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Even though it can involve a range of unexpected challenges, starting your own dental practice remains a major career goal for many dentists. By Frank Leggett
Making the big step up from associate dentist to one day taking charge as a practice owner remains one of the major career ambitions of many dentists. But such an ambition also comes with challenges—everything from securing finance to HR to construction and fit-out. The first question is usually: when is the right time to make the move?
“A good time is after a few years of being mentored by a dentist business owner,” Julie Parker, co-founder of Dental Business Mastery, says. Parker and her dental business coaching and training company have recently published the book Your First 90 Days: A Practice Owner’s Action Guide, designed to guide new practice owners during this tricky period.
“While it’s important to have sound clinical skills, there’s much more to learn. You need a vision for your business, the ability to communicate effectively, insight into how to attract patients and the capability to employ the right type of staff.”
Moving from employee to business owner means expanding your skills beyond the purely clinical. This usually requires some additional professional help.
“A great lawyer, accountant, bookkeeper and financial adviser are necessities,” Parker says. “Advice should also be obtained from dental consultants. We often find that as consultants, our assessment of a dental practice differs wildly from the opinion of lawyers and accountants. Dental consultants know how a practice works and what’s required to make it successful.”
The first six to 12 months of operation is a critical time when building a new business. Touching base with a consultant on a regular basis can help keep things moving in the right direction.
Brand new
Sydney’s Dr James Tran is one of those who recently made the move to practice owner. After working as an associate dentist for 10 years, he began planning the next step to branch out on his own 12 months ago. He has documented each step of the process on the Instagram account of his new practice, Lumi Dental. The practice in the northern suburb of Melrose Park opened at the end of July 2026.
“I’ve always wanted a practice of my own but the opportunity never arose until this particular location presented itself,” Dr Tran says. “I’d considered buying an existing practice but it felt to me like the corporates were snapping up all the good ones. Starting from scratch meant I could fulfil all my specific requirements.”
One of the greatest challenges faced by Dr Tran was embracing all the non-clinical skills that were required to run a dental business. He invested time in learning about HR, payroll, tax and administration.
“In the future, I definitely intend to employ help in these areas,” he says. “If you’re constantly working the back end, it’s impossible to expand your clinical skills.”
Big decision
In 2003, Julie Parker was the first non-dentist to buy a practice in Australia. “Purchasing an existing patient base meant there was a shorter amount of time between opening the doors and making a profit,” she says. “Of course, you pay a lot of money for that patient base. Starting from scratch means paying more for construction and fit-out. There are pros and cons to both.”
I’ve always wanted a practice of my own but the opportunity never arose until this particular location presented itself.
Dr James Tran, owner, Lumi Dental
Starting from scratch allowed Dr Tran to turn his business vision into a reality. His plan was to create a four-chair clinic with himself as the sole dentist. A second chair would then be opened with another dentist working one or two days a week. Until Lumi Dental turns a profit, Dr Tran is still working part-time as an employee contractor. The decision regarding the other two chairs will depend on how fast the business expands.
“Lumi Dental is located in a shopping centre in Melrose Park,” he says. “An unexpected issue was the strict regulations of centre management on how the business was to be presented. Fortunately, the team at Medifit were doing my fit-out and they have a huge amount of experience with design solutions. They dealt with the landlord and all the shopping centre requirements while delivering a contemporary and sleek practice. And they finished everything in 10 weeks.”
Pricing
Starting a practice from scratch also means setting prices before a patient has walked through the door.
“Every couple of years, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) does a fee survey and releases a report,” Parker says. “This is a great starting point in deciding how much you should charge. You can also check the websites of practices in the surrounding areas.”
Dr Tran used the information from the ADA and investigated the prices of nearby clinics. He wanted to place Lumi Dental at the upper end of the spectrum while avoiding being the most expensive. He also had a plan to attract clients.
“We’re offering new patients an initial check-up at a very low price,” Dr Tran says. “It’s a way to get people through the door to experience our space and service. I’m using Facebook and Meta marketing to raise our brand awareness. Down the track, I’ll reach out to local schools as there are a lot of young families in the area. I would love to do some dentistry show-and-tell with the kids.”
Hard question
Transitioning to dental business ownership can be a challenge but with the right planning and advice, the whole process can be made easier.
“Getting the finances in place is relatively straightforward provided the business plan is in order,” Parker says. “The best thing you can do is get as much expert advice as possible early in the process. Reach out to people who’ve already done it and pick their brains. A great exercise is to consider all the reasons why your business won’t work. Ask yourself hard questions to overcome those challenges and put your business plan into action.”
Dr Tran advises all new business owners to build their personal brand and online presence.
“Don’t be afraid to put your face on camera,” he says. “Get your name and the name of the practice out there. Be prepared to interact with the local community in order to build your client base. Any dentist thinking about jumping into business ownership should just do it. It will be extremely stressful and extremely terrifying, but it’s really worthwhile.”
