How to Finance Buying a Dental Practice

Quick answer: Dental practice acquisitions are among the easiest deals in small business to finance. Specialty practice lenders compete for dentists, and SBA 7(a) loans are common—both frequently offering up to 100% financing because the cash flow is predictable and dental default rates are very low. The deal turns on the practice's collections, payer mix, and patient retention. Start with our medical and dental practice financing page.

Important: Axiant Partners is not a lender; we connect businesses with financing sources. Offers depend on underwriting, program rules, and verification. This guide is educational only and not credit, legal, or tax advice.

Ways to Finance Buying a Dental Practice

Dentists have more—and better—options than most buyers, because lenders actively want healthcare paper.

• Specialty practice lenders — banks with dedicated dental/healthcare divisions that often finance up to 100% of a practice purchase for a qualified dentist, sometimes including working capital.
• SBA 7(a) loan — a strong alternative, especially for first-time buyers or when real estate is involved, typically with a low down payment.
• Seller financing — less necessary here than in other industries given how aggressively lenders compete, but it can still bridge a gap or smooth a transition.

Why Dental Practices Are So Financeable

Few small businesses underwrite as cleanly as a dental practice. The revenue is steady and recurring—recall visits, hygiene, and a loyal patient base produce predictable collections month after month. Default rates on dental practice loans are famously low, which is why specialty lenders compete on rate and offer up to 100% financing to qualified dentists. For the buyer, that means the cash hurdle is the license and experience, not a large down payment—a meaningful advantage over almost every other acquisition type.

Valuing a Dental Practice

Dental practices are valued primarily on collections—commonly a percentage of annual collections, refined by a multiple of EBITDA or the doctor's discretionary earnings. What moves the number is the durability of the patient base: active patient count, recall and retention rates, hygiene production, and the payer mix (a healthy share of fee-for-service or PPO versus heavy reliance on a single low-reimbursement plan). The equipment—chairs, digital imaging, a CBCT scanner—and the real estate factor in, but the patient base and collections carry the valuation.

What Lenders Require

Because the financing is so available, the bar is about the buyer and the practice, not a big check. Lenders look for:

• Your dental license and ideally a year or two of associate or clinical experience
• Clean personal credit and a manageable existing debt load (student loans are expected and underwritten around)
• Two to three years of the target practice's collections, production, and tax returns
• A practice valuation and a transition plan with the selling dentist
• Payer-mix and patient-retention data showing the revenue is durable

If you want to gauge readiness, see how to prequalify for a business loan.

Transition and Goodwill

So much of a dental practice's value is the relationship between the selling dentist and the patients, so lenders care about the transition. A handoff where the seller stays on for a transition period, the team is retained, and patients are introduced to the new owner protects the collections the loan depends on. A clean transition plan is often the difference between a smooth approval and a cautious one—and it directly protects your investment in the year after close.

Steps to Get Funded

1. Confirm your profile. License, experience, and credit are the real qualifiers here.
2. Get the practice numbers. Collections, production, payer mix, and tax returns.
3. Establish value. Get a practice valuation tied to collections.
4. Shop specialty lenders and SBA. Compare 100%-financing offers from healthcare lenders against SBA terms—see how to compare offers.
5. Plan the transition. Line up a seller transition period and staff retention.
6. Submit a clean package and expect a relatively quick close for a strong dental file.

Next Steps

Buying a dental practice is one of the most financeable moves in small business: specialty lenders and SBA programs compete to fund qualified dentists, often up to 100%. Lead with your license and experience, the practice's collections, and a solid transition plan. When you are ready, get matched with lenders that specialize in practice acquisitions.