What do you need to get right when hiring your first treatment coordinator? Three things: a properly designed job, pay that reflects what the role really is, and a contract that rewards performance without pushing anyone into selling dentistry patients do not need. Get those right and a good TCO pays for themselves; get them wrong and you have an expensive receptionist or, worse, a GDC problem.
Design the job before you advertise it
A treatment coordinator sits between the clinician and the patient: presenting treatment plans in plain English, answering the questions patients did not want to ask the dentist, handling finance options, and following up plans that stalled. Decide before you hire where the role starts and stops. Does the TCO attend new patient consultations? Own the follow-up list? Handle finance applications? Write it down as a job description, because the role varies so much between practices that a vague advert attracts the wrong people.
Who to hire
The two common routes are promoting a dental nurse with strong patient rapport, or hiring from a customer-facing sales background. A nurse brings clinical credibility and needs training in structured follow-up; a sales hire brings process and needs clinical knowledge and careful guardrails. Note that if a registered dental nurse takes the role, their GDC registration and scope of practice still apply to anything clinical they do.
Pay and incentives, done ethically
Expect to pay in the region of £26,000 to £34,000 depending on experience and location, before any incentive. On incentives, be careful. Aggressive commission on treatment uptake sits badly with GDC standards, which require that patients’ interests come first and that treatment is never oversold. Safer designs: a modest bonus tied to the patient journey working well (plans presented within a set time, follow-ups completed, patient feedback), or a conversion element that only counts treatment a clinician has already prescribed as appropriate. The clinician decides what is needed; the TCO helps the patient say yes to it.
The contract
Use a proper employment contract with a job description that reserves flexibility, a probation period with structured review points, confidentiality obligations that cover patient data, and any bonus scheme documented in writing as discretionary with clear rules. A written statement of terms is due on or before day one, and the recruitment file needs the same right-to-work check and references as any other hire.
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General guidance for UK employers, correct at 22nd July 2026. Not advice on a specific situation. More guides for your sector: HR for dental practices. Not sure where your gaps are? Check your HR Risk Score in 3 minutes.
