

If a dental business provides its own finance, rather than introducing the patient to a third-party lender, additional consumer-credit permissions and requirements may apply.

This is separate from taking several ordinary card payments during a course of treatment.

Practices considering patient finance should confirm their own regulatory position with the FCA or an appropriately qualified adviser rather than relying on their payment processor.

Staged Dental Payments Without Patient Finance

Not every treatment paid in several stages is necessarily a finance agreement.

For example, a patient may simply pay agreed amounts as different stages of treatment are delivered.

From a payment-processing perspective, the practice should make clear:

• what each payment relates to;
• when it becomes due;
• whether the cardholder actively makes each payment;
• whether a stored card is being used;
• what happens if the treatment plan changes; and
• how refunds are calculated.

If the business is providing credit or allowing payment to be deferred beyond the normal point of payment, it should separately establish whether consumer-credit regulation applies.

Recurring and Stored Card Payments in Dentistry

Some dental practices may want to keep a patient's card credential available for future payments.

This could potentially support:

• membership plans;
• recurring dental plans;
• regular hygiene payments;
• scheduled treatment payments; or
• other agreed repeat-payment arrangements.

The practice should understand how the payment provider handles:

• tokenisation;
• patient consent;
• recurring transactions;
• failed payments;
• expired cards;
• refunds;
• cancellations; and
• token migration if the practice later changes provider.

Stored payment credentials can make switching payment provider more complicated, so portability should be considered before a practice becomes heavily dependent on one setup.

Dental Membership and Practice Plans

Some private practices operate membership or maintenance plans where patients make regular payments for defined services or benefits.

The underlying collection mechanism may involve direct debit, recurring cards or another billing arrangement.

Before using recurring card payments for a dental plan, check:

• how often patients are charged;
• how authorisation is obtained;
• how plan cancellations work;
• how failed payments are recovered;
• what happens when card details expire;
• how payment data appears in the dental system; and
• whether the model is supported by the chosen provider.

Refunds and Treatment Changes

Dental treatment plans can change after further examination or as treatment progresses.

The practice may consequently need to issue:

• full refunds;
• partial refunds;
• deposit refunds;
• credits against revised treatment; or
• adjustments where one treatment option is replaced with another.

A good payment workflow should make it easy to locate the original transaction and identify which treatment or invoice it relates to.

Practices should also consider staff permissions.

Not every receptionist necessarily needs unrestricted access to refund large treatment payments.

Chargebacks and Dental Treatment

Cardholders can potentially dispute dental transactions through their card issuer.

Where a dispute occurs, useful payment records might include:

• the treatment plan;
• invoice;
• payment receipt;
• evidence of cardholder authorisation;
• cancellation terms;
• refund records; and
• relevant payment-related correspondence.

Dental practices also handle sensitive health information, so clinical information should not simply be disclosed because a card dispute has occurred.

Read our guide to reducing and managing chargebacks.

PCI DSS and Dental Practices

Dental practices accepting card payments need to understand their relevant PCI DSS responsibilities.

The payment environment might include:

• card terminals;
• virtual terminals;
• payment links;
• online booking payments;
• integrated dental software;
• stored payment credentials; and
• recurring payments.

The precise PCI DSS requirements depend on how the practice accepts and handles card data.

Using a provider-hosted payment page can create a different card-data environment from manually taking card details over the telephone.

Dental Patient Data and Payment Data

Dental practices should also distinguish between payment information and patient health information.

Dental records can contain health information that falls within the UK's special-category data rules.

Practices should therefore understand which information passes between:

• dental practice software;
• booking systems;
• payment processors;
• patient portals;
• accounting systems;
• finance providers; and
• other integrations.

Payment references do not normally need to contain unnecessary clinical detail.

Multiple Dentists and Associates

Dental practices frequently have several dentists, hygienists, therapists or associates working from one location.

This can create additional reporting requirements.

The practice may want to know:

• which clinician generated the revenue;
• which treatment produced the payment;
• which location took the transaction;
• which payments remain outstanding;
• which refunds have been issued; and
• how revenue should be allocated internally.

The merchant-account structure does not necessarily need to mirror the associate-payment structure, but the reporting environment should support the way the dental business operates.

Multi-Site Dental Groups

A dental group operating several practices may need significantly more sophisticated payment infrastructure than a single-site surgery.

Consider:

• whether every practice operates under the same legal entity;
• whether separate merchant IDs are required;
• how settlement is allocated;
• whether pricing is negotiated centrally;
• how transactions are reported by location;
• whether every practice uses the same dental software;
• whether terminals are integrated;
• how online payments are routed;
• who can issue refunds;
• how finance teams obtain group-level reporting; and
• how new acquisitions or practices can be added.

For larger groups, payment-provider selection can become an infrastructure decision rather than simply a card-machine purchase.

Higher-Volume Dental Practices Should Review Pricing Differently

A growing dental group processing significant annual card turnover may be able to compare payment pricing differently from a small single-site practice.

