How to Sell a Dental Practice in New York (2026)

A single-location general practice in New York sells for 5 to 7 times profit. Small solo practices sell for 60% to 80% of collections.

• Only a licensed dentist can own your practice. New York has no percentage carve-out, so the group buying practices cannot buy yours outright.
• Your buyer signs up with every insurer from scratch. Budget 60 to 120 days, and it starts after they sign.
• New York taxes the sale like income. About 6.85%, and the city adds 3.876% on top.

Is Now a Good Time to Sell?

Yes, if your books are clean and you understand the ownership rule below. Group buyers are active across New York and the Northeast.

• Buyer demand is real. Groups have been adding New York practices steadily, and dentist buyers still get bank financing.
• The ownership rule narrows who signs, but it has not stopped groups operating here.
• Preparation is the long part. Eighteen to 24 months of it, if you want the top of your range.

What Dental Practices Sell For in New York

Small practices are priced off collections. Once there is real profit after paying a dentist to do your work, buyers switch to multiplying that profit.

Try your own profit figure and value a dental practice.

What Moves Your Number

• Hygiene past 30% of collections. It is the clearest sign the practice is not just you working faster.
• Your own production under 60%. The more of the work you personally do, the harder buyers discount.
• An associate who stays. A signed agreement that survives the sale is worth real money.

For the tier detail, see dental practice valuation by size and what group buyers actually pay.

Who Is Allowed to Own Your Practice

This is the most important part of this page, and it changes who your buyer can be.

New York does not let anyone but a licensed dentist own a dental practice. The rule is not a dentistry rule, it is the statute covering every licensed profession.

• Shares can only go to licensed practitioners. Business Corporation Law 1507 voids any share issued to anyone else.
• There is no dentistry exception. The statute carves out design professionals at 75% and accountants at a simple majority. Dentistry gets nothing.
• A company cannot employ you to do dentistry either. The Office of the Professions is blunt: business corporations “cannot hire a licensee to provide professional services”.
• Fees cannot be shared outside the practice. Splitting professional fees with non-members is barred by Education Law 6509(9) and Regents Rule 29.1(b)(4).

What That Means for a Group Offer

Group buyers do operate in New York, so this is not a wall. It does mean the thing being bought is not the thing you assume.

The clinical practice has to end up owned by a licensed dentist. Ask early which dentist that is, and what you are left owning the day after closing.

Get a New York healthcare lawyer to read the structure before you sign anything. This is the one section of your deal where general business advice is not enough.

What Transfers, and What Does Not

Your license is yours. It never transfers, in any structure, and neither does your federal registration for controlled substances.

The slow one is the insurers. Your buyer signs up with every payer from scratch, and credentialing runs 60 to 120 days.

• The clock starts when they apply, not when you agree terms. Get them filing the week the offer is signed.
• Unpaid claims pile up meanwhile. Plans will not pay a provider they have not credentialed.
• Your patient records come with rules. Retention and transfer obligations do not end because you sold.

The Tax Form Your Buyer Has to File

New York makes the buyer handle the back-tax paperwork, the same way New Jersey does. Pennsylvania puts it on the seller.

Here is how New York’s bulk sale notification works.

1. The buyer files Form AU-196.10 at least 10 days before paying you or taking over.
2. Within 5 business days the Tax Department says whether it has a claim against you.
3. If it does, the buyer puts the full purchase price into escrow.
4. The state then has up to 90 days to report what you owe.

Read step three again. New Jersey escrows only the tax at issue. New York escrows everything, so one open sales tax matter can freeze your whole price for three months.

Practices owe sales tax more often than dentists expect, usually on equipment bought without paying it. Clear that a year out.

What You Will Owe in Taxes

New York gives you no break for selling a practice you spent thirty years building. The gain is taxed on the ordinary income schedule, like wages.

Most sellers land at 6.85%. New York City residents add another 3.876% on top, for about 10.7% in total.

• Compare that to Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07%. On a $1 million gain it is roughly $107,000 in the city against $30,700.
• Ignore the 10.9% headline. That bracket starts above $25 million and applies to almost nobody.
• Federal tax comes on top. Expect 15% to 20% on the gain.
• Your chairs and scanners are different. Anything you already wrote off is taxed again at your regular rate.

For how the structure changes the bill, see asset sale versus stock sale for a dental practice.

Who Buys New York Dental Practices

• One group is a New York company. The Smilist runs more than 115 locations across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and four other states.
• The national platforms are here too. Heartland Dental, Aspen Dental and Pacific Dental Services sit behind much of the market.
• Ask every group the same question. Which licensed dentist ends up owning the practice, and on what terms.
• Your associate is a real buyer. In New York they clear the ownership rule automatically, which no group does.

For the comparison, see selling to an associate against selling to a group.

How Long It Takes

For the detail on each stage, see how long it takes to sell a dental practice.

How to Get Your Practice Ready

• Get three years of clean books with your personal spending separated out and documented.
• Push hygiene past 30% of collections and keep recall tight. Buyers read this first.
• Get your own production under 60%. It is the single biggest lever, and it takes years.
• Sign your associate to an agreement that survives the sale.
• Check your lease has enough term left, and that it can transfer without the landlord blocking it.
• Clear any sales tax exposure before your buyer files, so your whole price does not sit in escrow.

Are You Ready to Sell? Score Your Practice

Broker, Advisor, or Direct?

Dental brokers average about 10% of the sale price, which is higher than the general scale.

A buyer who knows you have no alternative has no reason to open with their best number. See what brokers charge and how a direct sale runs.

Dental Broker Fee Calculator

Selling a Dental Practice in New York City

The city is the densest dental market in the country, and the most expensive one to operate in.

• Rent is the first thing a buyer checks. A short or expensive lease drags your price down hard.
• Group buyers are most active here, which makes the ownership question live in almost every conversation.
• City tax stacks on the state rate. A city resident pays roughly 10.7% before federal tax.

Selling a Dental Practice Outside the City

Long Island, Westchester, the Hudson Valley and upstate all trade differently, and often on better margins.

• The 3.876% city tax does not apply if you do not live in the city, which is worth real money.
• Associate buyers are easier to find where practice costs are lower and a first purchase is affordable.
• The ownership rule is identical. It is state law, so nothing about it changes outside the city.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

1. Ask any group buyer which licensed dentist will own the practice. Start there, not with price.
2. Clean up three years of books and clear any New York sales tax exposure.
3. Grow hygiene and reduce your own production. Both take longer than you think.
4. Find a New York healthcare lawyer before you sign anything, not after.
5. Pick your route. There are six routes that skip the commission, and four are free.
6. Send us your details for a free valuation. We match New York dental practices with vetted buyers before you commit.

Selling across the state line? See our guides on how to sell a dental practice in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania.