The first practice guide
Buying Your First Dental Practice
Buying a practice is usually the largest financial decision a dentist makes, and the part that decides whether it works out is not the purchase. It is whether you were ready to run a business, and what you do in the first year. This guide covers the purchase properly, then keeps going into the part that determines whether you enjoy what you have bought.
>£225 million
additional profit created across DWB client practices
30 years
experience as owners of group practices
200+
dental practices coached worldwide
01 / The first practice guide
First question: are you ready to own?
The transaction itself is well trodden: find a practice, value it, get finance, complete due diligence, buy it. Most UK sales take six to twelve months. Plenty of guides will walk you through that process. Brokers write them, and their involvement ends on completion day.
This is the question nobody selling you something will ask, and it is the one that matters most.
Being an excellent clinician and being a practice owner are different jobs. You will still do dentistry, but you will also be responsible for payroll, recruitment, compliance, marketing, cash flow, and the performance of people who do not always do what they said they would. Most new owners are surprised by how much of the week that takes, and how little of it anybody trained them for.
Honest questions worth answering before you look at any listing: Do you want to run a business, or do you want the income and autonomy you think comes with one? Are you comfortable making decisions that affect other people's livelihoods? Can you tolerate a period where you earn less and work more than you do now? Do you have people around you who have done this, or would you be learning alone? Is your own clinical work strong and fast enough to carry a diary while you learn the rest?
None of these disqualify you. Every successful owner started without most of the skills. But knowing which ones you are missing lets you build support around them rather than discovering the gap in month three.
02 / The first practice guide
What you can afford, and how dental lending works
Dentistry is one of the more favourably viewed sectors in UK business lending. Banks have specialist healthcare teams, default rates in the sector are low, and lenders understand the model. That generally means better terms than most small business borrowers receive.
What lenders look at: your clinical earnings history (consistent associate income over several years is the foundation of the case); the practice's adjusted profit, and whether it services the debt with room to spare; your business plan, particularly what you intend to change and why that is realistic; and the income mix. NHS contract income is predictable and supports lending well. Private income is judged on how established it is.
Use a broker who does dental deals specifically. The terms available through a specialist are usually better than a high street business manager will offer, and they will tell you early whether a particular practice is financeable, which saves months.
03 / The first practice guide
Finding the right practice
Most buyers start by filtering on location and price. Those matter, but they are not what determines whether the practice suits you.
NHS, private, or mixed
NHS-heavy practices offer predictable income, a full diary from day one, and straightforward lending. They also come with contract obligations, delivery targets, and limits on how much you can change. If you want stability and a known quantity, this is the easier start.
Private practices give you control over fees, treatment mix and pace, with more upside and more risk. Income depends on marketing and conversion in a way NHS income does not. If the previous owner had a strong personal following, some of that leaves with them.
Mixed practices are the most common and often the most practical first purchase: NHS income underwrites the overheads while you build the private side.
What the practice tells you about itself
Look past the headline turnover at: how much the seller personally produces (if they generate most of the income, you are buying a job, and you will need to replace their output from day one); associate stability (how long have they been there, are they contracted properly, and will they stay once the name on the door changes?); the team (a settled nursing and reception team is worth more than anything in the equipment list); patient numbers and activity, not just the list size (a large list nobody has seen in three years is not a patient base); hygiene provision (underused hygiene is the most common easy improvement available to a new owner); and the premises (lease length and terms, or freehold condition; a short lease is a serious constraint on your options later).
04 / The first practice guide
Understanding what you are paying for
UK practices are generally valued on a multiple of adjusted EBITDA, with the multiple depending heavily on how much income depends on the current owner. Principal-led practices attract lower multiples than associate-led ones, and the gap is large.
As a buyer this cuts in your favour. A principal-led practice is cheaper precisely because the seller's production leaves with them, which is a problem you can solve if you intend to work there yourself. That is the classic first purchase: buy the discount, then do the work.
The arithmetic, including worked examples, is set out on our page covering what a dental practice is worth.
05 / The first practice guide
Checklist: what to confirm before you offer
Work through this before making an offer, not during due diligence when it costs you negotiating position.
