ANSWER: Welcome to dental, I hope you end up loving it as much as I do!
As far as verifying benefits, I suggest that you first check with your doctor or office manager to make sure they agree with my suggestion. I think that benefits should be checked for all new patients or whenever a patient of record has a change in insurance.
New Patients: As soon as you receive a new patient’s insurance information, verify their benefits. This can be done by phone, or online. Each office has their own specifications as to what they are looking to verify. Minimally, you want to make sure you know the basic coverage and that their insurance will pay if they come to your office.