How to Sell Your Dental Practice Without a Broker (2026)
Dental brokers average about 10% of the sale price. On a $1.5 million practice that is $150,000. Both of your likely buyers are people you can reach without one.
Three things make a practice sale different from a normal business sale:
- There are only two kinds of buyer. Another dentist, or a group. Each wants a different practice and pays differently.
- Groups employ people to find you. They have development teams and a pipeline. They are not waiting for a listing.
- Credentialing decides your closing date. Your buyer cannot bill insurers on day one, and no broker can speed that up.
What a Dental Broker Costs
Dental brokers charge more than most, and the smallest practices pay the highest rate.
| Your practice | Rough sale price | What the broker takes | A lawyer instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small solo practice | $700,000 | $70,000 to $105,000 | $8,000 to $18,000 |
| Single location, strong | $1.5 million | $120,000 to $180,000 | $12,000 to $25,000 |
| Two or more locations | $4 million | $240,000 to $320,000 | $25,000 to $50,000 |
One dental transition firm puts it plainly: 10% is around the average commission. Rates run 8% to 12%, and the smallest practices are quoted higher still.
Your Two Buyers, and How to Reach Them
Every practice sale comes down to one of these. Pick your route first, because what you have to prepare differs.
| Buyer | What they pay | What they want | How to find them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Another dentist | 5x to 7x profit | A practice they can run themselves | Your associate, study clubs, the local society |
| A dental group | 6x to 8x profit | $1M+ collections, room to grow | Their development teams publish a contact |
| A larger group buying groups | 8x to 14x profit | Multi-location practices with managers | Same route, larger deal teams |
The associate route gets less notice than it should. Nearly three in four US dentists still own their practice, so that buyer pool is real.
Younger dentists are the ones joining groups. 27% of dentists under ten years out are group-affiliated, against 9% of those thirty years in.
What the Broker Did, and How You Replace It
| The broker’s job | How you do it |
|---|---|
| Value the practice | A free valuation, checked against published dental multiples |
| Prepare the packet | Three years of production, collections, and payer mix |
| Find the buyers | Group development teams, plus dentists you already know |
| Screen them | Proof of funding before any chart data moves |
| Keep it confidential | A signed agreement, before your team hears anything |
| Close the deal | A lawyer who does dental transitions specifically |
Hire the lawyer for the specialty, not the hourly rate. Patient records, non-compete terms, and payer contracts sit outside what a general business lawyer does.
Dentists buying a first practice usually borrow through the government-backed loan program, which caps at $5 million. That covers nearly every one-site sale.
The Part No Broker Can Speed Up
Your buyer cannot bill insurers under your contracts. They have to be signed up in their own name, and that clock starts only when the deal is done.
- Insurance credentialing runs 60 to 120 days per payer, and Medicaid enrollment is often the slowest of them.
- The buyer needs their own prescribing registrations, federal and state, before they can treat the way you do.
- Patient records have rules attached. How they transfer, who keeps them, and what patients must be told all belong in the contract.
- A hand-over of 30 to 120 days is normal when you sell to another dentist. Build it into your plans from the start.
None of this moves faster with a broker in the room. It is a queue, and knowing it is there is most of the win.
When a Broker Is Worth Paying
- You want an associate buyer and have no candidate. Finding an individual dentist who can fund the purchase is genuinely hard work.
- You are retiring on a fixed date. Paying for someone else’s urgency is reasonable when yours is real.
- Your production numbers need rebuilding. That work has to happen first, whoever sells the practice.
Selling to a group is where the fee is hardest to justify. Their deal team will happily talk to you direct.
Compare any quote against the six alternatives to a broker and the standard fee scale before signing an exclusive.
Get Your Practice Numbers Straight First
- What you should get: dental valuation by practice size and what groups actually pay.
- Which buyer suits you: selling to an associate versus a group.
- How long it runs: the practice sale timeline.
- How you get paid: deferred payments and keeping a stake.
- Selling in PA or NJ: Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the permits and enrollment steps differ.
For the process in general, see selling a business without a broker and what your business is worth.
Across all trades, sellers who came prepared got 87% of their benchmark price or better in early 2026. Health businesses were among the most traded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You have two buyer types, another dentist or a dental group, and both are reachable directly. Groups employ development teams whose job is buying practices. You pay a dental transaction lawyer instead of roughly 10% commission.
About 10% of the sale price on average, with typical rates of 8% to 12%. The smallest practices are often quoted higher. On a $1.5 million practice, 10% is $150,000 taken out of your proceeds at closing.
Groups usually pay more, 6 to 8 times profit against 5 to 7, and pay faster. Another dentist gives you a cleaner exit with less deferred money. Groups want $1 million or more in collections before they engage.
Every acquisitive group publishes a contact for practice owners, usually under partnerships or affiliations. Approach several the same week rather than one at a time, and get a confidentiality agreement signed before sending numbers.
Sixty to 120 days per payer, and Medicaid is usually slowest. Your buyer cannot bill under your contracts, so the clock only starts once the deal is signed. Plan the handover around it rather than hoping it is quick.
A single location typically sells for 5 to 8 times profit. Practices with two or more locations and real management reach 8 to 14 times. Collections, payer mix, and whether the practice runs without you set where you land.
Often the cleanest sale there is, because they already know the patients and the team. Expect a handover of 30 to 120 days. Most associates fund it through the government-backed loan program, which covers deals up to $5 million.
Yes, and use one who handles dental transitions specifically. Patient records, non-compete terms, and payer contracts sit outside a general business lawyer’s usual work. Budget $8,000 to $25,000 on a single-location sale.
Next Steps
- Decide your buyer type. Another dentist, or a group. Everything else follows from that.
- Pull three years of production, collections, and payer mix. Every buyer asks for these first.
- List the groups active in your area, and any dentist who has ever asked about your practice.
- Find a lawyer who does dental transitions before you need one.
- Get a free valuation and buyer introductions. No commission, no exclusive, no obligation to sell.