Dental Practice Model
Operating Businesses Financial Model (Free Excel Download)
Model patient visits, procedures, provider capacity, payer mix, collections, staffing, and practice expansion to evaluate dental-practice profitability and value.
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
A dental-practice operating model projects a five-year P&L for a single-location practice built on a service-mix revenue engine: production scales with visit volume per service category, average ticket per category, and the firm-wide collection rate that translates production into recognised revenue. The workbook organises four service tiers (Hygiene, Restorative, Major, Ortho) into a single Assumptions sheet with one row per service holding starting annual visits, growth rate, and average ticket, plus an operating block for collection rate, doctor and hygienist compensation as percent of collections, lab fees as percent of Major + Ortho production, supplies and other opex as percent of total production, fixed rent and admin payroll, D&A ratio, and tax rate, and a status-threshold block that drives traffic-light logic on the Dashboard.
The Patient_Volume sheet compounds starting visits at the per-service growth rate, summing to a total visit line. The Production sheet multiplies visits by ticket per service to derive gross production, then applies the firm-wide collection rate to derive collections and divides total production by total visits to surface production per visit. The P&L pulls collections into the top line, builds the operating cost stack (doctor and hygienist comp scaled off collections; lab fees scaled off Major + Ortho production only; supplies, other opex, and D&A scaled off total production; rent and admin as fixed annual lines), and resolves through EBITDA, EBIT, tax (max of EBIT and zero × tax rate), and net income. A line-by-line identity check reconciles collections to total opex, D&A, tax, and net income at zero in every year.
The Dashboard reads Y5 collections, Y5 EBITDA, EBITDA margin, the firm-wide collection rate, production per visit, doctor productivity (production per dollar of doctor comp), and Y5 visits, attaching On track / Watch / Stretched status against user-set thresholds, alongside a Y5 service-mix table that shows production by category and percent of total. Owner-dentists, DSO operators, practice managers, and healthcare-PE buyers use this template for acquisition diligence, service-mix shift modelling, and owner-dentist compensation review. The defaults reflect a healthy single-location practice (94% collection rate, 28% doctor comp, $390 production per visit Y1) - flex the inputs to match a target practice's actual operating profile.
What every model includes
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
What's inside the Dental Practice Model
- Four service categories (Hygiene, Restorative, Major, Ortho) with editable starting visits, growth, and average ticket
- Patient_Volume sheet compounding annual visits per service with a total visits line
- Production sheet with per-service gross production, total production, collections (production × collection rate), and production per visit
- P&L from collections through doctor and hygienist comp, admin payroll, lab fees, supplies, rent, other opex, EBITDA, D&A, tax, and net income, with EBITDA and net margin lines
- Dashboard with Y5 collections, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, collection rate, production per visit, doctor productivity, and Y5 visits
- Status thresholds in Assumptions so on-track / watch / stretched logic can be tuned
Dental Practice Model: Service-Mix Revenue and Acquisition Cash Flows
This dental practice model projects five-year cash flows for a single-location, owner-operated practice acquisition. It builds revenue from four service lines, converts production to collections by carrier mix, and runs a full P&L with SBA debt, working capital, and returns.
Outputs include equity IRR, DSCR, and chair utilisation across Base, Bull, and Bear scenarios.
How the model builds revenue from service mix and patient flow
Revenue starts with four service categories: hygiene, restorative, major (crown/RCT/extraction), and ortho. Each has its own starting visit volume, growth rate, average ticket, lab percentage, and supplies cost per visit.
- Hygiene visits are not simply compounded; they are driven by recall mechanics using active patient counts, recall frequency, and recall rate. Non-hygiene services compound from year one with a scenario flex.
- This design captures the fact that hygiene is the recall engine driving most visits.
Converting production to collections through carrier mix
Production does not equal collections. The model blends collection rates across four carrier types: PPO in-network, PPO out-of-network, Medicaid, and fee-for-service/cash.
