How to Start a Dental Practice: The Complete Checklist

Last Updated on 13 November, 2025

When you’re figuring out how to start up a dental practice, it quickly becomes clear that it’s more than finding a location and buying equipment. You’re building a business that has to deliver care, meet strict compliance standards, and stay financially sustainable.

To open a dental practice, you can expect a timeline of roughly 9–12 months in most markets, and a total investment often in the range of $300,000 to $600,000 or more, depending on size, location and equipment quality.

This guide walks you through all the essential steps. Think of it as your checklist for how to start up a dental practice.

Key takeaways: Starting a dental practice

• Plan 9–12 months ahead and budget roughly $300K–$600K for build-out, equipment, and working capital.
• Choose your model wisely (solo, partner, or DSO) and secure financing with enough buffer for early cash-flow gaps.
• Lay strong foundations early: negotiate lease terms carefully, handle all licensing and compliance, and invest in efficient tech (PMS, AI receptionist, online booking).
• Hire and onboard strategically with clear SOPs, training, and KPIs to scale operations smoothly.
• Use modern marketing and communication tools like WellnessLiving’s dental software to pre-book patients, manage communication, and accelerate growth from day one.

Before You Begin: Is Starting a Dental Practice Right for You?

When you’re contemplating starting a dental practice, ask yourself: Do you want full autonomy (solo), a partner model, or to join/launch under a DSO (Dental Service Organization)? 

Each has different time horizons, risk levels, and capital profiles. 

• A solo start may require you to do everything (clinical + business) and absorb the full risk.
• A partner model shares the load
• A DSO model might reduce startup risk but limit control.

Another big consideration: Working capital and debt service. 

Lenders will look at DSCR (debt‐service cover ratio) and often seek personal guarantees. Starting a dental practice usually means significant upfront debt (equipment, build-out, lease) and months before consistent revenue hits. 

If you’re comfortable with those risks and have a buffer for the slow build, then you’re positioned. If not, you may want to first test a smaller consult model or join an existing practice.

The Dental Practice Startup Timeline (0-12 Months)

Below is a broad timeline to open a dental office. Your local market, build-out complexity, and regulatory environment will affect timing.

• 12-9 months before opening: Secure location, develop business plan, budget, assemble team (attorney, CPA).
• 9-6 months before: Finalise lease or purchase, negotiate TI (tenant improvement) allowance, design floor plan (ops count, sterilisation flow, accessibility). Begin equipment lead-times and permitting. 
• 6-3 months before: Order major equipment, set up software/IT stack, hire initial staff, start marketing pre-launch. Credentialing with insurance payers begins.
• 3–0 months before: Finish build-out, install chairs & imaging, complete licensing/permits, test workflows, schedule patients, and grand opening.
• Day-one opening and beyond: Start seeing patients, monitor KPIs, refine operations.

This timeline highlights the core requirements to open a dental clinic, but your individual needs may differ. Many first-time startups underestimate lead times for equipment, credentialing, and regulatory sign-offs, so you should build in buffer time.

Step 1: Costs and Financing | How much does it cost to start a dental practice?

When planning out the costs of starting a dental practice, you’ll see a wide range. 

For starters: Costs will depend on your geography, size of the practice, quality of finishes, and type of services offered. The sweet spot for many is roughly $300k-$600k, with some budgets stretching to $750k or more for high-end builds.

Based on industry data for new clinics, typical cost ranges might fall into the following bands:

Line Item	Low	Average	High
Build-out / TI	$100K	$200K	$300K+
Clinical Equipment	$150K	$250K	$400K+
Working Capital / OpEx buffer	$50K	$75K	$100K+
Licensing/Permits/Software	$15K	$30K	$50K+

These numbers assume you are starting a dental practice from scratch and not buying an existing operation. Financing options include SBA or bank loans, equipment financing, or lines of credit. Many deals will also require a personal guarantee, and lenders will look closely at DSCR. 

Ensure your business plan reflects conservative case revenue and a sufficient buffer.

Step 2: Location | Site, lease & design for opening a dental practice

Selecting the right location involves demographic analysis, payer-mix forecasting, and judging the competition radius. Your lease negotiation is one of the most critical legal/financial documents you will sign. 

Key terms to pay attention to: 

• TI allowance (how much the landlord will spend on improvements)
• Exclusivity (no competing dentists in the space)
• Assignment (can you sell the practice easily)
• Renewal options and caps on rent increases.

Floor-plan design impacts clinical flow, sterilisation zones, accessibility compliance, patient comfort, and staff efficiency. These decisions ripple through your brand and operations.

Step 3: Licenses, Permits, and Compliance | Requirements to Open a Dental Clinic

To launch your dental business, you’ll need to handle:

• Dental board licenses (for you and any associates)
• Facility permits (radiation, medical gas, building certificate)
• OSHA, HIPAA, and state/provincial health-compliance rules

For example, HIPAA compliance means you must manage BAAs, secure patient records, and conduct risk assessments, all part of running a dental practice. Don’t discount these “non-clinical” costs and tasks; they’re fundamental to building a compliant, trustworthy practice.

Step 4: Equipment and tech | What do you need to start a dental office?

Outfitting your new dental office is one of the biggest investments you’ll likely make. The right mix of equipment and technology will shape your patient experience and determine how efficiently your team can operate day to day.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• Clinical equipment: Dental chairs, delivery systems, sterilisation units, imaging/sensors.
• Technical equipment: Practice Management System (PMS)/EHR, online booking, 2-way SMS reminders, AI receptionist, payments/POS, data analytics.

