Dental Office Feasibility Study in the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT Metro Area

A dental market with nearly twice the national weight

Salt Lake City-Murray dentists turn to SBA at a rate well above the national norm. The location quotient is 1.85x, the area ranks 17 of 562 for dental office loans, and locally dental offices come third (3 of 39). The median loan of $498,500 is 0.98x the class's national median, so the tickets are ordinary even if the share is not. SBA approved 114 loans between FY2017 and FY2026, worth $85.9 million, and the middle half runs from $155,000 to $1.1 million.

A strong real estate component

SBA 7(a) accounts for 78 loans and SBA 504 for 36, which means a large minority of dentists here financed property. Mountain West Small Business Finance holds 26 of the 504 loans, worth $16.5 million, and Intermountain Business Lending, Inc. holds 10, worth $8.3 million. Franchising plays no part: the printed share is 0.00%. Salt Lake County has 108 of the loans and Tooele County 6.

Under 7(a), a specialist and an outlier

Live Oak Banking Company holds 17 loans worth $24.3 million, a large average that fits big practice acquisitions. Zions Bancorporation, National Association appears on 8 loans but only $575,500 in all, and BMO Bank National Association holds 5 with $3.8 million. The table is SBA's current-holder listing, and nothing in it describes how any bank approaches a dental application.

Years and cancellations

Approvals ran between 9 and 17 a year through FY2025, with 16 in FY2017, a peak of 17 in FY2021 and a low of 6 in FY2026, when the dollars were nonetheless $11.4 million. Cancellation touched at least 7.1% of the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, a very low floor. Two more rates, one for cancellation with undisbursed loans included and one for charge-offs, are not given for Salt Lake, and unknown is not nil.

Testing a Salt Lake-area dental practice

A study should separate a practice acquisition from a start-up, since the first is valued on collections and patient records and the second on how fast a new patient base builds. It should test production per operatory and hygienist against local fee levels and payer mix, show how overhead and the associate's compensation affect the owner's take, and test coverage if a key associate leaves. A building purchase should be examined for fit-out and the value a future owner could place on it. With so many local dentists already financed, the study should count competing practices near the site. Counties are placed by July 2023 area, and unplaced counties are omitted.