Buy a dental practice: join the buyer list

This page is general information for people buying a dental practice, not legal, tax or lending advice. The SBA rules below are from SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026; confirm them with your lender. Have healthcare counsel in the practice's state review any ownership structure, and a CPA review the tax side of the purchase.

How do dental practices come to market?

A dental CPA quoted by ADA News in December 2024 describes three ways an owner sells a practice: marketing it to an outside dentist, selling to an associate, or selling to a dental support organization (DSO). The same CPA says the process generally takes about a year. If you work in the practice now, SBA rules may treat your purchase differently; see buying from the dentist you work for.

BizBuySell notes that new owners of dental practices “are often limited to qualified dentists,” and says that among practices sold through BizBuySell in 2025, larger ones sold, many of them to private equity firms.

MB2 Dental, one DSO, says on its website (accessed October 2026) that it usually partners with practices that have over $1.25 million in revenue and five or more operatories, which is one DSO's stated preference, not a market rule. Sale prices and multiples are on what a dental practice is worth.

What do you need to qualify to buy a dental practice?

Work out three things before you make an offer: whether you can own a practice in that state, how you will finance it, and where the cash for your equity comes from.

Do you need a dental license in the practice's state?

State law decides. Under each of the three rules below, a license from another state does not qualify you.

• North Carolina. Owning, managing, supervising, controlling or conducting an enterprise where dental procedures are done counts as practicing dentistry, which requires a North Carolina dental license (G.S. 90-29(b)(11)).
• New York. A professional service corporation may issue shares only to people licensed in New York to practice its profession who practice, or have practiced, in the corporation or a predecessor, or who will start practicing there within 30 days of the share issue (Business Corporation Law 1507(a)). That is New York's general rule for professional corporations; a dental PLLC is formed under a different law.
• Ohio. A shareholder of a dental professional association may sell or transfer shares only to another dentist licensed in Ohio (R.C. 1785.07). Ask which kind of entity you are buying before you rely on that rule.

If you hold a license in another state, start on the license where the practice is before you sign a letter of intent.

How do dentists finance a practice purchase?

An ADA career article says buyers of a dental practice rely heavily on bank financing, and that the practice's income has to cover its expenses, repay the acquisition loan within ten years (the author's rule of thumb) and still pay the new owner a reasonable wage.

Some banks have lending divisions for dentists. Their “up to 100%” figures are ceilings, and all of their lending is subject to credit approval.

• Bank of America says it offers up to 100% financing depending on the type of loan, with working capital included on some loan types such as practice acquisition. Its buyer guide says practice loan terms range from 5 to 15 years, and that loans with 6 to 12 months of interest-only payments are available.
• Provide, a division of Fifth Third Bank, advertises up to 100% acquisition financing with working capital and six months of interest-only payments, subject to credit approval (accessed October 2026).

Separately, ADA guidance for buyers says “most banks will not lend more than 85% of the prior year's collections,” a limit measured against the practice's collections, not its price; ask each lender about its own policy.

What does an SBA 7(a) loan require?

An SBA 7(a) loan can fund a complete or partial change of ownership of a practice. The rules changed on October 1, 2026. SBA Information Notice 5000-880695 (August 14, 2026) says SOP 50 10 8.1 applies to 7(a) applications that receive an SBA loan number on or after that date, while applications submitted through September 30, 2026 stay under SOP 50 10 8. For a file already in process, your lender confirms which version applies.

If you are not an owner of the practice and have not worked there for 24 months, buying all of it is an initial acquisition under SOP 50 10 8.1, and the lender cannot reduce or waive the 10%. A selling dentist whose note counts toward your 10% is paid nothing on it, principal or interest, while the 7(a) loan is outstanding.

The lender, not you or the selling dentist, orders the valuation of the practice, and it may not use one prepared for either of you. It must come from an independent, accredited appraiser, except that the lender may value the practice itself when the business purchase price is $350,000 or less and you and the seller are not closely related.

Debt for the business purchase, including any seller note not on full standby, cannot exceed that valuation. If the price is higher, the difference must be covered by equity, which can include a seller note on full standby. A building you buy with the practice is appraised separately, and if it is in the same loan, only the real estate portion may run past 10 years, up to 25 years.

Under SOP 50 10 8.1, the lender verifies the seller's financial data, including a selling sole proprietor's Schedule C, and reconciles it with IRS tax transcripts before the first loan disbursement, so differences between the practice's internal reports and its filed returns come up before the money moves.

