The January reset
Benefit maximums reset and large cases stall. A line covers payroll and laboratory bills until autumn repays it.
- Open a lineCover first quarter
- Protect hygieneRecall holds revenue
- Rebook stalled casesInto the autumn
Industriesdental practices
Business Funding for Dental Practices
Capital that moves at the speed of the schedule.
One place for practice owners to run their own numbers, read the playbooks, and see which financing structure fits the next move, whether that is a CBCT, a fourth operatory, a partner buyout, or the gap between what you produce and what you collect.
No hard credit pull to start. No applicant fees. Independent business capital advisors.
Capital Scan · Step 1 of 2
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Start with the move
What dental practices use business funding for
Pick one and the calculator below changes to the question that move actually asks.
Run the numbers first
Equipment payback calculator
Imaging and chairside technology get sold on a monthly payment. The questions that decide it are how many cases a week cover that payment, and how long the machine takes to pay for itself.
$95,500
Include installation, any operatory work, and staff training.
$1,950
Off your own written quote. Set it to zero if you are paying cash.
$1,200
Your collected fee after PPO adjustment, not your UCR fee.
$250
The laboratory bill and the materials one case consumes.
3
New cases this machine lets you keep in house, not your total.
Projection
Cumulative net profit over time
At these figures, break-even per week comes out at 1 a week.
Break-even per week
1a week
Base, example figures- Payback period
- 7.7 months
- Profit per case
- $950
Full breakdown
- Monthly contribution
- $12,350
- Left after payment
- $10,400
Key insights
- Cumulative profit covers the up-front cost in month 8, inside the first year.
- Over 12 months the cumulative position moves from -$95,500 to $52,700.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser
Every figure is worked out on this page. No input is sent anywhere, stored, or attached to you.
Every figure here is yours to check
It runs on the numbers you entered and nothing else, so you can rebuild any line of it by hand.
Talk to a funding specialist
A real conversation about what these numbers mean before you apply to anything.
What this model leaves out An estimate from your own inputs, not an offer or a projection.Read the full note
Enter the price and payment from your own written quote, and enter the fee you collect after your PPO write-down rather than your UCR fee: modelling a machine against a fee schedule you do not get paid is the most common way a payback period doubles after the fact. It counts the collected fee less the lab bill and materials and nothing else, so it excludes the chair hour the case occupies, staff wages, operatory overhead and financing cost. Treat the payback figure as a best case rather than a forecast, and read it next to the chair utilisation tool, because a machine that needs chair time you do not have is not a machine that pays for itself.
Typical dental practice funding requests
- $25K-$500KTypical request range
What we actually structure for this industry. Your amount depends on the file.
- 8Structures we place
Equipment, line of credit, term, SBA, asset-based, receivables, revenue-based, and a business HELOC.
- $0Cost to ask
No applicant fees and no hard credit pull to start. Funding partners set final terms.
The numbers
What this industry runs on.
- $189 billionUS dental care spendingADA Health Policy Institute, The Dental Care Market ·
- 135,665Dental practice establishmentsUS Census Bureau County Business Patterns, cited by the ADA Health Policy Institute ·
- 202,485Professionally active dentistsADA Health Policy Institute, Dentist Workforce ·
- 72.5%Dentists who own their practiceADA Health Policy Institute, Dental Practice Research ·
- $965,660Average gross billings per dentist in private practiceADA Survey of Dental Practice, via the ADA Health Policy Institute ·
The cash year
Dental practice seasonality and cash-flow gaps
Dental Practice Seasonality Timeline
Dental cash runs on the insurance benefit year, so plan capital around the reset, not around December.
Seasonal pattern
- Lower
- Building
- Stronger
Benefit resetDeductibles stall large treatment plans
Elective buildCosmetic starts, then a July dip
Benefit-year pushStalled cases accepted before reset
- JAN
- FEB
- MAR
- APR
- MAY
- JUN
- JUL
- AUG
- SEP
- OCT
- NOV
- DEC
December flatters
December production is the year's high and January collections the year's low. Read a trailing twelve, not a month.
- Read twelve monthsNot one
- Hold fixed paymentsUntil collections land
- Reserve for FebruaryCollections lag production
Time the operatory
An operatory live in September fills on the benefit-year push. Finished in June, it pays through the softest months.
- Install before autumnFill it immediately
- Add a chairCapacity before demand
- Time the paybackSeason, not quarter
This is the typical benefit-year shape. Your plan mix, recall discipline and case mix will move the months.
Funding products
What actually gets placed for dental practices.
Monthly
The Dental Practice Capital Brief
Once a month: what structures are actually being written for practices, what is changing in the ownership and consolidation picture, and the compliance changes worth knowing about. No pitch, unsubscribe in one click.
Reading
Dental practice funding guides and comparisons
Everything we have published for dental practices, newest first. 6 pieces in total. Narrow it to the shelf you need, or read straight down the list.
- SBA Loans: How They Work & How to QualifyHow SBA loans work: the main programs, illustrative rates and terms, how to qualify, and when an SBA loan is worth the wait.Updated Jul 31, 2026
- Equipment Financing Without Draining CashHow equipment financing works, illustrative rates and terms, how to qualify, and when it beats leasing, a term loan, or paying cash.Jul 9, 2026
- Business Line of Credit: How It WorksHow a business line of credit works, what it costs, who qualifies, and when a revolving line beats a term loan or an advance.Jul 1, 2026
- MCA vs. Invoice Factoring, Which Is Right for B2B?Merchant cash advance vs invoice factoring: cost, speed, qualification. For B2B businesses with invoiced customers, factoring may cost less.Jun 9, 2026
- Every Way to Fund a Small Business, ComparedTerm loans, SBA, lines of credit, equipment, factoring, revenue-based funding, cards, and MCAs compared. When each fits, and when it does not.Jun 2, 2026
- How to Prepare Your Business for Fast FundingThe document checklist, revenue benchmarks, and what underwriters actually look at, so you can prepare before you apply for fast funding.Apr 5, 2026
Disclosure
Figures on this page are illustrative estimates only and are not an offer of financing. All amounts, rates, factor rates, terms, payment amounts, timelines, and qualification criteria vary by lender, depend on funder underwriting and your business's bank statement history, and are subject to change without notice. Nothing here is guaranteed until a funder issues terms and you sign them. Factor rates do not represent APR. Commera is a broker, not a lender, and does not set rates.
Local market guides
dental practices funding by location
Compare local demand, operating costs, cash timing, and funding considerations in the markets where we have dedicated guidance.
Common questions
Dental practice funding questions, answered straight.
The questions owners ask before they apply, answered for dental practices.
SBA 7(a) is the common route and typically runs 60-90 days. Where a seller will not wait, a term loan or bridge keeps the deal alive while the SBA file works through underwriting.
Yes. Equipment financing is the standard tool for operatory build-outs, digital scanners, CBCT, and mills, using the equipment as collateral and spreading cost across its life.
Most see $25K-$500K depending on collections and time in operation, with acquisition financing reaching higher through SBA-backed structures.
Yes. A line of credit smooths payroll and supplies while claims settle over 30-90 days, and receivables financing advances against billed claims directly.
Not usually, though they affect debt-to-income. Income-driven repayment plans are common in dental underwriting and lenders in this space are used to seeing them.
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