Questions a dental buyer will ask
How many active patients do you have?
Buyers count patients seen in the last 12 to 18 months and how many new patients arrive each month. That base is most of what they are paying for.
How much of production is yours?
If you personally produce most of the revenue, the buyer has to keep your patients after you go. A strong hygiene schedule and associate dentists help.
What is the payer mix?
The split between fee for service, insurance plans and any lower paying plans affects margins and how easy the practice is to grow.
How long is the lease?
Patients follow the location. A buyer and their lender will want enough years left on the lease, or a clear option to renew.
Hygiene Is the Backbone
A busy hygiene schedule shows a buyer that patients come back twice a year without anyone chasing them. It also feeds restorative work to the dentist.
Pull a report of your recall rate, hygiene days per week and how far out the schedule is booked. Those numbers do a lot of the selling for you.
Your Own Role After the Sale
Most dental sales include a transition period where you stay on, often working fewer days, while patients get to know the new dentist. Some owners stay for years as an associate.
Decide early what you want. A short, clean exit and a long stay as an associate lead to different buyers and different terms.
Staff and Equipment
Patients are loyal to the front desk and the hygienists as much as the dentist. A buyer will ask about tenure and pay, and whether anyone key is likely to leave.
Equipment and software matter too. Older chairs, imaging and practice management systems are not deal breakers, but a buyer will price in replacing them.
Who Buys Practices
Buyers include younger dentists buying their first practice, often with lender financing, and dental service organizations that own groups of practices.
A young dentist may pay with a large loan and ask you to carry a note. A group may pay more cash and ask you to stay longer. Our page on seller financing covers the note side.
Books That Add Up
Expect the buyer to compare collections, not just production, and to recast your own pay, continuing education trips and any family members on payroll. What is my business worth explains recasting.
Collections that lag production by a wide margin raise questions, so be ready to explain write offs and insurance adjustments.
Keeping Patients Through the Change
Plan how patients will hear about the new dentist. A letter from you, introductions at hygiene visits and keeping the same team in place go a long way.
Missouri Filings After Closing
You will close your payroll and tax accounts and, in Kansas City, file a final earnings tax return for the practice. See Kansas City earnings tax final return when you sell and the other seller filings.
For a private estimate of your practice's value, send the form or call (816) 555-0167.