Dental Office Feasibility Study in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area

A county of dentists and a wide cancellation gap

San Diego County, CA holds every one of the 167 dental office loans in this metro, worth $142.4 million across FY2017 to FY2026. San Diego stands 8 of 562 for dental offices among all areas and 3 of 39 among its own classes, and its location quotient of 1.63x shows the class weighing far more in local lending than the national mix would. Cancellation of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals is 14.7% at the floor but 20.2% at the ceiling, a spread that shows how many approved dental loans were still undisbursed.

The median is $575,500, 1.14x next to the nationwide class median, with the central half between $231,000 and $1.2 million. SBA 7(a) carried 131 loans and SBA 504 carried 36. A franchise share of 0.00% appears, so none of these practices is a branded unit. For the 75 loans funded in FY2017 to FY2021, both charge-off measures print as 0.00%; a young group has had little time to show losses, and both are floors.

Lenders

Live Oak Banking Company holds 16 SBA 7(a) loans and $31.5 million, then U.S. Bank, National Association (15 loans, $18.2 million). After them come Wells Fargo Bank National Association (13), Bank of America, National Association (8) and Newtek Bank, National Association (7). On SBA 504, CDC Small Business Finance Corp. holds 12 loans and $7.8 million, California Statewide Certified Development Corporation 10 and Business Finance Capital 7. The list reports holders SBA names and judges none of them.

Approvals peaked at 32 loans and $34.8 million in FY2021, fell to 12 in FY2023, and rose to 21 loans and $15.5 million in FY2026. A one-year peak that large should be read as one year, not as a trend. County placement under the 2023 delineation puts all 167 loans in San Diego County.

Testing a San Diego dental practice

The study measures patient demand around the site, the nearby practices and the payer mix, and prices operatories, imaging and build-out against $575,500, then shows chair time, collections and hygiene revenue carry debt service. Because many approvals never disbursed, it should also confirm the lease and equipment commitments early. With 167 loans shown, approval is never promised.