Here’s a quick launch‐priority table:

Tool/Platform	Purpose	AI receptionist/phone text-back
PMS/EHR	Manage patient records, scheduling	Essential
Online booking + SMS	Improve enquiries → conversion	High
AI receptionist / phone text-back	Reduce missed leads	Medium
Analytics dashboard	Monitor KPI (production, hygiene, no-shows)	Medium-High

Investing smartly in software helps avoid hidden costs (downtime, inefficient claims, delays) that can inflate your startup budget.

Step 5: Hiring and compensation | How to staff your dental practice

Your team will define the culture and success of your new practice just as much as your equipment or location. Here are our estimates of the typical roles and average costs of building a dental practice:

Typical Roles	FTE	Salary Range	Onboarding Timeline*
Hygienist	1	$80K-$100K	~1-3 months
Dental Assistant	1-2	$45K-$60K	~1-2 months
Front Desk/Admin	1	$35K-$55K	~1 month

With proper staffing and onboarding, running a dental practice becomes much more manageable and scalable.

*According to this report, effective onboarding can improve employee retention by 52%.

Step 6: Insurance and fees | How to safeguard your dental practice

At launch, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll participate in PPOs vs FFS (Fee-For-Service), or a hybrid model. 

Each has pros/cons: PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) can drive volume but lower reimbursement; FFS gives autonomy but slower accrual. 

Setting your fee schedule, establishing clean claims processes, and minimizing denials are all critical for your business of dentistry. Missing this area can slow cash flow early.

Step 7: Marketing | How to grow a dental practice before day one

Marketing your dental practice should start long before you open your doors. Building awareness early helps you attract patients, fill your schedule, and establish credibility in your community from day one.

Here’s how you can prep your marketing plan for your dental practice:

• Branding and Local SEO: Establish your Google Business Profile (GBP), ensure name/address/phone (NAP) consistency, encourage reviews, build your website with relevant content. 
• Lead capture & phones: Implement online booking, missed-call text‐back, and consider AI receptionist to reduce lost leads from “callback later”. 
• Referral and rewards programs: Create valuable rewards programs to keep clients coming back for regular cleanings and referring friends to you.

These tools let you convert momentum pre-opening into booked patients on day one. Check out this post on virtual receptionist pricing to compare costs, features, and options for handling calls and inquiries more efficiently at your dental front desk.

Step 8: Day-One operations | How to run a dental practice

Your first day sets the tone for how your dental practice will operate moving forward. Smooth scheduling, reliable payment systems, and clear reporting habits keep your team organized and your revenue predictable.

Here’s what to focus on during your first days of operation:

• Scheduling & no-shows: Create confirmation templates, wait‐list autofill rules, and reactivation flows. This helps you fill every chair and avoid idle time.
• Payments & Reporting: Use POS/deposit workflows, establish daily/weekly/monthly KPI rhythm (production, collections, hygiene %, no-show %, new vs returning). 

Regularly tracking your metrics helps you catch problems early and scale more predictably.

Step 9: The 30/60/90-day dental practice startup checklist

Your first three months will shape the rhythm of your entire practice. A structured 30/60/90-day plan helps you stay proactive, tightening operations, building patient flow, and fine-tuning systems as you grow. 

Here’s how to stay on track from launch to full momentum:

• 0–30 days: Finish credentialing follow-ups, launch review generation, monitor schedule density, adjust workflow.
• 31–90 days: Activate hygiene re-activation campaigns, build referral partnerships, calibrate fees based on payer mix, consider adding hours or associate coverage.

Dental practice startup checklist (20-30 mini tasks):

• Confirm insurance participation status → You need to ensure credentialing is complete before billing or accepting patients under those plans.
• Enter fee schedule in PMS → Once participation is verified, you upload your approved payer fee schedules.
• Test online booking → With insurance and pricing systems in place, you can confidently open bookings to patients.
• Set up KPI dashboard → As patient activity begins, tracking production, collections, and hygiene metrics becomes meaningful.
• Launch review solicitation process → After you’ve seen a few patients, it’s time to start gathering social proof and improving local SEO.
• Train staff on phone scripts and scheduling workflows → Ensure consistent communication and efficient scheduling, especially for new patient calls.
• Verify inventory and supply reordering systems → Check that essential materials are stocked and that reordering triggers are in place to avoid downtime.
• Review hygiene recall and reactivation lists → Start contacting overdue patients or new leads who haven’t scheduled their first cleaning.
• Audit billing accuracy and claim submissions → Confirm claims are clean, correctly coded, and submitted promptly to maintain steady cash flow.
• Calibrate fees and hours based on early data → Adjust pricing or operating hours once you understand your payer mix and patient demand.

Common mistakes when you start up a dental practice

Even the best-planned dental startups hit a few bumps early on, but most missteps are preventable with the right awareness. Before you open your doors, it helps to know where new owners typically go wrong so you can sidestep those costly lessons.

Many new owners stumble by

• being under-funded (not enough working capital)
• delaying credentialing (which blocks reimbursement)
• over-buying equipment (before production supports it)
• neglecting phone/lead conversion, ignoring reviews & SEO
• failing to track KPIs

Recognising these early helps you avoid major pitfalls.

Tools and templates for a dental practice startup

The right systems make all the difference once your practice is up and running. From budget templates and SOPs to onboarding checklists and call scripts, having clear processes in place helps you stay organized and avoid costly trial-and-error.

If you’re ready to streamline scheduling, payments, and client communication from day one, explore WellnessLiving’s dental software. It’s a complete platform for booking, reminders, reporting, and patient engagement that scales with your practice.

Together, these tools turn your startup plan into a smooth, repeatable operation. Reach out today for a free demo!

FAQs about opening a dental practice