Dental Office Feasibility Study in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area

A multi-state area where dentistry lags its national weight

Dental offices are underrepresented in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington lending. The location quotient is 0.67x, so dentistry is a noticeably thinner slice of this area's lending than it is nationally, and the median loan of $394,050 is 0.78x the national median. Even so, the area is 18th of 562 for dental office loans, and dentistry is ninth of its 39 classes. Its 110 approvals, FY2017 to FY2026, carry $75.8 million gross, and the middle loans range from $150,000 to $917,250.

The area crosses four states, and its counties show it. Camden County, NJ has 23 loans, Bucks County, PA 20, Chester County, PA 16, Delaware County, PA and Montgomery County, PA 11 each, Philadelphia County 10, and New Castle County, DE and Burlington County, NJ 7 each. Tallying by program gives 104 loans for SBA 7(a) and only 6 for SBA 504, while franchise flags appear on 0.00% of loans.

Holders of the paper

No 504 lender reaches SBA's list here. Live Oak Banking Company heads the 7(a) table at 12 loans and $12.0 million, with Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB at 8 loans and $7.5 million. Citizens Bank, National Association also holds 8, but they total only $1.8 million. PNC Bank, National Association holds 7 worth $4.5 million and TD Bank, National Association 7 worth $2.7 million. As elsewhere, the list shows who holds the loans now, and it must not be read as evidence of any lender's policy.

Approvals lost to cancellation were 13.1% or more across FY2017 to FY2024, and the ceiling, counting undisbursed loans, is also 13.1%. The charge-off rate is withheld under Loan Analytics' small-count rule; nothing is printed for it, and nothing should be inferred. The record by year dips to 5 loans in FY2019 and then rebuilds: 14 in FY2024 and 18 in FY2025, worth $9.2 million.

What a study of a tri-state dental practice has to test

Practice economics come first: collections per provider, the number of operatories, hygiene schedules and the share of revenue from insured patients. If the borrower is buying an existing practice, the study should test whether patients will stay through the transition, using the seller's records. A project near a state line should state which state's licensing, insurance contracts and property taxes apply to it. The appraisal of a dental building is a special-purpose valuation, with plumbing and equipment that may not suit other tenants. Philadelphia-area totals are minimums, since the July 2023 list must recognize a loan's county before the loan joins the area.