What is my dental practice worth?
There is no single formula, but there is a logic — and once you understand it you can see exactly why two practices with identical turnover can be worth very different amounts.
The two methods you will encounter
Goodwill as a percentage of gross fees. The traditional approach in UK dentistry: a practice turning over £600,000 valued at 120% of gross fees implies goodwill of around £720,000, before adjustments for equipment, stock and property. It is quick and widely quoted, which is also its weakness — it rewards turnover rather than profit.
A multiple of adjusted EBITDA. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted to deduct a market-rate salary for the work the principal personally does. This is how groups and consolidators generally think, because it reflects what the business earns once someone has to be paid to do your clinical sessions. Larger, more profitable practices are usually valued this way, and it typically produces a higher number for a genuinely profitable practice.
Current market benchmarks
NASDAL — the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers — publishes a quarterly goodwill survey based on real valuations and completed deals. For the quarter ending July 2025 it recorded average goodwill of approximately 124% of gross fees, with completed deals spanning 30% at the low end to 263% at the high end.
That spread is the single most useful fact in this article. A nine-fold range between the weakest and strongest deals means the average tells you almost nothing about your practice. Anyone quoting you a percentage before understanding your accounts, your team and your patient base is guessing.
What actually moves your number
- Profitability, not turnover. Two practices billing £800,000 can differ hugely once staff costs, lab bills, materials and rent are accounted for.
- How much depends on you personally. If most treatment and most patient loyalty runs through the owner, a buyer must replace you — and prices that risk in.
- Clinical team stability. Settled, contracted associates and low staff turnover are worth real money, because recruitment is currently the hardest problem in UK dentistry.
- Recurring revenue. Strong recall rates and plan/membership income are valued far above one-off high-value cases.
- Capacity and premises. Spare surgery capacity is upside a buyer can pay for. A short, unassignable or expiring lease is a discount, sometimes a deal-breaker.
- Compliance and records. Clean CQC/regulatory standing and orderly clinical records reduce perceived risk. Gaps invite retentions and renegotiation.
- Location and recruitability. A practice in an area where associates are hard to hire carries a structural discount, regardless of its numbers.
Deal structure matters as much as the headline
A large number paid mostly over time is not the same as a smaller number paid at completion. Ask what proportion is payable on day one, what is deferred, and what any deferred element depends on. Also ask what happens to your future earnings: your clinical income after completion is part of the overall picture, and comparing offers on headline price alone can be genuinely misleading.
How we approach it
We give you the reasoning behind our number, not just the number — the valuation logic, the timeline, your role afterwards and what stays yours, written down before anyone asks for exclusivity. We would actively encourage you to take it to your own accountant or a NASDAL specialist for a second opinion. A valuation you do not understand is not much use to you.
Next: what selling looks like in practice, succession planning and timing, or joining a dental group.
This page is general information about how valuations are constructed, not financial or legal advice, and nothing here is an offer. Please take professional advice on your own circumstances.
Where we stand, so you can weigh this
Quantum Medix acquires dental practices, so we are a buyer and not a neutral adviser. We have written this to be accurate and useful whether or not you ever speak to us, including where the honest answer does not suit us. If another dentist buying your practice outright is the better option for you, we will say so.
We should also be clear about what we can buy. Our model needs a practice that is already associate-led, or one that could become associate-led on a sensible timescale with a plan we both believe in. If you are the practice — most of the clinical work is yours and there is no realistic route to that changing — we are not the right buyer, and we would rather tell you that in the first conversation than the fourth.
This is general information rather than legal, tax or financial advice: before you commit to anything, take your own advice from a solicitor and accountant who work in dentistry regularly. If you spot something here you think is wrong, tell us at partners@quantummedix.com and we will correct it.