Financing — The Myths That Stop Good Buyers

Imported from home buying, wrong for practices. Dental-specific lenders routinely finance 100% of the purchase price PLUS working capital, because dental practice loans have some of the best repayment performance of any small-business category. What you actually need: modest liquidity (often $25–50K) to show you can survive a slow month.

Lenders underwrite the PRACTICE's cash flow — can collections cover overhead, your living needs, and the loan payment with room to spare (debt-service coverage ~1.25x+)? Buyers close every week carrying $400K+ of student debt. What hurts you isn't the balance; it's missed payments and maxed cards.

The dental-specialty desks: Provide, Bank of America Practice Solutions, Huntington Practice Finance, US Bank Practice Finance, Wells Fargo Practice Finance — plus SBA 7(a) routes for edge cases (slower: 60–90 days). Talk to 2–3; terms genuinely vary. Pre-qualification is free and makes sellers take your LOI seriously.

Debt-Service Coverage Ratio = practice cash flow ÷ annual loan payments. Lenders want ~1.25x+. You should want more — it's also YOUR margin of safety. A great practice at a fair price usually pencils at 1.4x+ with you producing at the seller's level.