How to Value a Dental Practice: What the Number on the LOI Actually Means dental business dental m&a dental practice appraisal dental practice owner dental practice sale price dental practice valuation dental strategy dso strategy ebitda dental practice how to value a dental practice May 19, 2026

Every dental practice owner gets a number eventually. It might come in the form of an LOI from a DSO. It might come from a broker during a preliminary conversation. It might be a figure your accountant throws out at year-end as a rough estimate of what your practice is worth.

The question isn't whe...

Continue Reading...
What Is a DSO Earn-Out — And Why Most Dentists Don't Understand What They're Signing dental earn-out agreement dental strategy dental valuation dso deal structure dso earn-out clause selling your dental practice to a dso May 18, 2026

The letter of intent arrived on a Thursday. It looked good — 7x EBITDA, a two-year earn-out with solid upside, rollover equity with a projected second-bite return. The dentist called his accountant, who said the number looked reasonable. He signed the LOI the following week.

Eighteen months later, ...

Continue Reading...
Why DSOs Are Flying Blind on Equipment — And What the Smart Ones Are Doing About It capex planning dso dso acquisition dso due diligence dso strategy dso transaction equipment appraisal equipment fair market value m&a dental practice transition May 17, 2026

If you run procurement for a dental group — or you're the CFO signing off on capital requests — you already know the problem I'm about to describe. I've spent more than 25 years working inside and alongside dental organizations of every size. And in all that time, one operational blind spot shows up...

Continue Reading...
The Hidden Liability in Every Dental Practice Sale: Equipment No One Has Actually Valued capex planning dental cfo dental equipment dental practice sale dso acquisition dso due diligence dso strategy equipment appraisal equipment fair market value m&a dental practice transition practice valuation May 15, 2026

I've sat across the table from a lot of dental practice transactions — as an advisor, as a consultant, and now as the person who built the software that tries to solve a problem I watched happen over and over again. Here it is: nobody actually knows what the equipment is worth. Not the seller. Not u...

Continue Reading...
The RAP Plan Panic: What Every Dental Student Needs to Know Before July 1 dental school debt dental student loans federal student loans grad plus income driven repayment obbba rap plan student loan repayment Apr 17, 2026

 

You've heard it. Or you're about to. Someone in your class drops the phrase "RAP plan" and suddenly the whole table goes quiet. Because nobody really knows what it means, and everybody's scared to admit it.

July 1, 2026 changes everything about how dental students borrow and repay federal loans....

Continue Reading...
What Is Adjusted EBITDA in a Dental Practice Sale — and Why Every Add-Back Is Worth Seven Times Its Value dental practice sale dso dso transaction earn-out ebitda Apr 17, 2026

If you've received a letter of intent from a DSO, you've seen the term EBITDA. You may have nodded along as your broker explained it. You may have accepted the number your accountant produced without fully understanding how it was derived.

This matters more than almost anything else in your trans...

Continue Reading...
How to Read a DSO Earn-Out Agreement — What Every Clause Is Actually Doing to Your Money dental practice sale dso earn-out ebitda rap plan Apr 16, 2026

You got the letter of intent. The number looks right. The buyer's team has been professional, the process has moved quickly, and everyone keeps telling you this is a strong deal.

Then the Asset Purchase Agreement arrives — three hundred pages of legal language — and somewhere in Article 6 is the ...

Continue Reading...
How to Exit Your PPO Contracts Without Losing Patients Mar 09, 2026

The math on PPO participation gets worse every year. Write-offs that once felt manageable now consume 35 to 45 percent of production in many markets. Fee schedules that haven't moved in a decade are being applied to a cost structure that has. And yet the conventional wisdom — that you can't exit PPO...

Continue Reading...
The Earn-Out Trap: Why Your DSO Deal Isn't Done Yet Mar 06, 2026

 


You negotiated hard. You got a strong multiple. The letter of intent is signed, due diligence is underway, and closing is scheduled for next quarter. The total consideration looks excellent on paper — but a meaningful portion of it isn't paid at closing. It's deferred, contingent on future perf...

Continue Reading...
What Is a DSO — And Should You Join One? Mar 02, 2026

 

Every dentist eventually hears the pitch. A well-dressed rep from a regional or national dental support organization sits across from you, slides a deck across the table, and starts talking about "partnership." The numbers look interesting. The promises sound reasonable. And somewhere in the back...

Continue Reading...
1 2 3