Buying your first dental practice is different from every purchase you've made before, and different from buying a second or third practice later in your career. As a first-time dental practice buyer, you're evaluating a business you can't fully see from the outside, signing a purchase agreement with terms that will shape your income for years, and doing it all without the pattern-matching that comes from having done it before. This guide walks through what actually changes the outcome for a first-time buyer, in plain terms, before you sign anything.

If you're past the first-timer stage and want the full legal walkthrough of the transaction itself, see our comprehensive guide to purchasing a dental practice.

How to Buy a Dental Practice: The Short Version

At a high level, buying a dental practice follows five stages: get your finances in order, find a practice that fits your goals, conduct due diligence on its financials and operations, negotiate and sign a purchase agreement, and close the transaction with a transition plan in place. Each stage has legal decision points that are easy to miss the first time through, which is where a dental-specific attorney earns their fee before you're locked into terms you didn't fully understand.

Buying an Existing Dental Practice vs. Starting From Scratch

First-time buyers often assume starting a practice from zero is simpler than buying an existing dental practice. It usually isn't, just different.

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Neither path is inherently better. It depends on your risk tolerance, your timeline, and whether a practice that fits your goals is actually available in your target area. If you're still weighing this choice, our guide to starting a dental practice covers the build-from-zero path in the same level of detail.

How Much Does It Cost to Buy a Dental Practice?

Cost varies widely by location, patient volume, and specialty, but most general dental practices sell for somewhere between 65% and 85% of one year's collections, with goodwill, equipment, and (if included) real estate priced separately. A practice collecting $1,000,000 annually might sell in the $650,000 to $850,000 range before real estate, though well-run practices in strong locations can exceed that.

The number that matters more than the sale price is what you'll actually need in cash: most lenders want a working capital cushion on top of the purchase price itself, so budget for both.

How to Find a Dental Practice to Buy

• Practice brokers who specialize in dental transitions and maintain active listings

• Your professional network, including dental school alumni, study clubs, and local dental societies

• Direct outreach to practice owners nearing retirement in your target area, even ones not actively listed

• DSOs and group practices that occasionally sell individual locations as they consolidate

Whichever route you use, get comfortable with the idea that the right practice may not be publicly listed yet. Some of the best opportunities come from a retiring dentist who hasn't started a formal sale process.

Due Diligence: What to Request Before You Commit

Before you sign a purchase agreement, or even a letter of intent, request and review:

• Three to five years of tax returns and financial statements
• Current fee schedule and payer mix (insurance vs. fee-for-service)
• Patient count, new patient trends, and recall/retention rates
• Accounts receivable aging (watch for balances over 90 days)
• Equipment list with age and condition, plus any lease or maintenance contracts
• Copy of the current lease and any renewal options
• Employee roster, compensation, and whether staff plan to stay on
• Any pending litigation, board complaints, or insurance claims tied to the practice

A dental acquisition attorney reviewing this alongside your CPA is what catches the items that look fine on paper but create real exposure after closing, undisclosed lease terms, employee classification issues, or liabilities that follow the entity rather than the seller. For more on this specific risk, see how to identify fraud in a dental practice acquisition.

The Dental Practice Purchase Agreement: What First-Time Buyers Get Wrong

Most first-time buyers focus almost entirely on price and miss the terms in the dental practice purchase agreement that matter just as much:

• Asset vs. stock purchase. Most dental transitions are structured as asset purchases, which generally limits your exposure to the seller's prior liabilities. Confirm which structure you're actually signing.

• Non-compete and non-solicitation terms. The agreement should restrict the seller from opening a competing practice nearby or soliciting patients and staff away from you.

• Seller transition support. Get the number of weeks the seller will stay on to introduce patients in writing, not as a verbal promise.

• Representations and warranties. These are the seller's legal promises about the practice's condition. Weak or missing representations shift risk onto you after closing.

• Contingencies. Financing, lease assignment, and licensing approval should all be conditions of closing, not assumptions.

This is the part of the process where working with a dental practice transition attorney rather than generalist counsel matters most. Dental transactions have specific issues, corporate practice of dentistry rules, DSO affiliation questions, insurance participation agreements, that a generalist won't flag by default.

Dental Practice Financing: The Overview

Most first-time buyers finance through an SBA 7(a) loan or a bank's dedicated dental lending division, both of which typically lend against the practice's collections history rather than requiring the buyer to have significant existing capital. Expect lenders to look closely at the last three to five years of financials, so this ties directly back to the due diligence stage above.

We cover financing options, loan structures, and how to prepare your application in full in financing your new dental office.

Closing and the First 90 Days

Closing isn't the finish line. What happens in the first 90 days after you take over often determines whether patients and staff stay. A few practices worth building into your transition plan:

1. Change as little as possible in the first 90 days beyond what's legally or operationally necessary.

2. Send a patient letter, ideally co-signed by the outgoing dentist, announcing the transition.

3. Confirm all insurance credentialing is in progress before closing, not after, since re-credentialing delays can disrupt cash flow.

4. Keep the existing team in place through the transition unless there's a clear reason not to.

The Bottom Line

Buying your first dental practice is a legal transaction wrapped around a business decision, and the legal side is where first-time buyers most often get surprised after the fact rather than before. Build your team early, an accountant, a lender, and a dental lawyer experienced in practice transitions, and involve them before you sign a letter of intent, not after.

Heading into 2027, the fundamentals of a sound transaction don't change even as financing terms and practice values shift year to year. If you're ready to have your purchase agreement reviewed or want a second opinion before you commit, contact Dental & Medical Counsel to talk with a dental practice attorney.

This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every practice transaction is different. Consult a licensed attorney regarding your specific situation before signing any purchase agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a lawyer to buy a dental practice, or can my accountant handle it?

You need both, and they serve different roles. Any experienced lawyer for a dental practice purchase will tell you the same thing: your accountant evaluates whether the numbers make sense, while a dental acquisition lawyer or dental transition lawyer evaluates whether the legal terms protect you. A purchase agreement can look financially reasonable and still contain terms, weak representations, an unfavorable entity structure, a missing non-compete, that create real risk your accountant isn't positioned to catch.

Can I buy a dental practice with no money down?

Rarely entirely, but many first-time buyers finance the full purchase price plus working capital through an SBA loan, putting little to no additional cash down beyond closing costs. Lenders are underwriting the practice's collections history more than your personal capital.

How long does it take to close on a dental practice purchase?

Most transactions take three to six months from signed letter of intent to closing, depending on financing timelines, lease assignment negotiations, and how quickly due diligence documents are produced.

What's the difference between buying a practice and buying into a practice?

Buying a practice means acquiring full ownership outright. Buying in means purchasing a partial ownership stake, often as a path from associate to partner, with the remaining interest transferring later under a separate buy-in agreement.

Should I use the same attorney as the seller to save money?

No. The seller's attorney represents the seller's interests, not yours, even if they offer to "keep things simple." A first-time buyer without independent representation is negotiating a legal document alone against someone who has likely done this before.