The best business loan broker for dental practices (2026)

What lenders look at in a dental practice

Read this first. It decides which option on this list you qualify for.

Revenue they count

Collections in your operating account, not scheduled production

Payer mix

PPO, fee-for-service, Medicaid and patient-financing share

Existing debt

Any practice-acquisition loan and the lien that comes with it

Key person

The owner-dentist's credit and how much of production they personally do

Underwriters read your bank deposits, not your production report. A practice that produces $150,000 a month but collects $110,000 after write-offs and slow claims is a $110,000-a-month practice to a lender. Insurance money arrives later than the work: in an ADA Health Policy Institute poll, more than half of dentists named insurance issues, including denied or delayed payments, among their top concerns. A month with heavy crown and implant work can look weak in the bank before it looks strong, so bring an A/R aging report that shows the claims in flight.

Payer mix matters next. Lenders want to see how much of your collections come from PPO plans, fee-for-service patients, Medicaid and patient financing, because a practice that leans on one payer moves with that payer. They also notice the dental calendar. The ADA notes that most dental plans run on the calendar year and unused benefits generally do not roll over, which pulls treatment toward December; ADA News reports patients putting off treatment until their annual maximum resets. If your deposits swing at the turn of the year, say so and show last year.

Finally, a practice bought with a loan may still carry it, and that lender may hold a lien on all practice assets. Any new funder will see the filing and size its offer around the existing payment. Read your acquisition loan agreement before you borrow more; it may require the original lender to agree.

1. Bay Street Lending

This is us. Best for an established practice that needs working capital, a line or equipment and wants one advisor.

Best for

Practices 6+ months old with $25K+ a month in deposits

Products

Working capital $25K–$2.5M, line of credit $25K–$1M, equipment $25K–$5M, SBA 7(a)/504 $50K–$5M

Cost to you

No fee from us; the funder pays us if you fund

Reviews

5.0 on Google from 45 reviews

Bay Street Lending is a broker founded by an investment banker and a partner who has spent his career in commercial finance. You apply once (a soft credit pull, about two minutes), one named advisor works your file, and it goes only to funders among our 100+ partners whose criteria it fits. We never sell your information to other lenders. Every option comes back priced side by side, with total cost, payment and term in writing, before you sign, and you are under no obligation to accept.

For dental practices the usual fits are working capital for a payroll or claims gap (500+ FICO, as fast as 6 hours), a line of credit you draw as claims lag (650+ FICO, 1+ year in business), and equipment financing for chairs, scanners and CBCT units. Our clearest dental example: a $1.75M working-capital facility for an implant center in July 2026, eight days from first inquiry to wire, renewed for $1.2M two months later.

Where we fall short: we do not serve practices under six months old or requests under $25,000, we have fewer public reviews than the bigger brokers and marketplaces (45 on Google, rated 5.0), and short-term working capital costs more than a bank or SBA loan. If your need is a practice purchase, we can arrange an SBA loan, but a dental-specialty bank lender may be the better first call.

2. A dental-specialty bank lender or an SBA preferred lender

The better choice for buying a practice, buying out a partner or building a new office.

Best for

Acquisitions, partner buyouts, de novo buildouts, buying your building

Speed

Weeks to months; SBA loans typically 60–90 days

Credit

SBA lenders typically want 680+ FICO and 2+ years

Trade-off

More paperwork and personal guarantees, much lower cost

Banks that lend to dental practices regularly can judge how a practice's collections hold up after a sale, and they lend over terms that short-term funders cannot match. Per the SBA, a 7(a) loan can run up to $5 million and can be used for changes of ownership, equipment, real estate and working capital. If you can wait and your file is strong, either one is better and cheaper than any working-capital product we place.

The catch is time and paperwork: tax returns, a business plan or valuation for an acquisition, and a closing process measured in weeks. Some owners use short-term capital to cover a gap while the long-term loan closes. That can work, but only if the long-term lender knows about it and the short-term payment fits your cash flow on its own.

3. Your own bank, or a lender that specializes in subordinated debt

Better for larger multi-office groups that already carry a bank loan.

Best for

Groups that need more than $2.5M, or capital on top of an existing practice loan

Form

An increase to your bank facility, or junior debt that sits behind it

Needs

Financial statements, projections and your senior lender's consent

Trade-off

More diligence and time than working capital

A multi-office group with a bank loan already in place has two better places to start than a broker. The first is the bank itself: a lender that already holds your collateral and knows your collections can increase the facility without the lien problem a new funder faces. The second, if the bank says no, is a lender that specializes in subordinated debt, meaning capital that sits behind the senior loan, with the senior lender's agreement on who gets paid first.

If you run several offices and need more than our $2.5M working-capital ceiling, or a junior layer behind a bank loan, either route is the better choice than short-term capital from us. Expect more paperwork: audited or reviewed statements, projections and a few weeks of diligence. Ask your senior lender first whether it will consent to junior debt, and on what terms, before you talk to anyone else.

4. Lendio

Better for a dentist opening a new practice, a smaller practice, or buying the building.

Best for

Startups, requests under $25K, smaller practices, commercial mortgages

Amounts

Line of credit from $1K; startup loans up to $150K; acquisition loans $5K–$5M

Cost to you

Free to apply; lenders pay Lendio

Reviews

Trustpilot 4.5 (21,906), BBB A+

Lendio is the largest marketplace on this list and claims $17B+ facilitated. It lists startup loans up to $150,000, business credit cards and commercial mortgages, none of which we place. A dentist opening a first office, or one buying the building the practice sits in, will find more options there.

Its bar is also lower than ours. Finder cites a Lendio minimum of about $8,000 a month in revenue, against our $25,000 a month in deposits for working capital. A young associate-turned-owner collecting $15,000 a month is a better fit at Lendio than with us.

The trade-off is how far your file travels. Lendio's privacy policy says it will share your information with lenders, banks and brokers, who may keep it even if you never take an offer. If that matters to you, ask before you apply.

5. The equipment maker's or dental supplier's finance program

Sometimes better for a single piece of equipment.

Best for

One chair, intraoral scanner, CBCT or milling unit

Watch for

Promotional rates that replace a cash discount

Collateral

The equipment itself

When you are buying one specific unit, the seller often has a finance program at checkout, sometimes with a promotional rate. That can be the better deal. Ask what the cash price is first: a low rate that costs you a cash discount is not free. We can price an equipment lender against the seller's offer so you see both totals.