SBA 7(a) Dental Office Feasibility Study in Maine

Dental offices rank 7 of 39 among Maine's 7(a) classes, yet Maine ranks 36th for dental lending when loans are counted, so this is a leading use inside a small borrowing state. The 36 loans total $24.2 million, with a median of $356,000, which is 0.72x the nationwide 7(a) dental median. The middle half stretches from $118,750 to $760,000. Nothing was franchised. Compared with larger states, a Maine dentist borrows noticeably less than the national norm.

Live Oak as the only listed lender

Live Oak Banking Company is the sole name in the lender table, with 10 loans and $8.0 million. This is a count taken from SBA's list of notes held, current or past, and says nothing of method. Penobscot and York counties each have 7 loans, Cumberland 5, Kennebec and Knox 4, Aroostook, Oxford and Waldo 2, and Hancock and Sagadahoc 1. The spread, from southern York County to northern Aroostook, shows dental lending is not just a coastal story.

Annual shape

Eight loans were approved in FY2017 for $7.0 million, then a single loan in FY2018 and 2 in FY2019. FY2020 brought 5 and FY2021 6 at $7.4 million. FY2022 had none. Counts of 3, 5, 4 and 2 followed, with FY2026 at $420,000. Because the year-to-year variation is large relative to the totals, one deal is enough to change the picture.

Cancellation and the absent loss rate

Cancelled approvals were no fewer than 13.3% of those through FY2024, and adding in undisbursed loans changes nothing. The loss rate is not published for lack of enough funded loans, and an empty cell is not a zero.

What a Maine dental study has to cover

A study should begin with the practice model: acquisition of a retiring dentist's practice, a new office, or an expansion. In rural Maine, the test is whether the population within reach can support a second chair, and whether the town has a dental shortage that would make recruitment hard. It should include insurance mix, equipment cost, lease or ownership of the building, and a ramp-up case with weak first-year collections. Seasonal swings in coastal communities deserve their own line, and the appraisal should divide goodwill from property.