Dental Office Feasibility Study in Maryland

Maryland dental loans are smaller than the norm

Maryland's dental practices borrow less per loan than dentists elsewhere, and loan size is the measure our screen flags. The median SBA loan to a Maryland dental office from FY2017 to FY2026 is $343,600, 0.68x the national dental median, and the screen also finds a margin's gap from Maryland's all-class median. Volume is moderate: 106 approvals worth $68.0 million, placing Maryland 23 of 54 among states and dentistry 10 of 39 within the state. The location quotient of 0.80x shows dentistry taking a smaller part of Maryland SBA activity than it does nationwide.

Practice loans, not buildings

Maryland dental loans span $142,600 to $717,500 in their middle half; 98 are SBA 7(a) loans and 8 are SBA 504, so most finance practice acquisitions, equipment and build-outs rather than property. No Maryland dental loan carries a franchise, 0.00%. Live Oak Banking Company holds 13 loans worth $13.1 million and The Huntington National Bank 9 worth $9.5 million, the larger tickets; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company holds 12 for $2.1 million, Wells Fargo Bank National Association 8 for $4.2 million and Readycap Lending, LLC 7 for $3.8 million. Business Finance Group, Inc. holds 5 of the 504 loans. Montgomery County has 31 approvals and Prince Georges 22, with Anne Arundel, Frederick and Howard at 11 each. The trend swings: 3 approvals worth $480,200 in FY2023, then 21 worth $20.2 million in FY2025.

Cancellations and early losses

The cancellation floor for Maryland dental approvals of FY2017 to FY2024 is 16.7%, and 19.4% if undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled. Of 42 practices funded in FY2017 to FY2021, at least 4.8% are charged off, and the five-year rate matches it at 4.8%, so each loss came early. The cohort is small and the rates are floors.

For a Maryland dentist, an approval is only the start; the study has to hold up through closing and the first years of operation, where this record shows its losses. Demand testing should look at the patient base around the site, the payer mix and the competing practices and dental service organisations nearby. Cost needs equipment and build-out quotes, and for an acquisition a clear view of how many patients will stay with the practice. Coverage has to be computed from collections rather than production, through a transition period when patients may leave with the selling dentist. The appraisal of a practice is a business valuation based on goodwill and cash flow, so the study should tie the price to collections the seller can verify.

Dental offices carry no class-specific coding note. These Maryland numbers cover SBA approvals only, take the borrower's own industry code, and treat each rate as a floor.