With a 7(a) loan, you cannot pay part of the price as an earn-out tied to the practice's collections after closing. A performance-based rebate to you is allowed, but under SOP 50 10 8.1 it must go to paying down the loan principal.

The ban does not reach conventional or cash deals, and according to Oberman Law Firm, a dental law firm, a typical DSO offer may include an earn-out paid over several years. So a DSO can offer a selling dentist a payment structure that a buyer using a 7(a) loan cannot.

If you are a dentist with a green card, a 7(a) loan is not available to you under SOP 50 10 8.1; conventional dental lenders set their own terms.

Can the selling dentist stay on after you buy?

Not as an employee, if a 7(a) loan funds an outside purchase of the whole practice. That rules out a common arrangement an undated ADA career article describes, in which the buyer purchases 100% of the practice and the seller stays on as a paid associate, often two or three days a week, usually for 1 to 3 years.

Under SOP 50 10 8.1, when a 7(a) loan funds an initial acquisition or a business expansion, the seller may not remain as an officer, director, stockholder or employee. The practice may contract with the seller as a consultant for up to 24 months in total, including extensions; SOP 50 10 8, as published in 2025, allowed up to 12 months.

The SOP does not say whether a consultant may treat patients. If you are counting on the seller's chair time, or on the seller introducing you to patients and referring dentists, settle the structure with your lender and healthcare counsel before you sign a letter of intent.

What if you already own a practice?

SOP 50 10 8.1 may treat the purchase as a business expansion if your existing practice has operated for at least two full fiscal years under its current ownership and buys 100% of another business in the same four-digit NAICS industry group.

The lender may then reduce or eliminate the 10% injection, provided your practice has enough liquidity and working capital and did not show a negative net worth at its last fiscal year-end, and the minimum debt service coverage is 1.15:1 instead of 1.25:1.

For the size test, your practice and the one you buy are measured together against SBA's standard for offices of dentists (NAICS 621210): $9.0 million in average annual receipts (13 CFR 121.201, current as of October 2026). Ask the lender how it classifies both practices.

Buying from the dentist you work for

Under SOP 50 10 8.1, a single owner selling 100% of the ownership interest to someone employed by the business for at least the 24 months before the application may qualify as an existing owner buyout.

The lender may then reduce or eliminate the 10% injection (on this path, 10% of the purchase price) if the practice has enough liquidity and working capital to keep operating after the sale and did not show a negative net worth at its last fiscal year-end, and it has to document why the sale qualifies.

If your own new entity buys the practice's assets instead, the deal likely falls under the initial acquisition rules, with the full 10% minimum; the lender decides the category.

If you have been employed there for fewer than 24 months, the lender applies the initial acquisition credit standards, including the 10% minimum, but the SOP says the seller can still stay on as an owner and employee, as an owner buyout allows. The SOP says “employed” and does not say whether an associate paid as an independent contractor counts, so confirm your work history with the lender before you plan around this path.

If the owner wants to sell part of the practice and stay, a 7(a) loan can fund a partial sale in which the seller remains an owner or employee; a selling owner who keeps less than 20% must guarantee the full loan for at least two years after final disbursement.

Outside SBA, Panacea Financial says (accessed October 2026) that its partner buy-in loan does not require a lien on the existing practice, its real estate or its equipment. Whatever the financing, the ADA's 2013 valuation guide calls it prudent to base the price in an associate's buy-in option or a buy-sell agreement on a professional valuation.

What to have ready, and what to ask the selling dentist

Before you ask a selling dentist for production reports, put together what shows you can close: a prequalification or term sheet from your lender, bank statements showing the cash for your equity injection, and a note on any license you still need in the practice's state. When the numbers come, the ADA's guidance for buyers lists what to ask about:

• Gross production and collections by doctor and by hygienist, for five years and the year to date
• New patients per month, and how the recall system works
• Whether the fee schedule is competitive, and when it was last updated
• Which procedures are referred out, and which insurance plans the practice accepts
• A review of some patient charts, after you sign a nondisclosure agreement

The same guidance flags receivables greater than two months of production, receivables in collections, or a high balance more than 90 days old as signs of loose collection policies or weak billing systems.

Can you own a dental practice without being a dentist?

