Buying a practice, opening one, or replacing a chair all come down to the same question. Who lends, how much, and on what terms.
This is an overview of how dental practice finance works in the UK, with the figures and terms that lenders commonly use.
What Dental Practice Finance Covers
Dental finance is not one product. It is a set of facilities, each shaped around what the money is being used for.
Lenders separate them because the security and the risk differ. A building can be secured against. A scanner cannot, in the same way.
- Practice purchase. Buying an existing practice, its goodwill, and sometimes the freehold alongside it.
- New start funding. Opening from scratch, with no patient list and no trading history behind the application.
- Equipment and technology. Chairs, imaging, scanners and software, usually funded over the life of the asset.
- Refurbishment and expansion. Fit-out works, additional surgeries, or taking on more space.
- Working capital. Short-term dental business loans covering staff, stock and rent through quieter periods.
- Partnership buy-in. Buying a share of an existing practice rather than the whole of it.
Dental Practice Loans: The Main Types
Most dental practice loans fall into a handful of shapes. The table below sets out how they usually differ.
Unsecured dental practice business loans are the quickest to arrange and usually the smallest of them.
| Facility | Typical size | Typical term | Commonly used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsecured business loan for dental practice | Up to £250,000 | Up to 7 years | Smaller works, equipment, short-term needs. |
| Cashflow facility | Up to £500,000 | Short to medium | Working capital and seasonal gaps. |
| Commercial mortgage | Up to £1,500,000+ | Up to 20–25 years | Freehold purchase, secured on the building. |
| Goodwill lending | Varies by practice | Typically 7–15 years | Buying the business itself, not the bricks. |
| Asset finance | Cost of the asset | 1–5 years | Chairs, imaging and surgery equipment. |
| Refurbishment loan | £25,000 – £500,000 | Medium term | Fit-out works and additional surgeries. |
Figures from Rangewell, Spark Finance and Funding Agent, September 2026. Terms may vary depending on the lender and the borrower.
Dental Practice Purchase Financing
Dental practice purchase financing is the most common reason dentists borrow. It rarely arrives as a single loan.
Dental practice purchase loans are usually arranged in two parts.
One part covers goodwill, the value of the business itself. The other covers property, if the freehold is included in the sale.
Finance to buy dental practice goodwill is commonly structured over a term of seven to fifteen years.
Where the building is part of the deal, the property element is often arranged as a dental practice mortgage secured against it.
What a practice is valued on
UK valuations are commonly expressed as a multiple of EBITDA. The multiple moves with the type of practice.
| Practice type | EBITDA multiple |
|---|---|
| Solo general practice | 4.2x – 5.1x |
| Premium private practice | 8.0x – 11.0x |
| Multi-site group | 12.0x or higher |
Source: Davis LLP, dental practice valuation methods, 2026. Multiples are sensitive to composition and location.
Loan to value and deposit
Across lenders active in dental practice purchase financing UK wide, 75% loan to value is a common starting point.
On an £800,000 acquisition at 75%, that implies roughly £200,000 of equity or deposit from the buyer.
Some lenders go further. Reported ranges reach 80% on certain products and 90% with a small number of providers.
Established practices attract higher lending than start-ups. Reported figures sit around 80–90% for an existing practice with trading history.
Costs beyond the purchase price include legal fees, valuation, CQC registration, stock and working capital for the first months of trading.
Demand and pricing in dental practice purchase financing London reflect local competition for sites, so figures differ from regional markets.
Financing New Start Dental Practices
Financing new start dental practices works differently. There is no patient list, no trading history and no goodwill to lend against.
Reported lending on a start-up sits at around 50% of setup cost, against 80–90% for an established practice.
That gap is the single biggest difference between the two routes, and it shapes how much deposit is needed.
Lenders considering finance for new dental practices generally look at the individual rather than the business, since the business does not yet exist.
- A written business plan. Catchment, competitor mapping, fee structure and a month-by-month cashflow forecast.
- Personal trading record. Gross fees, associate history and any previous experience running a practice.
- A costed build. A tendered fit-out figure rather than an estimate, so the total requirement is defined.
- Deposit and reserves. Both the contribution to the project and funds to cover early trading.
Dental Equipment Finance
Dental equipment finance spreads the cost of an asset over the years it is used, rather than paying for it in one go.
Equipment costs vary widely by specification. These are figures reported for UK practices:
| Equipment | Reported cost |
|---|---|
| Intraoral scanner | £15,000 – £25,000 |
| Digital panoramic unit | £30,000 – £50,000 |
| CBCT scanner | £50,000+ |
Source: Forward Asset Finance, UK dental equipment financing guide, 2026.