- Each carrier has a different collection rate and write-off percentage. A weighted average produces the blended collection rate applied to total production.
- The write-off percentage feeds the accounts receivable roll. This structure prevents overstating revenue and exposes carrier-mix concentration risk, which matters because a practice with high Medicaid exposure has materially different unit economics.
Cost structure and operating drivers
Direct costs vary with production. Lab fees are applied per service: zero for hygiene, four percent for restorative, sixteen percent for major, and twenty-two percent for ortho.
- Supplies cost per visit also differ by service. Compensation includes owner dentist clinical pay as a percentage of owner collections, associate dentist pay if enabled, and hygienist pay as a percentage of hygiene-only collections.
- The owner also takes residual net income as an owner draw, reported separately. Other costs include rent with an escalator, marketing based on new patients and fixed spend, admin payroll, and other operating expenses as a percentage of production.
Outputs, debt, and practical use for buyers and lenders
The model produces a P&L, debt schedule with SBA 7(a) amortisation, working capital roll, sources and uses, and a returns engine for buyer equity IRR, MOIC, and DSCR. A dashboard shows EBITDA margin, collection rate, production per visit, and chair utilisation with traffic-light status.
- Scenario toggles flex visits, tickets, collection rates, and other inputs. Buyers can see how the P&L absorbs debt service under stress, while lenders can observe DSCR covenant breach under a revenue shock.
- The model is a values-only preview, not a live recalculation tool.
Formatted to IB standards
Named theme colors repaint the whole workbook in one click, on top of an investment-banking structure with clear input, output, and cross-sheet reference styling - brand-ready, institutional-grade, and fully auditable.
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
Over my years in the finance industry I kept building the same models over and over again. Same structure, same assumptions, different logo. So I started building frameworks to turn them into clean, reusable templates.
Every model here is one I’d actually use for a client, and I personally vet each one before it goes up.
I’m not an expert in every industry, but I’ve built enough models to know what belongs in one. And when something is completely foreign to me, I reach out to my network for experts to work on our models with us.
Having a template library on hand cuts a first build from hours to minutes.
Need help finding your model? You’ll find me in the Finamodel app!
Frequently asked
What is a dental practice model?+
A dental practice model projects revenue, collections, and operating margin for a single-location practice driven by visit volume across service categories (hygiene, restorative, major, ortho), per-service average ticket, and a firm-wide collection rate that converts gross production into recognised revenue.
What is the difference between production and collections?+
Production is the gross fee the practice charges for services rendered; collections is what is actually received from insurance and patients after write-offs and adjustments. In-network practices typically collect 92-98% of production; out-of-network practices collect 75-88%. The model surfaces that gap as a single Collection_Rate input.
Why are lab fees scaled off Major + Ortho only?+
Hygiene visits (cleanings, exams) and most restorative work do not generate outside lab work. Lab bills are driven by crowns, bridges, dentures (Major) and ortho appliances (Ortho), so the formula scales lab fees off the production from those two categories only to avoid overstating cost on a hygiene-heavy practice.
How should I model owner-dentist compensation?+
The model treats doctor comp as a single percent-of-collections line (default 28%) for simplicity. An owner-dentist effectively takes that comp plus the residual net income as draw. To split out an associate vs an owner, layer a separate associate-comp row scaled off associate-produced collections only.
Does the model include a balance sheet?+
No. Capex is handled through a flat D&A percent of collections so EBIT is non-trivial. Working capital (insurance AR is typically 30-45 days but stable in steady state) is out of scope - pair with the working-capital or 3-statement template if you need a full BS view.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Related templates
Consulting Firm
Five-year pyramid model: headcount, utilization, billable rate, comp, and margins.
Hiring Model
12-month headcount, comp expense, and sales-productivity forecast across five departments.
3 Statement Model
Integrated income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow forecasts.
Food Manufacturing Model
Operating model for food production and processing businesses with ingredient sourcing, production scheduling, and margin analysis.
