Torch Dental FAQ | Answers for Dental Practices

Torch Dental is an all-in-one dental supply management platform that helps independent dental practices order and save on supplies from multiple vendors in one place, manage inventory, and track and control their dental supply spending. Over 3,000 dental practices use Torch Dental to save time and reduce supply costs.

Torch leverages the collective buying power of 3,000+ independent practices to negotiate exclusive rates with supply vendors across 100,000+ products (rates individual practices can’t access on their own)! When you order through Torch, you’re automatically getting pre-negotiated, best-in-industry pricing, plus live promotions and real-time availability across all vendors in one place.

Practices using Torch Dental save an average of 16% on supply costs on top of already-discounted pricing, with some practices saving up to 32%. The savings come from Torch’s negotiated pricing across 25+ vendors, price transparency tools, and AI-powered recommendations that flag better alternatives. For a practice spending $5,000/month on supplies, a 16% savings equals $9,600 back per year, before accounting for the staff hours saved from manual ordering and price comparison.

Torch Dental’s platform has three core functions: Ordering Supplies— a single catalog where you can browse, compare pricing, and purchase from 25+ authorized vendors in one cart, Managing Supplies — a smart inventory dashboard that tracks your supplies, and Budgeting — tools to set spending budgets, approve orders, and analyze your supply spend over time.

Yes, single-location practices are often the ones overpaying the most, because they don’t have the purchasing volume to negotiate prices on their own. Torch Dental gives independent practices access to the same negotiated pricing and vendor leverage that large groups and DSOs have, without requiring high order volume.

Torch Dental is built for independent dental practices of all sizes and specialties, from single-location general practices to multi-location groups. We support general dentistry, orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, and pediatric dentistry.

Yes. Torch Dental supports multiple users per practice with customizable permissions. You can control who can browse, which users have access to each location, who can add to cart, and who can approve and place orders, so your team can participate in ordering without losing control over spending.

Yes. Multi-location practices get a centralized dashboard to manage inventory, orders, and budgets across all locations. You can view spending by location or across your entire organization, and manage user access for each site.

Torch Dental works with 25+ authorized dental supply vendors, including partners like Ultradent, Bisco, Komet, and many others, allowing you to order the same products you’re already purchasing from distributors such as Patterson and Henry Schein. We negotiate pricing for many of our supply vendors so you’re always getting competitive rates.

Torch leverages the collective buying power of 3,000+ independent practices to negotiate exclusive rates with supply vendors across 100,000+ products (rates individual practices can’t access on their own)! When you order through Torch, you’re automatically getting pre-negotiated, best-in-industry pricing, plus live promotions and real-time availability across all vendors in one place.

Torch offers flat rate subscriptions based on practice needs. We offer plans for single-location practices and multi-location groups.

Practices using Torch Dental save an average of 16% on supply costs on top of already-discounted pricing, with some practices saving up to 32%. The savings come from Torch’s negotiated pricing across 25+ vendors, price transparency tools, and AI-powered recommendations that flag better alternatives. For a practice spending $5,000/month on supplies, a 16% savings equals $9,600 back per year, before accounting for the staff hours saved from manual ordering and price comparison.

The average practice saves 16%+ on supply costs and reduces time spent on ordering by 64% — and by saving that time, staff can see more patients. For a practice spending $5,000/month on supplies, a 16% savings equals $9,600 back per year — before accounting for the staff hours saved from manual ordering and price comparison.

The average practice reduces time spent on ordering by 64% after switching to Torch. The platform is designed for busy dental assistants and office managers, and also helps practices prevent costly ordering mistakes. Most staff are comfortable placing orders on their own within the first week, and because your product preferences and order history are saved, weekly ordering takes minutes instead of hours.

Torch offers flat rate subscriptions based on practice needs. We offer plans for single-location practices and multi-location groups.

Most dental practices should spend between 5% and 8% of their gross revenue on supplies. Spending above 8% is generally a sign of overpaying, ordering inefficiencies, or both. For context, practices that don’t actively manage supply costs often spend 10–12% without realizing it. Torch Dental helps practices benchmark and bring spending back into the target range.

