General Dental Practice, 40-Year Albuquerque Westside Office

$1.0M

Revenue

$773K

SDE

1.0x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 40-year-old general dental practice on Albuquerque's growing Westside, offering crowns and bridges, implants, and restorative and esthetic services out of four fully equipped operatories. The office runs modern technology including digital radiography, CBCT, an iTero intraoral scanner, intraoral cameras, and a Biolase laser, with fully digital patient records on Ascend. It is PPO-based and participates with most major plans, drawing a steady flow of new patients through word of mouth, referrals, and its website.

The standout fact here is the owner works only about 9 days a month and still collects over $1 million in revenue against $773,000 in cash flow. That is an unusually strong margin for general dentistry and tells you the practice is lean, the chair is productive, and there is enormous untapped capacity. A buyer willing to simply work more clinical days should be able to lift production materially without adding fixed cost.

The team is stable and tenured: two hygienists, three assistants, and two front office staff, all willing to stay through the transition. With 166,080 people within a 5-mile radius, a $79,407 median household income, and major employers like Intel and Presbyterian Rust Medical Center nearby, the demographic backdrop supports a full schedule. The seller is retiring and plans a clean walk-away buy-out around year-end.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is exceptional: $773,000 of cash flow on $1,032,093 of revenue is a 75 percent owner-benefit margin, far above a typical general practice. That margin, achieved on roughly 9 working days a month, signals a low-overhead office with pricing power and a productive chair.
The moat is the classic dental mix: a 40-year brand, a returning PPO patient panel, and switching friction that keeps patients loyal to their dentist. Fully digital records on Ascend and modern equipment mean a buyer inherits infrastructure rather than a deferred capex bill.
Dentistry is about as recession-resistant as service businesses get, since cleanings, crowns, and restorative work get deferred but not abandoned. The Westside population of 166,080 with a $79,407 median income and anchor employers like Intel provides a durable demand base.
The operator advantage is obvious and quantifiable: the owner is in the chair only 9 days a month. A full-time dentist, expanded ortho, implant work, and esthetics marketing could realistically double production without moving into a new building, since four operatories already sit ready.

How to improve it

Add clinical days immediately. The seller treats patients 9 days a month and still clears $1M in collections, so booking a full-time schedule against existing demand is the single fastest lever to grow production with near-zero incremental fixed cost.
Build out implant and ortho in-house. The practice already owns a CBCT, iTero scanner, and Biolase laser, so technique-sensitive implant placement and clear-aligner ortho can be captured internally instead of referred out, keeping high-margin cases in the chair.
Launch a structured hygiene recall and reactivation program. Mine the Ascend database for lapsed patients and overdue recalls, then systematize six-month recall booking to lift hygiene volume and feed the doctor's restorative pipeline.
Formalize esthetics and cosmetic marketing. With a 42-year-old average population and $79,407 median income on the Westside, targeted whitening, veneer, and cosmetic campaigns through the existing website can pull discretionary dollars the current word-of-mouth model leaves on the table.
Renegotiate PPO fee schedules and review participation. The practice participates with most major plans, so auditing reimbursement rates and dropping or renegotiating the lowest-paying plans can expand margin on the same patient volume.
Retain the tenured team with incentives. The two hygienists, three assistants, and two front office staff are a key asset willing to stay; a simple production-based bonus structure protects continuity and aligns them with the ramp in doctor days.

Diligence notes

Verify the $773,000 cash flow against collections and tax returns, and confirm what owner add-backs are included. A 75 percent margin is outstanding for general dentistry, so you need to understand whether it reflects deferred equipment maintenance, below-market associate comp, or a genuinely lean cost structure.
Understand how production holds up if the owner leaves. Collecting $1M on 9 days a month implies a highly productive owner-dentist, so quantify how much goodwill and case acceptance is tied to the seller's personal relationships versus the brand and location.
Confirm the lease terms and renewal options. Real estate is leased, so pin down remaining term, rent, escalators, and assignability, since a four-operatory buildout is expensive to relocate and lease leverage sits with the landlord.
Analyze the payer mix and PPO reimbursement schedules. As a PPO-based practice participating with most major plans, you need the breakdown of collections by plan and the specific fee schedules to model margin durability under any reimbursement pressure.
Review new patient flow and its sources. The listing cites word of mouth, referrals, and the website; validate monthly new-patient counts, hygiene recall rates, and whether patient volume is stable or declining as the owner winds down to 9 days a month.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →