The big groups have been buying dental practices for years, and that sets both the floor and the ceiling on what yours is worth.
What a buyer prices: the split between NHS contract income and private work, how much of the clinical work depends on you personally, whether your associates are staying, the age and condition of the surgeries and equipment, and whether you own the premises.
Which group is buying matters as much as the multiple. Groups pay differently depending on where they are short of coverage, what they already own nearby, and whether they want your patient list or your building. Knowing that before you start is the difference between a fair price and an opening offer.
We follow every registered dental practice in England alongside the groups actively acquiring them, so we know who is short of coverage in your area and roughly what they have been paying.
What is your practice worth? Try the free valuation tool →The market
A consolidating market that still belongs mostly to principals.
Dentistry has been the busiest corner of UK healthcare deal-making for a decade, with corporate groups and investor-backed platforms building portfolios of hundreds of practices. Even after all of that, most practices are still owned by the dentists who run them, and a well-run independent practice with a growing private book remains one of the most saleable businesses in healthcare.
registered dental practice in England tracked in our data
monitored for where they are short of coverage
months of preparation separates a good price from an average one
Current conditions
What the market looks like right now.
Private dentistry has had a strong run. Patient demand has stayed high since the pandemic, private fees have moved ahead, and practices that converted NHS capacity to private work have mostly kept it. On the NHS side the contract remains under review and access pressures remain political, which keeps some uncertainty priced into heavily NHS-weighted practices. Associate recruitment is still the sector’s operational headache, particularly outside the big cities.
Buyer behaviour has matured rather than cooled. The corporate groups are buying more selectively than in the land-grab years, which means they pay properly for practices that fit and pass on ones that do not. Meanwhile regional mini-groups and associate buyers have become genuine competition for the corporates on quality single practices. For a principal with a clean practice and a real private share, several kinds of buyer now compete.
“A well-run independent practice with a growing private book remains one of the most saleable businesses in healthcare.”
Market conditions
Consolidation has been running for a decade, and it is not finished.
Corporate groups and investor-backed platforms have spent years buying independent practices, which has professionalised the market and made pricing far more predictable than it used to be. That is largely good news for a well-run practice, because there are several credible buyers rather than one. It also means the buyers are experienced, they know exactly what a weak private share or a thin associate bench looks like, and they will price it.
registered dental practice in England tracked in our data
monitored for where they are short of coverage
months of preparation is what separates a good price from an average one
Valuation
What moves the value of a dental practice.
Every one of these can be improved in the year or two before a sale, and in dentistry the dependency ones move the number most.
The split between NHS and private income
NHS contract income is predictable, which lenders like, but it is capped and priced elsewhere. Private income carries the upside, and buyers pay best for a solid NHS base with a demonstrably growing private share, because it gives them certainty and headroom in the same practice.
How much clinical work depends on you
If the practice needs you in surgery four days a week, a buyer is pricing the risk that your patients follow you out of the door, and they will structure the deal to keep you there for years. Reducing your own list ahead of a sale is slow, and it is the single change that most improves both price and terms.
Your associates, and whether they stay
A settled associate team on sensible agreements is what lets a buyer believe the income survives the handover. Gaps in the diary and associate churn read as risk, and risk gets priced.
Surgeries and equipment
Buyers walk the practice pricing the refit as they go. Dated surgeries and equipment nearing replacement come straight off the offer, usually at a worse rate than it would cost you to deal with them first.
The premises position
Freehold, long lease or short lease changes who can buy and how the deal is built, and a short lease with an uncertain renewal is one of the most common late-stage deal killers in dentistry. It is worth resolving before anyone else is in the room.
Plan patients, recall and the numbers behind them
Membership plans and a healthy recall rate are recurring revenue, and buyers treat them that way. Being able to evidence uptake, recall performance and fee history turns your patient goodwill into something a buyer will underwrite.
Multiples
What dental practices sell for.
Dental practices are priced as a multiple of EBITDA, meaning the yearly earnings of the practice before interest, tax and depreciation, adjusted for fair clinical costs. Consolidation has made dental pricing unusually visible, and the tiers reflect how the active buyers actually behave.
| Profile of the practice | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Strong private share, associate-led, settled team, clean premises | 6.5 to 9× EBITDA |
| Mixed NHS and private, some owner dependency | 5 to 6.5× EBITDA |
| Heavily owner-dependent, short lease or dated surgeries | 3.5 to 5× EBITDA |
EBITDA is adjusted for fair associate and principal clinical costs before the multiple is applied, which is where dental valuations most often go wrong. For a first view of where your practice lands, the free valuation takes a few minutes.