Hire purchase and leasing
Two structures dominate dental equipment financing. They differ in ownership and in how payments are treated.
- Hire purchase. The practice owns the asset outright after the final payment. Deposits are typically 10–20%.
- Finance lease. The asset stays with the lender. Monthly payments are usually lower than under hire purchase.
Reported terms run from one to five years, with decisions commonly made within 48 to 72 hours once documentation is complete.
Tax treatment differs between the two, which is a question for an accountant rather than a lender.
How Lenders Assess Loans for Dentists
Lenders offering loans for dentists tend to weigh the same five things, whatever the facility is for.
- Income and affordability. Gross fees, drawings and the projected cover on loan repayments.
- Security. Property, goodwill, the asset itself, or a personal guarantee where none of these apply.
- Track record. Years qualified, associate history and previous ownership or management experience.
- Income mix. NHS contract income, private fees and plan or capitation income are weighted differently.
- The plan itself. How the borrowing is used and how it is expected to be repaid.
Specialist lenders describe assessing NHS contract valuations, GDS contract income and dental goodwill multiples as part of this.
Unsecured business loans for dentists are often weighed against gross fees rather than against assets.
Dental Practice Financing Companies
The lending market splits into three broad groups, and dental practice financing companies sit across all of them.
Brokers specialising in finance for dentists work across the same three groups rather than lending directly.
- High street banks with healthcare teams. NatWest, Barclays and Virgin Money are among those named as lending to dentists.
- Specialist and challenger lenders. OakNorth, United Trust Bank, Together Money and Offa appear in the same market.
- Asset finance providers. Firms funding equipment specifically, including Admiral Leasing and sector brokers.
Reported annual rates across those lenders span roughly 4.5% to 14.9%, depending on the lender, the product and the borrower.
Some providers price monthly rather than annually, particularly on short-term and invoice-based facilities.
Lender names and rate ranges reported by Funding Agent, 2026.
How Do I Finance a Dental Practice?
The question how do I finance a dental practice usually resolves into a sequence rather than a single decision.
- Establish the total requirement. Purchase price or build cost, plus fees, equipment, stock and working capital.
- Confirm the deposit available. Cash, equity in property, or funds from an existing practice.
- Gather the paperwork. Accounts, schedules of gross fees, the business plan and cashflow forecast.
- Approach lenders or a broker. Specialist dental lenders and healthcare banking teams price this market regularly.
- Compare total cost, not headline rate. Arrangement fees, early repayment terms and security requirements all count.
- Align drawdown with the project. Staged payments on a fit-out, or completion dates on a purchase.
Where borrowing funds building works, the fit-out cost forms part of the total. Divo Interiors provides costed schedules of works for that purpose, and examples of completed projects are in our portfolio.
How to Finance Dental Work as a Patient
The phrase how to finance dental work usually comes from patients rather than practice owners.
It matters to practices too, because the payment options offered at the treatment plan stage affect how patients proceed.
- Patient finance plans. Regulated credit arranged through a third-party provider, paid in monthly instalments.
- Membership or capitation plans. Monthly subscriptions covering routine care, sometimes with treatment discounts.
- Staged treatment. Splitting a plan into phases so cost is spread across a longer period.
- NHS banded charges. Fixed charges set nationally, where treatment is available on the NHS.
Practices offering regulated patient credit need the appropriate FCA permissions, whether directly or through an authorised provider.
Dental Practice Finance FAQs
How much deposit is needed to buy a dental practice?
At a common 75% loan to value, roughly 25% of the price. On an £800,000 purchase that is around £200,000 in equity or cash.
How long are dental practice loans?
Commercial mortgages commonly run up to 20 or 25 years. Goodwill lending is often 7 to 15 years, and asset finance 1 to 5 years.
Is a start-up harder to fund than a purchase?
Reported lending on a start-up is around 50% of cost, compared with 80–90% for an established practice with trading history.
What interest rates apply?
Reported annual rates across dental lenders range from about 4.5% to 14.9%. The Bank of England base rate was 3.75% in July 2026.
Can equipment be funded separately?
Yes. Asset finance funds equipment on its own, through hire purchase or a finance lease, usually over one to five years.
How quickly are decisions made?
Specialist lenders report decisions within 24 to 72 hours of a full application, and 48 to 72 hours on equipment finance.
