Sell my dental practice
Dental practices have become one of the most actively bought businesses in healthcare. If you've built a steady patient base and a practice that runs well, there are buyers who want it. Here's what your practice is likely worth, who's buying, what moves the price, and how to run a sale that gets you a fair number.
What dental practices sell for
Dental practices get valued the same basic way most healthcare businesses do: a measure of profit times a multiple. The wrinkle that's specific to dentistry is how that profit is measured. Buyers want to see your earnings after a fair-market salary for an associate dentist to do the clinical work you personally produce. That adjustment matters because a lot of a single-doctor practice's profit is really the owner's own production. Subtracting a market-rate associate salary gives a cleaner EBITDA figure that reflects what the practice earns as a business, not as a job for you.
As an indicative range, dental practices tend to trade around 4.0–7.0x EBITDA on that normalized basis. The spread is wide for a reason. Two practices with the same collections can sell for very different prices, and the thing that separates them most is how much the practice depends on the owner-dentist. A group with associates in place, strong hygiene recall, and a broad payer mix lands toward the top. A solo practice where the owner produces nearly all the dentistry lands toward the bottom.
| Practice profile | Indicative multiple | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Solo practice, owner produces most dentistry | ~4.0x | EBITDA (after associate salary) |
| Established practice, some associate support, steady recall | ~5.0–6.0x | EBITDA (after associate salary) |
| Multi-provider group, strong recall, runs without owner | ~6.0–7.0x | EBITDA (after associate salary) |
Indicative lower-middle-market ranges, not a valuation. See our EBITDA & SDE multiples by industry report for the full breakdown, or run your numbers through the valuation calculator.
Who's buying dental practices right now
The demand side is what's changed most in dentistry. A few kinds of buyers are active, and they don't all value your practice the same way.
- Dental service organizations (DSOs). These are the consolidators, and many of them are private-equity-backed. A DSO handles the business side (billing, HR, marketing, purchasing) across a group of practices, so the dentists can focus on patients. Because they're buying scale and recurring patient revenue, DSOs will often pay the most, especially if your practice fits a region they're building out.
- Regional dental groups. Smaller multi-location groups acquire to add locations and providers in markets they already understand. They know the clinical and operational side well, so diligence can move quickly, and they value a clean patient base and a team they can keep.
- Individual dentists. Plenty of associates and younger dentists still want to own a practice rather than work for a group. They tend to pay less than the consolidators, but they can be a good fit if you care about who takes over your patients and your name.
The practical takeaway: don't sell to the first DSO that knocks. Different buyers will value the same practice differently, and the only way to find out who values yours most is to put it in front of several of them at once.
The DSO consolidation trend
For most of dentistry's history, practices were owned one at a time by the dentists who ran them. That's been shifting. DSOs have spent years rolling up independent practices into larger groups, and that activity is a big part of why owner-dentists today have real options when they sell. More buyers competing for good practices generally means more leverage for you at the table. It also means the structure of a deal can get complicated fast, with rollover equity, earnouts, and post-sale employment terms all in play. That's another reason to have someone in your corner who has closed these deals before.
What drives a dental practice's multiple
Where you land in that 4.0–7.0x range comes down to a handful of things buyers underwrite carefully.
- Patient base. An active, loyal patient base with steady new-patient flow is the foundation. Buyers look at how many active patients you have and how reliably they return.
- Hygiene recall. A strong hygiene recall program is the recurring engine of a practice. Patients who come back on schedule produce predictable revenue and feed the rest of the practice. The healthier your recall, the higher your multiple.
- Payer and insurance mix. A balanced mix across fee-for-service, PPO, and other payers is steadier than heavy reliance on any single plan. Buyers check how your reimbursement holds up and whether it's concentrated in a way that could shift.
- Associate retention. If you have associates and they're likely to stay through a transition, that's worth real money. It tells a buyer the production won't walk out the door when you do.
- Location. Demographics, visibility, lease terms, and room to grow all factor in. A good location in a growing area is easier to value and easier for a group to build around.
- Equipment and technology. Modern, well-maintained operatories, imaging, and practice-management systems reduce the capital a buyer has to put in after closing. Aging equipment gets discounted.
- Owner-dentist dependence. This is the big one in dentistry. If the practice runs with associates and a stable team handling most production, a buyer is purchasing a business. If you personally produce nearly all the dentistry and hold all the key relationships, they're buying a job that's hard to fill. They'll pay accordingly.
You can move several of these before you ever go to market. That's the whole idea behind building value before you sell. A year or two of strengthening recall, bringing on an associate, and tightening up your books can shift you a full turn of EBITDA.