It depends on the state, and the state's rules shape how a DSO deal is built. The ADA describes a closely aligned DSO arrangement that often involves selling the practice to a professional entity, such as a PC or PLLC, that already works with the DSO. That entity typically buys the clinical assets, the DSO buys the non-clinical assets including goodwill, and the selling dentist becomes a salaried employee under an employment agreement.

The same ADA guide, updated January 2021, says that depending on state law, a dental practice may need to be owned by a PC or PLLC that is itself owned by licensed dentists. How four states handle it:

• Texas. Owning or operating an office that employs or contracts with someone to practice dentistry, or controlling or interfering with a dentist's independent professional judgment on diagnosis or treatment, is treated as practicing dentistry (Occupations Code 251.003(a)(4), (a)(9)).
• Florida. Only a licensed dentist, or a professional corporation or LLC of dentists, may employ dentists or hygienists in a dental office. Separately, a non-dentist may not control treatment choices, patient records, pricing and advertising policy, or personnel and office hours (Florida Statutes 466.0285).
• California. Managing or running a place where dental operations are performed is practicing dentistry, with exceptions such as dental corporations (Business and Professions Code 1625(e)). Since January 1, 2026, a private equity group or hedge fund involved with a dental practice may not control listed matters such as patient records, payer contract terms, and coding and billing, though it may assist or consult if the dentist keeps ultimate responsibility (Health and Safety Code 1191).
• Arizona. A practice with any owner who is not a licensed dentist must register with the state dental board, and licensees must perform the dental services (A.R.S. 32-1213, 32-1201(4)).

These are summaries of the rules named, for the states named. If the structure will be financed with SBA money, SOP 50 10 8.1 asks the lender to document that a licensed business's ownership structure meets state requirements. Confirm any structure with healthcare counsel in the practice's state before you sign a letter of intent. More states, and the management-fee limits in North Carolina and New York, are in our guide to who can own a dental practice.

Which payer contracts and registrations need a new filing from you?

Each of these is tied to the seller or needs a filing in your name. Build them into your closing date.

• Dental plan participation. Delta Dental of California and its affiliates use a Notice of Sale of Practice form. On it, Delta payments for services dated on or before the sale date go to the seller, and claims for later services go under the buyer's own participating dentist agreement, or are paid to the patient if the buyer has none. The form also has an Assignment of Payments section for a buyer who purchases the seller's receivables.

  Delta Dental of Tennessee says initial credentialing can take up to 30 days, that claims are processed as non-participating until approval, and that approval is not back-dated. One national practice transitions firm, Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions, reports that any full or partial change of ownership has triggered Delta Dental to move a practice's providers from Premier to the lower PPO fee schedule. Ask for the practice's Premier and PPO patient mix before you set your price.

• Medicaid. The steps differ by state. In Texas, the new owner submits any new enrollment application within 30 calendar days of the change, with a contract of sale that says who is liable for overpayments for dates of service before it (Texas Medicaid Provider Procedures Manual, September 2026).

  In California, a buyer can bill Medi-Cal Dental fee-for-service under the seller's enrollment through a successor liability agreement. Both sides sign it and have it postmarked within five days of the qualifying event: a sale of 50% or more of the assets at the enrolled location, or a cumulative change of 50% or more in ownership or control. The agreement makes the buyer jointly and severally liable for the seller's Medi-Cal liabilities; have counsel review it (Medi-Cal Dental bulletin, June 2024).

• DEA registration. A practitioner's DEA registration cannot be assigned or transferred without DEA's written consent (21 CFR 1301.52). DEA's 2023 Practitioner's Manual, which is guidance, says each principal place of practice where controlled substances are dispensed needs its own registration (21 CFR 1301.12(a)). Our reading of those two rules: plan on a registration in your own name.

  If the seller transfers its controlled-substance business to you, it must notify DEA at least 14 days before, unless DEA waives that, and a full inventory is taken on the transfer date. Confirm the registration and transfer steps with DEA or counsel before closing.

• X-ray registrations. In Texas, a new certificate of registration is needed when the legal entity that holds it changes, and DSHS reviews each change case by case (DSHS Regulatory Guide 8.2). In California, registrations do not transfer to a new owner: the buyer files a new facility registration and the seller withdraws the old one. The CDPH Radiologic Health Branch guide (2024) treats a change in taxpayer ID as a sign of an ownership change.

  In Florida, the buyer applies to register within 30 days of acquiring the machines and before using them; confirm the process with the Bureau of Radiation Control (Fla. Admin. Code r. 64E-5.511, effective March 21, 2016).

