Selling your dental practice?
Know what buyers would actually pay — before you answer that DSO letter.

The honest version

What your practice is actually worth

Most general practices trade on a multiple of adjusted earnings (EBITDA), and the honest answer is that the range is wide. As an industry rule of thumb — not an appraisal of your practice:

These are the same rule-of-thumb ranges our free calculator uses. Where YOUR practice lands depends on collections, payor mix, hygiene program strength, associate coverage, real estate, and — more than anything — whether more than one qualified buyer is at the table.

What moves the number most is not equipment or square footage:

• Adjusted earnings quality — collections trend, payor mix (heavy Medicaid discounts value), hygiene reactivation, and how much of production is you personally
• Transition risk — will patients and associates stay when you step back? Buyers pay up when the answer is provably yes
• Buyer competition — the single biggest lever, and the one owners control least on their own
• Structure — rollover equity, earn-outs, and real estate can move total consideration far more than the headline multiple

Who is buying dental practices in 2026

• DSOs and platform groups — still the deepest pockets for practices with strong hygiene programs and associate coverage. They underwrite your practice as an add-on and price your EBITDA after their own overhead assumptions. Watch: earn-out length, holdbacks, and equity-roll terms differ enormously between groups.
• Private-equity-backed regional groups — often the best structure flexibility: more cash at close for owners who want out sooner, or larger equity rolls for owners who want a second bite.
• Private buyers and associates — usually the strongest cultural continuity and the friendliest terms for your team; financing contingencies make process discipline matter more, not less.

A run process doesn't pick a lane in advance: qualified buyers of every type sign NDAs, compete on the same facts, and you choose with real information.

Why our read is different

Sentinel's buy-side practice talks to the most acquisitive buyers in dental every single day — we help acquirers source practices, so we see what they pay, at what structures, in which states, and who re-trades at the eleventh hour. When we sell, that intelligence sits on your side of the table. (No buyer we advise is ever shown your practice without the same NDA-first, written-go-ahead process.)

The confidential process, step by step

• 1 · Valuation read (free). A principal reviews your numbers confidentially and gives you an honest range and the two or three things that would move it.
• 2 · Quiet preparation. Financials normalized, story built, data room assembled. Weeks, not months.
• 3 · Buyers in parallel. Qualified buyers sign NDAs before hearing your name. Your staff and patients hear nothing.
• 4 · Compete and choose. Offers compared on price, structure, and fit. You decide; we negotiate.
• 5 · Diligence to close. We manage the document flow and defend the terms. No late-stage surprises.

Most engagements run six to twelve months from first call to close — preparation quality, not buyer appetite, is usually what sets the pace.

When should you start? Earlier than you think.

The best exits start 6–24 months before the owner wants to leave — not because selling takes that long, but because the fixes that add real value (associate agreements, hygiene programs, payor cleanup) need runway. If you're even thinking about it, the valuation conversation is worth having now.