How do I buy a dental practice?
Buying a practice runs in a fixed order: get a lender pre-qualification, sign the broker's confidentiality agreement, review the financials, visit after hours, submit a letter of intent, complete due diligence and the lease assignment, then sign the purchase agreement and close through escrow. From a signed letter of intent to the keys is usually a matter of months, and the search before that varies widely.
The order of operations
1. Lender pre-qualification. Do this first, not last. A pre-qual letter tells you what size practice is in reach and it is what makes a broker take your inquiry seriously. Specialty dental lenders underwrite practice cash flow, not just your personal balance sheet.
2. Confidentiality agreement. Every listing is anonymized. The broker releases the practice identity and the financial package after you sign theirs and tell them something about your buying goals.
3. Financial review. Three years of business tax returns, a current year-to-date profit and loss from the accountant, and production by provider. This is where you find out whether the practice runs on one hygienist and an associate who is leaving.
4. The visit, usually after hours. Staff do not know. You see the operatories, the equipment, the sterilization area and the chart volume without meeting anyone.
5. Letter of intent. Non-binding, but it sets price, structure and a due-diligence window, and it takes the practice off the market while you work.
6. Due diligence. Chart audit, equipment condition, payer mix and contracts, staff compensation, any outstanding liabilities.
7. The lease. Almost always an assignment of the existing lease rather than a new one, and the landlord has to consent. This is the step that most often runs long.
8. Purchase agreement, drafted by the attorneys — the buyer's and the seller's, not the broker.
9. Close through escrow, with funds wired and the transition plan agreed.
Who is at the table
The listing broker (working for the seller), your lender, your attorney, the seller's attorney, a CPA who reads dental books, the landlord, and escrow. A broker who tells you not to get your own attorney is telling you something.
What stalls deals
Financing commitment and the lease assignment, in that order. When financing drags, there is usually a reason nobody has said out loud yet. A lease with no assignment clause, or with less remaining term than your loan, is a real problem and it is the lawyers' to solve.
On price: the asking price on each listing is the listing broker's own, and it is the only number this site carries. We do not estimate values, publish averages, or tell a buyer what to offer. That conversation belongs to you, your CPA and the broker.
What is listed right now
3,865 practices across 50 states as of Nov 14, 2026, from 214 sources.
See the listings
Keep exploring
Counts as of Nov 14, 2026.
Related questions
Every listing count on this page is computed from the listings published on The Dental Practice Market and was rebuilt Nov 14, 2026. Descriptions of the buying process are general information, not statistics or advice. Supply-side only: we publish how many practices are listed, where and of what type. We never publish an estimate of what a practice is worth.