Areas to review can include:

• blended card rates;
• Interchange++ pricing;
• fixed transaction charges;
• terminal rental;
• online-payment pricing;
• MOTO rates;
• refund charges;
• chargeback fees;
• authorisation charges;
• PCI-related charges;
• international cards;
• settlement periods;
• minimum monthly charges; and
• integration costs.

The most useful comparison for an established practice is often based on actual merchant statements rather than advertised headline rates.

Settlement and Dental Practice Cash Flow

Settlement determines when card proceeds reach the dental practice's bank account.

This can matter where the practice has significant outgoing costs such as:

• staff wages;
• associate payments;
• laboratory bills;
• implant components;
• aligner laboratory costs;
• equipment;
• rent;
• materials; and
• other clinical expenses.

A lower card rate is not automatically better if settlement is significantly slower or the payment workflow creates additional administration.

Switching Payment Provider as a Dental Practice

Changing card processor is straightforward only when the existing provider sits in isolation.

Modern dental practices may have the same processor connected to several different workflows.

Before switching, identify:

• reception terminals;
• online booking deposits;
• payment links;
• virtual-terminal payments;
• stored cards;
• recurring payments;
• dental practice software;
• patient portals;
• accounting integrations;
• membership plans; and
• existing finance arrangements.

If any of those functions depend on the existing processor, changing provider becomes a technology migration as well as a commercial switch.

Switching Away From Stripe if You Use Dentally

This deserves particular attention because Dentally currently uses Stripe for online payment links and Portal-based deposits.

A practice considering moving away from Stripe should first establish:

• whether it currently uses Dentally payment links;
• whether patients pay deposits through Dentally Portal;
• whether outstanding balances are collected online;
• whether another provider can replace those functions;
• whether a separate processor could be used only for reception payments;
• what happens to historic payment information; and
• whether the administrative impact outweighs the proposed saving.

A cheaper terminal provider may still make commercial sense without necessarily replacing the provider used for online Dentally payments.

This is why the whole payment architecture should be mapped before cancelling anything.

Find Your New Processor

What Should Dentists Compare When Choosing a Merchant Account?

What Information Should a Dental Practice Provide When Comparing Providers?

A useful starting point is:

• practice name and website;
• legal entity;
• number of dental practices;
• NHS/private treatment mix;
• monthly card turnover;
• annual card turnover;
• average transaction value;
• maximum transaction value;
• number of transactions;
• number of terminals;
• percentage of face-to-face transactions;
• percentage of online or remote transactions;
• dental software used;
• online booking system;
• payment-link requirements;
• MOTO requirements;
• membership or recurring payments;
• patient-finance arrangements;
• current payment provider;
• three recent merchant statements where available;
• contract end date; and
• main reason for reviewing the account.

This gives potential providers a much clearer understanding of the practice than simply requesting a generic quote for “a dentist”.

Merchant Advice Service View

Dentistry is a good example of why payment-provider selection should start with the business workflow rather than an advertised card-processing percentage.

A mixed NHS/private dental practice taking mainly routine payments at reception has very different requirements from a multi-site implant and orthodontic group processing high-value private treatment plans.

Similarly, a practice using Dentally payment links and online deposits may have different switching constraints from one using standalone terminals with no integrated payments.

We recommend mapping:

how patients pay + what software is involved + treatment values + when money is collected + whether finance is offered + how payments are reconciled.

Once that is clear, the practice can compare merchant providers against its actual requirements.

How Merchant Advice Service Helps Dental Practices

Merchant Advice Service is an independent UK payments information, comparison and provider-matching service.

We can help dental businesses understand their payment requirements and identify potential provider routes based on the way the practice actually operates.

This can include:

• new dental merchant accounts;
• card terminals;
• multi-site dental groups;
• high-volume payment processing;
• higher-value treatment transactions;
• payment links;
• online payments;
• MOTO;
• practice-software integrations;
• recurring payments;
• switching provider;
• reviewing existing merchant fees;
• settlement requirements; and
• more complex payment setups.

The objective is to understand the practice first rather than submitting applications indiscriminately.

The relevant payment provider remains responsible for underwriting, acceptance, pricing and final commercial terms.

Find Your New Processor

Sources and Reference Organisations

• NHS – NHS dental treatment charges
• NHS – NHS and private dental treatment and treatment plans
• NHS – dental appointments, treatment plans and deposits
• Dentally – Stripe, online payments, deposits and payment links
• Dentally – payment and finance integration partners
• Financial Conduct Authority – consumer-credit brokers including dentists
• Financial Conduct Authority – consumer credit for vets and dentists
• Financial Conduct Authority – regulation of Deferred Payment Credit from July 2026

Editorial disclosure: Payment providers, dental software companies and finance products are referenced to explain the dental payment environment. Inclusion does not constitute a recommendation or ranking. Provider integrations, functionality, pricing, regulatory status and acceptance criteria can change and should be checked directly before making a commercial decision.

This guide provides general payment-processing information. It does not constitute dental, legal, consumer-credit or regulatory advice. Dental businesses offering or introducing patient finance should confirm the regulatory requirements applying to their individual arrangement.