Have you ever hired the wrong person?

If so, you probably didn’t realize it right away — mistakes like that rarely cause chaos on day one…

Take a dental office manager for example. A wrong hire might manifest as missed calls, delayed claims, tension at the front desk, or collections that never quite catch up.

If you’ve ever hired someone who interviewed well but struggled once the phones started ringing, you’re not alone. 

How do dental offices avoid these costly mistakes?

The interview questions below are written for dental practice owners and hiring managers who want to ask better questions, so they make stronger hires.

For a complete step-by-step hiring strategy, see how to hire a dental office manager.

What to Expect

In this guide, you’ll find practical interview questions dental practices actually use:

• What strong answers tend to sound like — and what weak ones often avoid

• Guidance on evaluating responses beyond confidence or personality

• common interview mistakes that lead to quiet but costly mis-hires

• A perspective on when temporary support can help stabilize an office during transitions

Our goal? 

To listen more clearly, ask better follow-up questions, and walk away with a realistic sense of whether a candidate can handle the day-to-day realities of your practice.

5 Dental Office Manager Interview Questions

Here are five questions to consider in mind: 

1. Tell me about your experience managing a dental office.

This question is about how the candidate has been accountable in past roles. 

Strong answers usually include:

• The size and pace of the practice

• How the front office was structured

• Where they personally stepped in — and where they didn’t

Answers that stay vague or default to “corporate handled that” often signal limited ownership.

Pro Tip: Reviewing a clear dental office manager job description can help align expectations before the interview, as well as before you even post the position. 

2. How do you manage insurance billing? Denied claims?

Answers to these questions can often be very telling. 

Strong candidates can explain:

• How: Denials were tracked and handled 

• What: Follow-up looked like

• Who: Was accountable for handling claims

Weak answers will sound passive. "I resubmitted,” or “Billing handled those issues.”

If they can’t explain how denials move from problem to resolution, they will struggle later with delayed claims and frustrated patients after being hired. 

3. How do you handle patients who are upset or have challenging conversations?

Patients are often upset for various reasons, including wait times, unexpected insurance costs, or billing issues.

When conducting interviews, listen for candidates who talk about:

• De-escalation: How were they able to calm situations without overpromising in past roles? 

• Boundaries: How were they able to set clear boundaries with empathy with prior patients? 

Red flag: Defensive language and/or blame-shifting are often warning signs.

4. What dental software have you used? And how did it affect office flow?

This question isn’t about brand names — it’s about how systems were actually used.

Strong answers touch on three things: 

1. Schedules and adjustments

2. Reporting and tracking metrics

3. Changes to reduce friction or conflict

5. How do you train and keep front office staff?

This question reveals whether someone manages people or just tasks.

You’ll often hear stronger candidates discuss:

• Expectations: Expectations to help a smooth onboarding process 

• Reflections: Feedback on conversations that didn’t go smoothly, and what they learned

• Burnout: How they addressed burnout or overload

Red flag: High turnover, when explained away as “people don’t want to work,” is rarely a good sign.

What Often Gets Missed During Office Manager Interviews

Most interviews cover experience and personality. What they miss is how a candidate handles gray areas — the moments where there isn’t a clean answer.

This usually shows up when:

• Insurance issues don’t fit the script

• Staff tension sits just below the surface

• Patients are upset but technically “wrong.”

Strong candidates have lived through these moments and describe them calmly and specifically, while weak candidates will speak in generalities.

Strong and Weak Answers

What should hiring managers listen for? 

Strong answers are often grounded and detailed. They discuss and provide examples that have been lived: Real situations, trade-offs, and outcomes.

Weak answers often sound polished but vague. 

You’ll hear confidence without detail, or responsibility shifted elsewhere: (billing handled that, corporate decided, the team struggled). 

The difference isn’t confidence. It’s ownership.

How to Evaluate Interview Answers After the Conversation

Once the interview ends — while it’s still fresh — take a moment to evaluate what you heard, not how much you liked the person.

Interviewees who stand out tend to speak clearly about three things:

• How the office actually runs — not just job titles or tasks

• How people are managed — including accountability and feedback, not just schedules

• How money moves through the practice — especially insurance, accounts receivable, and collections

This step alone often reveals gaps that didn’t stand out during the conversation itself.

What This Role Costs When It Goes Wrong

When an office manager hire misses the mark, the cost rarely shows up as one big problem.

It shows up as ten small ones — missed calls, aging claims, staff frustration — typical signs of broader front office staffing challenges that quietly add up.

By the time the issue feels obvious, the practice is often already operating under more stress than it should be.

That’s why the interview matters as much as it does.

Temporary Coverage, the Working Interview, and Hiring

Temporary coverage can be a way to reduce hiring pressures while making a hiring decision.

It could also be an opportunity for you to test a candidates abilities prior to hiring them. This is the power of the “working interview.”

When a front office is understaffed or overwhelmed, interviews tend to get rushed. When this happens, the goal might shifts from finding the right fit to finding someone who can start tomorrow. 

That’s when costly mis-hires happen.

Stabilizing the front office with a temp can change this dynamic. With coverage in place, interviews become clearer, questions get sharper, and red flags are easier to spot. 

You’re no longer hiring under pressure — you’re hiring with intention.

In many cases, practices use temporary coverage as a bridge to a permanent hire. Once the office is running smoothly, it becomes much easier to identify the right long-term fit and make a confident decision.

Princess Dental Staffing supports both sides of that process — helping practices stabilize short-term administrative needs and, when they’re ready, connect with experienced dental professionals for permanent office manager roles.

Using These Questions Effectively in the Interview

The main takeaway here might be that the interview questions asked don't matter as much as what the interviewer is listening for in the answers.

Strong candidates will explain how work actually gets done. While weaker answers stay vague or shift responsibility to others.

What are your thoughts? Are there particular interview questions you like to ask dental office managers in your interviews? Let us know on social.

 

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