The Dental CEO Podcast

How Selling to a DSO Costs Dentists Millions (Scott Breaks Down a Real Offer)

The Dental CEO Podcast

Show Notes

A dentist got an unsolicited $9.8M offer to sell his practice — and on paper it looked incredible. So why is walking away the smarter move? Scott Leune breaks down the real offer line by line and runs the actual math, exposing the traps most dentists never see: the cash up front, the "rollover equity," the multi-year stay requirement that quietly erases years of owner profit, and the "hopium" of future multiples that rarely pay out. He shows how selling now nets roughly $9.4M while transitioning out first nets up to $14M+, and what to do instead if your practice is struggling. Whether you plan to buy, sell, or advise someone who will, this could save you millions. Subscribe for new episodes weekly.

More from The Dental CEO Podcast

Oct 19, 2026

The rules of dental student loans just changed, and most dentists have no idea what it means for them.

Oct 12, 2026

Selling your dental practice to a DSO? Some dentists who took part of their payout in DSO equity may end up with nothing to show for it.

Oct 5, 2026

Dr. Divya Patel was two years out of dental school when she made a decision most dentists take a decade to make: open her own startup instead of buying an established practice. In this episode, Scott sits down with Dr. Patel to unpack why she walked away from Toronto's acquisition market and built Pearl Dental Studio from the ground up instead. They break down the real math behind "buying a practice twice," once to acquire it, and again to actually fix it into your vision, and why that math made a startup the lower-risk path for her, not the riskier one. In this episode: Why acquiring an established practice can cost more long-term than building one from scratch What it actually costs to open a five-op startup in Toronto today, and how Canadian dentists access funding How Dr. Patel built a patient experience around comfort and quality instead of volume and insurance-driven case mix What it's like to bet on yourself as a young dentist, before a spouse, before kids, before "waiting until you're ready" starts costing you years Her 2-3 year vision for the practice, including plans for a second location

Sep 28, 2026

ChatGPT just rolled out ads for small businesses, and dentists are already testing it, often with no idea what they're doing.

Sep 21, 2026

Last week's episode challenged the traditional path to retirement. This week, Scott Leune gets tactical: what should you actually be doing in dentistry, right now, at your specific age, to make that philosophy real?

See all episodes →