The selling process and timeline
Selling a dental practice isn't one event. It's a process that, done right, takes most owners somewhere between six and twelve months. Here's the shape of it:
- Get a real valuation. Start with an honest number based on your actual collections and financials, normalized for an associate salary, not a rule-of-thumb percentage of revenue.
- Prepare. Clean up the books, document your active patient counts and recall, and write down how the practice runs so it doesn't live only in your head. This is also where you fix anything obviously dragging the multiple down.
- Go to market. A specialized advisor packages the practice, reaches out to qualified buyers confidentially, and runs a process so you're comparing offers rather than taking the only one.
- Negotiate and sign a letter of intent. You pick a buyer, agree on price and structure, including any rollover or earnout, and move into exclusivity.
- Diligence, credentialing, and close. The buyer verifies everything. Credentialing with payers and any state regulatory transfer steps can add time here, so this stretch often runs longer in dentistry than in other industries. Then you close and get paid.
The single biggest thing that speeds all of this up is preparation. Practices with clean financials and documented patient and recall data move through diligence faster and lose fewer deals along the way.
One more note worth taking seriously: ownership, transfer, and dental-practice structure rules vary by state, and some states have specific requirements about who can own a dental practice. This page is general information, not legal advice. Loop in qualified dental or healthcare counsel early so the deal structure works where you practice.
You don't need to pay a big retainer to find out
A lot of owners assume hiring an M&A advisor means writing a fat retainer check before anyone's even valued the practice. That's the old model, and it's not your only option. Plenty of capable advisory firms work on a success basis. They get paid when your deal closes, not before. That structure keeps everyone pointed at the same goal: closing your sale at a good price.
The hard part has always been figuring out which firms are any good, which ones actually close dental and healthcare deals, and which ones will take you on at your size without a big upfront fee. That's the gap we built ProCloser to fill.
How ProCloser matches dental owners to vetted advisors
Tell us about your practice: size, market, collections, how much of the production is yours versus associates', roughly where your earnings land. We match you with vetted M&A advisory firms that close deals in dental and healthcare, including no-retainer, success-only options. You get an introduction and a free, confidential indicative valuation as part of the process. From there you decide who, if anyone, to work with.
It's free to sellers and it's confidential. No obligation, no retainer to find out what your practice could be worth and who'd want it.
New to all of this? Start with the broader guide to selling your business, get a sense of the different types of business buyers and how a business broker differs from an M&A advisor, then come back and get matched when you're ready.
Dental practice seller FAQ
What is my dental practice worth?
Take your normalized annual profit and apply a multiple. In dentistry, buyers normalize by subtracting a fair-market salary for an associate to do your clinical production, which gives a cleaner EBITDA figure. As an indicative range, dental practices tend to trade around 4.0–7.0x EBITDA on that basis. A multi-provider group with strong recall and low owner dependence sits toward the top; a solo practice where you produce most of the dentistry sits toward the bottom. Run your numbers through the valuation calculator, then get it reviewed for a defensible figure.
What multiple do dental practices sell for?
As an indicative range, roughly 4.0–7.0x EBITDA measured after a fair-market associate-dentist salary. A loyal patient base, strong hygiene recall, a balanced payer mix, retained associates, a good location, and modern equipment push you toward the high end. Heavy owner-dentist dependence, a narrow payer mix, and aging equipment pull you toward the low end.
Who buys dental practices?
The most active buyers are dental service organizations (DSOs), many private-equity-backed, that consolidate practices into larger groups. Regional dental groups acquire to add locations, and individual dentists still buy single practices to own and run. Each values your practice differently, which is why running a competitive process matters.
How do I sell my dental practice?
Get a realistic valuation, clean up your financials, document your patient base and hygiene recall so the practice doesn't depend solely on you, then run a confidential process with multiple qualified buyers. A specialized advisor handles the marketing, outreach, negotiation, and diligence. Loop in dental or healthcare counsel early, since state rules vary. Get matched with a vetted firm, including no-retainer options.
How long does it take to sell a dental practice?
Plan on roughly six to twelve months from decision to closing, sometimes longer. Preparation can take a few months, marketing and negotiation usually run two to four, and diligence and closing add another two to three. Credentialing with payers and any state regulatory transfer steps can add time, so clean books and documented records help move things along.
See what your dental practice is worth.
We'll match you with a vetted M&A advisor who closes dental and healthcare deals, and give you a free, confidential indicative valuation. Free to sellers. No retainer to find out.
Tania leads ProCloser's network of vetted M&A advisory firms and works with business owners every week on valuation, fit, and getting matched to the right advisor to sell. Get matched free.