The process
What happens whenyou sell your practice.
We get the credible buyers competing rather than approaching one group and hoping. The partner you meet first stays with you until the money is in the bank.
We work through the income split, associate position, owner clinical hours and the premises, then value it the way the active buyers will value it.
We also tell you which groups are likely to pay most given where they already operate, because that is often a bigger factor than the multiple.
Income analysis, associate contracts, plan and recall data, equipment condition, premises position and compliance history all assembled properly.
This is also where owner dependency gets addressed, because it is the single item most likely to change how a deal is structured.
Most principals get approached by one group and negotiate alone. We run a proper process to the groups actively buying in your area plus the independent buyers who never appear on a corporate list.
Your practice is not named until a buyer has been checked and has signed a confidentiality agreement.
In dental the tie-in is often worth as much as the price. How many days, for how long, at what rate, and what happens if you want out early all need negotiating rather than accepting.
You get a recommendation on each offer, not just a summary of it.
Buyers check clinical governance, compliance history, associate arrangements and NHS contract position in detail. We run the document room and keep it moving.
NHS contract transfer is the most common cause of delay, so it gets started early rather than discovered late.
Who buys
More buyers than most principals realise.
The corporate group that wrote to you is one buyer among several kinds. We run them side by side, because competition between different sorts of buyer is what moves the price.
Corporate groups
The largest acquirers, buying to fill coverage gaps and generally the most predictable on price.
Regional mini-groups
Owners of three to ten practices building locally, often willing to pay well for the right fit nearby.
Associate buy-outs
An associate or a small partnership buying the practice they already work in, usually with lender backing.
Investor-backed platforms
Building new groups, and active where the private share and the clinical team both stand up.
What happens next.
If you are starting to think about selling your practice, or someone has already approached you, the next step is a call with one of the partners.
On that call, a partner will
- Walk you through how a sale in your sector runs
- Answer whatever questions you arrive with
- Give you honest first feedback on your practice
- Explain how a typical engagement works
- Give you an indication of what it costs
Nothing to prepare, nothing to commit to, and no obligation at the end of it.
Your questions
Common questions about selling a dental practice.
Buyers price the split between NHS and private income, how much clinical work depends on you personally, whether your associates are staying, the condition of surgeries and equipment, and the premises position. Two practices with the same turnover routinely sell for very different amounts.
Associate-led practices with a strong private share attract the highest multiples, tiering down through mixed practices to heavily owner-dependent ones. EBITDA must be adjusted for fair clinical costs first, which is where most disagreements start. The free valuation gives you a first view.
Usually yes, and how that tie-in is written matters as much as the price. Expect a period of continued clinical work for patient continuity. The days, the length, the rate and your exit route from it are all negotiable, and a lot of value quietly sits in them.
Neither by itself. NHS income is predictable, which lenders like, but capped. Private income carries more risk and more upside. Most buyers pay best for a solid NHS base with a growing private share.
Corporates are usually faster, more predictable and better funded. An associate buy-out can suit a principal who values continuity and will trade some price and speed for it. We run both routes side by side and let you compare real offers.
Yes. It widens your buyer pool, gives you the option of selling the practice while keeping the building as income, and changes the tax position. Worth advice early either way.
NHS contract transfer and premises issues, in that order. Both are predictable, which is why we start them at the beginning of a process rather than discovering them at the end.
Six to nine months from formal appointment to completion, with preparation adding three to twelve months. Practices with unresolved premises or contract questions take materially longer.
The newsroom
Useful reading forprincipals.
Draft
How to Value a Dental Practice When the Groups Set the Price
What consolidation has done to pricing, and how to read an offer against it.
Draft
The Tie-In Is Worth as Much as the Price
Why how long you stay after completion deserves as much negotiation as the number itself.
Draft
If the Practice Needs You in a Surgery, You Are Selling a Job
Owner clinical dependency, and the single change that most improves what you get.