- Three years of accounts, with the owner's own drawings and add-backs identified
- The split of income by clinician, so you know exactly what the seller produces
- NHS contract details: UDA value, annual target, recent delivery against it
- Associate agreements, rates, and how long each has been in place
- Employment contracts and the full staff list with start dates
- Lease terms and remaining length, or the freehold position and condition
- CQC registration, latest report and any outstanding actions
- Equipment ages, service records, and anything nearing replacement
- Patient numbers seen in the last 24 months, not list size
- Plan patient numbers and the provider arrangement
- Any ongoing complaints, claims or HR matters
- Why the owner is selling, and what they intend to do afterwards.
That last one gets skipped and it is among the most informative. An owner retiring after twenty-five years is a different proposition from one leaving after three.
06 / The first practice guide
From offer to completion
Expect six to twelve months, and more if finance or a lease assignment gets complicated. Broadly:
01
Offer and heads of terms
Price, what is included, timescales, and any conditions.
02
Finance approval
Formal, based on the practice's accounts and your plan.
03
Due diligence
Legal, financial and clinical. Where problems surface and prices get renegotiated.
04
Contracts and NHS transfer
If there is a contract, its transfer has its own timetable and cannot be rushed.
05
Completion and handover
Agree the handover period in writing. A seller who introduces you properly is worth a great deal.
Use a solicitor who does dental transactions regularly. Dental deals have specific issues, particularly around NHS contracts and associate agreements, that a general commercial solicitor will handle slowly and sometimes badly.
07 / The first practice guide
Your first year as an owner
This is where broker guides end and where ownership actually begins.
Change less than you want to, at first. You have bought a working business with patients and staff who are anxious about what you will do. Spend the first months understanding why things are done the way they are. The changes that matter will still be available in month six, and you will make better ones.
Meet the team individually in the first fortnight. They know exactly where the problems are. Asking them is the fastest education available, and it tells them you intend to listen.
Watch cash, not profit. New owners are regularly caught out by the gap between a profitable practice and available cash, particularly with loan repayments, quarterly VAT and lab bills landing together.
Protect your own clinical time. Your diary funds the loan. It is easy to let administration eat the hours that pay for the building.
Decide what you are building. A practice you work in, or a business that eventually runs without you. Those are different practices and the decisions diverge early. If there is any chance you will want to sell one day, build the second one, because that is the structure buyers pay more for.
Get support that has done it before. The mistakes new owners make are consistent and well known, which means they are avoidable. Most are not clinical.
08 / Your questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to buy a dental practice in the UK?
Practices are valued on a multiple of adjusted profit rather than a fixed price per surgery, so the range is wide. Principal-led practices attract lower multiples than associate-led ones. Alongside the purchase price, budget for legal fees, a buyer's assessment or valuation, finance arrangement costs and working capital for the first months.
Can I buy a dental practice with no deposit?
Dental lending is unusually favourable, and lenders with specialist healthcare teams will consider high proportions of the purchase price for qualified dentists with solid earnings and a credible plan. Terms vary by lender and by practice, so speak to a dental finance broker early rather than assuming either way.
How long does buying a dental practice take?
Typically six to twelve months from offer to completion. NHS contract transfers and lease assignments are the most common causes of delay.
Should I buy an NHS or private practice first?
NHS and mixed practices are generally the easier first purchase: income is predictable, lending is straightforward and the diary is full from day one. Private practices offer more control and upside but depend more on marketing and on how much of the goodwill was personal to the seller.
Do I need to be an experienced associate before buying?
There is no rule, but lenders look at consistent clinical earnings, and running a practice while still building speed and confidence clinically is genuinely hard. Most successful first-time owners have several years of stable associate income behind them.
What is the most common mistake first-time buyers make?
Changing too much too quickly, and underestimating how much of the week ownership consumes. Both are avoidable with support from someone who has done it.
09 / The next chapter
Thinking about your first practice?
We coach associates through the move into ownership: whether the practice in front of you is the right one, what to negotiate, and how to run it once it is yours. We have bought, built and sold practices ourselves, and we have guided hundreds of dentists through the same step.
Your next chapter
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