Honestly, most dentists don't wake up one day and just know. It's usually a slow build — you start noticing you're more tired on Mondays than you used to be, or a health scare reminds you that none of this lasts forever, or you catch yourself doing the math on retirement more often than you used to. Readiness isn't really about age or a specific number in the bank. It's about whether the practice still energizes you or whether it's become something you're just maintaining. I practiced for 30 years before I made this shift myself, and I can tell you the dentists who transition well are the ones who get ahead of that question instead of waiting until burnout or an emergency forces the decision for them.

A DSO offer usually shows up looking bigger than it is. They'll quote you a multiple of EBITDA, but that number is built on a corrected EBITDA calculation that adds back your salary as if you were an employee earning market wage — which, for most solo practitioners, shrinks the number a lot more than people expect. A private sale, by contrast, is typically priced closer to a percentage of collections, and in my experience running the numbers side by side for clients, it tends to outperform the DSO offer by hundreds of thousands and sometimes well over a million dollars across the life of the deal, once you factor in the DSO's associate buyout structures and non-competes. That doesn't mean DSOs are never the right answer — sometimes they are, especially if you want to stay on and practice without the ownership headaches. But you should see both numbers laid out honestly before you decide, not just take the DSO's opening offer at face value. In fact, in my experience, doing that is the worst mistake you can make.

From the day you decide to list to the day you hand over the keys, plan on somewhere between six months up to 18 months for a typical transition, though I've seen it move faster when a strong buyer is already in the pipeline. What surprises most sellers is that finding the buyer is often the fast part — it's the due diligence, financing, and lease or real estate details on the back end that tend to stretch the timeline. If you're planning to sell within the next two to three years, the smartest thing you can do is start the valuation conversation now, not when you're ready to list. Values shift, and knowing where you stand early gives you room to make improvements that actually move the number.

Broker fees in this industry are almost always paid by the seller, structured as a percentage of the final sale price, and the exact number depends on the complexity and size of the transition. I'll walk you through the specifics on a call rather than throw a generic percentage at you here, because it genuinely does vary — a straightforward single-location sale is a different animal than a multi-doctor practice with real estate involved. What I will say is that a good broker should pay for their own fee many times over, through a higher sale price, cleaner negotiations, lower stress throughout the process, and avoiding the mistakes that cost sellers far more than any commission.

This is usually the question that keeps dentists up at night more than the financial ones, and I understand why — you've built relationships with these people over years, sometimes decades. A well-structured transition protects both. On the staff side, we work to structure deals so your team has continuity, and we're upfront with buyers about the value your staff brings to the practice. On the patient side, a thoughtful handoff — the right communication at the right time, a transition period where you're still involved — goes a long way toward preserving the trust you've built. I've sat on both sides of this as a practicing dentist myself, and it matters to me that the people who helped build your practice are treated the way you'd want them treated.

Because practice value doesn't sit still, and neither does your health. This is really the whole idea behind the Legacy Protection Plan — I've seen firsthand what happens to a practice's value in the months after a dentist passes away or becomes unable to practice unexpectedly. It degrades fast, sometimes drastically, because there's no plan in place and the family is left scrambling during the worst weeks of their lives. An initial valuation, updated annually, means you always know where you stand — and if the unthinkable happens, there's already an agreement in place to list the practice immediately, protecting the value for your family instead of letting it evaporate. It's not about planning to sell soon. It's about making sure decades of your work are protected no matter what happens. Find out more about your Legacy Protection Plan by contacting Rod today.

It depends more on your personal readiness than on market timing, though I'll say the current environment still favors sellers in most of the markets I work in — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida all have strong buyer demand right now. That said, I'd rather you make this decision based on where you are in your career and life than based on chasing a market condition that could shift. If you're on the fence, the best move is usually a conversation, not a decision — get the real numbers in front of you and then decide what timing actually makes sense for you.m description

Technically, no — some dentists do sell on their own, usually to an associate or someone they already know. But most sellers who go it alone end up leaving money on the table, either because they don't know how to accurately value the practice, don't have access to a real pool of qualified buyers, or get outmaneuvered in negotiations by a buyer's team that does this for a living. Having sat on both sides of the chair — as a practicing dentist for 30 years and now as someone who helps dentists transition — I've seen how much of a difference it makes to have someone in your corner who actually understands clinical practice, not just the financial mechanics of a sale.

I'm a dentist first. I practiced for over 30 years — 12 in Indiana and the rest in Savannah Georgia — before I ever sat on this side of the table. That means when I'm looking at your production numbers, your patient flow, or your equipment, I'm not just reading a spreadsheet. I know what it actually took to build what you built. Between that clinical background and having been part of 3,000+ transitions over 30+ years through Legacy Practice Transitions, you're getting someone who understands both the emotional weight of this decision and the financial reality of getting it right.

Just reach out. A first confidential conversation doesn't commit you to anything — it's a chance for me to understand where you are and answer your specific questions, and for you to get a sense of whether this feels like the right fit. Most dentists tell me afterward they wish they'd made the call sooner, mostly because carrying the uncertainty around alone is harder than actually talking it through.