The clearest signal is your supply spend as a percentage of revenue — if it’s above 8%, there’s likely room to save. Beyond that, most practices have no way to know if their prices are competitive because vendors don’t publish pricing publicly. Price benchmarking tools that compare your costs against a database of real practice prices are the most reliable way to identify overpayment.

Yes. You can assign spending limits by user, by location, or across your whole organization. Orders above a set threshold can be routed for manager approval before they’re placed, so nothing gets purchased outside your budget without sign-off.

Torch Dental lets you set monthly supply budgets by location or across your entire practice, require order approvals before purchases are placed, and track spending in real time all from one dashboard.

Use our free Rate My Pricing tool at https://torchdental.com/rate-my-pricing/. You select commonly used products, enter what you’re currently paying, and instantly see how your prices compare to thousands of other practices nationwide. No commitment required.

The most effective ways to reduce dental supply costs are: consolidating orders across vendors to gain purchasing leverage, benchmarking your prices against what other practices pay for the same products, eliminating duplicate or redundant products from your inventory, setting and enforcing a monthly supply budget, and using tools to identify lower-cost alternatives to frequently ordered items.

Yes. Torch Dental’s analytics dashboard shows your spending by vendor, product category, time period, and location. You can spot trends, identify where you’re overspending, and make more informed purchasing decisions based on your actual data.

Torch Dental works with 25+ authorized dental supply vendors, including partners like Ultradent, Bisco, Komet, and many others, allowing you to order the same products you’re already purchasing from distributors such as Patterson and Henry Schein. We negotiate pricing for many of our supply vendors so you’re always getting competitive rates.

Torch Dental’s catalog includes 100,000+ dental products spanning consumables, disposables, specialty instruments, and more, covering virtually everything a dental practice orders on a regular basis.

The most frequently ordered dental supplies fall into a few categories: infection control products (gloves, masks, surface disinfectants), restorative materials (composites, bonding agents, cements), impression materials, anesthetics, burs and rotary instruments, prophy supplies, and disposables like barriers and bibs. High-volume consumables are also where the biggest savings opportunities tend to live.

Dental supply costs are high for a few reasons: the market has historically been dominated by a small number of large distributors with limited price transparency, manufacturer pricing is often tiered in ways that disadvantage smaller practices, and most practices order from multiple vendors without the leverage to negotiate. Practices that consolidate purchasing and benchmark prices consistently pay significantly less than those that don’t.

Traditionally, dental practices order through a mix of sales rep relationships, vendor websites, phone calls, and email, often juggling five or more suppliers for a single order. This fragmented approach makes price comparison difficult, leads to missed savings, and consumes significant staffing hours which could otherwise be used to see patients and run their businesses. To solve this problem, Torch Dental offers a centralized ordering platform to simplify the process.

Most dental practices order supplies weekly or biweekly. The right frequency depends on storage space, cash flow, and patient volume. Ordering too frequently increases administrative time; ordering too infrequently risks running out of critical items mid-week. Smart inventory management helps practices order at the right time without having to manually track stock levels.

Dental supply inventory management is the process of tracking what supplies a practice has on hand, knowing when items need to be reordered, and maintaining enough stock to avoid running out without over-purchasing and tying up cash. Effective inventory management reduces waste from expired products, prevents emergency orders at premium prices, and frees up staff time that would otherwise go to manual counting and list-making.

Torch Dental’s platform shows live availability across all vendors, so you can see backordered items before you order and switch to an equivalent in-stock alternative. Smart recommendations surface substitutes automatically when your preferred product isn’t available.

Dental supply reps are sales representatives employed by distributors. They manage relationships with dental practices, handle orders, and negotiate pricing but their goal is to maximize sales for their employer, not to find you the lowest price across all vendors. Practices that rely solely on rep relationships often pay more than those that actively compare prices across multiple suppliers.

The most important factors are product availability, pricing transparency, delivery speed, return policies, and the quality of customer support. Beyond individual vendors, the bigger question for most practices is whether they’re managing vendor relationships efficiently — ordering from too many separate sources adds administrative burden and reduces your purchasing leverage with any one of them.