Dental Strategy Institute

equipment valuation through DentalAssetIQ — these are the lifespan benchmarks that matter

How Long Does Dental Equipment Actually Last? Lifespan Benchmarks by Category capital planning dental chair lifespan dental compressor life expectancy dental equipment lifecycle dental equipment lifespan dental equipment replacement dental practice management dental strategy dso operations equipment benchmarks May 25, 2026

There's a piece of equipment in almost every dental practice that's older than it should be. Sometimes it's the compressor, running warm and loud in the utility room. Sometimes it's a delivery unit that the rep keeps telling you is "totally fine" even though the chair-side assistant is holding the h...

Dental Practice Exit Strategy: What to Do in the 3 Years Before You Sell dental business dental practice exit strategy dental practice succession planning dental strategy dso fee-for-service dental practice transition how to sell a dental practice practice ownership preparing dental practice for sale when to sell dental practice May 24, 2026

Most dental practice exits are reactive. An offer arrives, or a health event forces the issue, or the owner hits a point of professional fatigue and starts looking for a way out. The transaction happens under time pressure, with preparation that was done in a hurry, and the outcome reflects that.

T...

How to Go Insurance-Free: The Practice Transition Framework That Actually Works dental membership plan vs ppo dental strategy dropping ppo plans dentistry fee-for-service dental practice transition going insurance-free dental practice insurance-free dentist May 23, 2026

The conversation usually starts the same way. A practice owner has just run the numbers on their PPO contracts — or they've been handed a 4% fee reduction notice from a major plan — and they're thinking, seriously this time, about whether there's a way out.

Going insurance-free is one of those idea...

What EBITDA Actually Means in a Dental Practice — and Why Your Tax Return Doesn't Show It dental business dental practice earnings dental strategy dso due diligence dso ebitda add-backs dso transactions ebitda dental practice how to calculate ebitda dental how to value a dental practice what is ebitda dentistry May 21, 2026

EBITDA. You'll see it in every DSO letter of intent. You'll hear it in every M&A conversation. And if you ask most practice owners what their EBITDA actually is, you'll get a shrug and a rough number that's almost certainly wrong.

That's not an insult — it's just the reality. EBITDA is a financial ...

The Real Cost of Staying In-Network: How to Run a PPO Profitability Analysis on Your Own Practice dental business dental insurance dental insurance profitability calculator dental insurance write-offs dental ppo analysis dental strategy fee for service free dental insurance profitability calculator going fee-for-service dentistry ppo dentistry ppo profitability dental practice practice management May 20, 2026

I've had this conversation a hundred times. A practice owner tells me they're "pretty sure" they're making money on their PPO contracts. They're staying busy, the schedule is full, and the collection numbers look reasonable. Everything seems fine.

Then we sit down and actually run the numbers. And ...

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...

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, ...