Dental Practice Acquisition and Expansion Financing in Columbus, Ohio

Scan the situations below, pick the one that matches where you are right now, and follow that link — each guide covers qualification standards, typical rates, and the documents you'll need for that specific path.

What to know before you choose a financing path

Dentists financing a practice in Columbus face a sharply different decision tree depending on whether they're buying an existing book of business, adding a second location, refinancing legacy debt, or replacing a single piece of equipment. The loan structures, timelines, and approval benchmarks vary enough that a guide written for one situation can actively mislead you in another.

The four main scenarios — and what separates them

Situation	Typical loan type	Down payment	Term	Rate range (2026)
Buying an existing practice	SBA 7(a) or conventional bank	10–20%	7–10 years	8.5–11%
Partner buyout	SBA 7(a) or bank term loan	10–20%	7–10 years	8.5–11%
Opening a second location	SBA 7(a) or commercial construction	15–25%	10–25 years	7.5–10.5%
Equipment only (CBCT, laser, chairs)	Equipment financing or Section 179	15–20%	3–7 years	7–12%

What lenders actually look at

Every lender starts with your FICO score — 640 is the floor most will consider, and 700+ is where you stop paying a rate premium. Beyond that, the key metrics are your debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), which most banks require to be at least 1.25x, and a practice's trailing twelve months of production and collection data. For acquisitions, lenders also order an independent practice valuation; a Columbus practice selling at more than 70–80% of annual collections may trigger additional scrutiny.

If you're using an SBA 7(a) loan — the most common vehicle for full practice acquisitions — the SBA caps loan amounts at $5,000,000 and requires at least 24 months in business for the borrowing entity. New graduates buying their first practice often structure the deal so the seller provides a short seller note to fill any gap the SBA won't cover.

Working capital lines (useful for bridging payroll or supply costs in the first 6–12 months after a purchase) typically run 9–13% APR in 2026 and are underwritten separately from your acquisition loan. Don't confuse these with the acquisition financing itself — conflating them is one of the most common mistakes first-time buyers make when reading rate quotes.

Columbus-specific factors

Franklin County's commercial real estate market affects deals that include real property. If you're buying the building alongside the practice, expect commercial mortgage underwriting on top of goodwill financing — two separate credit decisions with two timelines. Columbus has a competitive market of regional banks and credit unions with healthcare lending desks (Huntington, Fifth Third, and several local community banks), plus national specialty lenders like Live Oak Bank that focus exclusively on dental. Getting pre-qualification letters from at least two sources before you make an offer is standard practice here.

Dentists adding significant equipment — CBCT scanners, CAD/CAM milling units, or full operatory buildouts — often find that equipment financing closes in 1–3 days and keeps the acquisition loan clean. Columbus-area dental equipment financing programs exist specifically for this split structure, and many include lease-to-own options that preserve your Section 179 deduction ($1,220,000 in 2026) in the year of purchase.

For dentists also evaluating expansion into a second operatory or medical-dental integration model, the broader landscape of clinic owner financing in Columbus covers lines of credit and alternative structures that pure dental lenders don't always offer.

If your credit profile is a variable — perhaps you finished school with student debt and haven't hit 700 yet — the acquisition-by-credit guide maps out which products are realistically available at each FICO tier and what the rate difference actually costs you over a 10-year term.