• Amalgam separator. If the office is covered by EPA's dental amalgam rule, the new owner files a new One-Time Compliance Report with the Control Authority within 90 days of the transfer (40 CFR 441.50(a)(4)); confirm the form with that authority.

  A separator installed before June 14, 2017 can be used by a new owner only until June 14, 2027, and only while it works and does not need replacing. After that the office needs a separator that meets ISO 11143 or ANSI/ADA 108, or an equivalent device. Practices that only do orthodontics, periodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, prosthodontics, oral pathology or oral and maxillofacial radiology are outside the federal rule.

The dental practice due diligence checklist covers the documents behind each of these, from payer contracts to X-ray records.

Sources

All sources accessed October 14, 2026.

1. ADA News, Is it time to sell your dental practice? December 4, 2024
2. BizBuySell, Dental Practice Business Valuation Multiples & Financial Benchmarks
3. MB2 Dental, Blog
4. American Dental Association, How to purchase with confidence
5. North Carolina General Assembly, § 90‑29. Necessity for license; dentistry defined; exemptions
6. New York State Senate, Business Corporation Law 1507, Issuance of shares, July 26, 2024
7. Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Section 1785.07 | Selling or transferring shares, April 10, 1998
8. American Dental Association, What Dental Practice Buyers Want
9. Bank of America, Dental financing (FAQ)
10. Provide, Financing and banking for today's dentists
11. U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans, July 27, 2026
12. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Information Notice 5000‑880695, Issuance of SOP 50 10 8.1, August 14, 2026
13. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs with Technical Policy Updates, September 25, 2026
14. U.S. Small Business Administration, Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes, March 17, 2023
15. Dentaltown, Navigating DSO Deals: What Dentists Should Know, November 22, 2025
16. American Dental Association, 5 Years Out? How to Sell Now and Retire Later
17. Panacea Financial, Panacea Practice Solutions: Practice Loans & Financing, April 24, 2024
18. American Dental Association, The ADA Practical Guide to Valuing a Practice: A Manual for Dentists, 2013
19. American Dental Association, Business Services Agreements with DSOs: What a Dentist Should Know, January 21, 2021
20. Texas Legislature, Occupations Code Sec. 251.003, Practice of Dentistry, September 1, 2021
21. The Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes 466.0285, Proprietorship by nondentists, 2026
22. California Legislative Information, Business and Professions Code 1625, January 1, 2020
23. California Legislative Information, Health and Safety Code 1191 (added by SB 351, Ch. 409, Stats. 2025), January 1, 2026
24. Arizona State Legislature, 32‑1213. Business entities; registration; renewal; civil penalty; exceptions; definitions
25. Delta Dental, Notice of Sale of Practice, October 2024
26. DentalXChange, Welcome to CredentialConnect by DentalXChange: Delta Dental of Tennessee
27. Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions, Determining Amount of Delta Premier vs Delta PPO Patients (worksheet)
28. Texas Medicaid & Healthcare Partnership, Texas Medicaid Provider Procedures Manual, Vol. 1, Section 1: Provider Enrollment and Responsibilities (September 2026)
29. California Department of Health Care Services, Medi-Cal Dental Provider Bulletin, June 2024, Volume 40, Number 23 (Provider Enrollment Reminders)
30. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 1301.52 Termination of registration; transfer of registration; distribution upon discontinuance of business, September 9, 2014
31. U.S. Department of Justice, Practitioner's Manual: An Informational Outline of the Controlled Substances Act (2023 Edition)
32. Texas Department of State Health Services, Regulatory Guide 8.2: Guidelines for Issuing Certificates of Registration Due to a Change in Name or Ownership, February 2026
33. California Department of Public Health, Facility Ownership Change, August 5, 2024
34. Florida Department of State, 64E‑5.511 Registration of Radiation Machines, March 21, 2016
35. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (Office of the Federal Register / GPO), text of U.S. EPA rule 40 CFR 441.50(a)(4), June 14, 2017
36. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Frequently Asked Questions on the Dental Office Category Rule, November 2017
37. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (Office of the Federal Register / GPO), text of U.S. EPA rule 40 CFR 441.30(a)(1)(i), June 14, 2017
38. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (Office of the Federal Register / GPO), text of U.S. EPA rule 40 CFR 441.10(c), June 14, 2017