FAQ for DSOs

Why choose Mortenson Dental Partners (MDP) over a broker or another Dental Service Organization (DSO)?

MDP offers dentists unmatched clinical autonomy, ownership opportunities and a robust continuing education program that supports them throughout their careers. We help dentists achieve clinical excellence, practice leadership and financial wellness. We also have a positive, family-oriented culture that is rooted in our mission and values. 

What are the benefits of selling your dental practice? 

While MDP practices are managed with the same principles as those that are privately owned, they can also leverage the size of the group for a number of benefits. For example,

  • We have a payer relations team who negotiates more favorable insurance contracts than those available to individual practitioners. 
  • We update our practices regularly and equip them with the latest technology. 
  • Our size gives us advantages like lower costs on labs and supplies and quicker insurance processing. 

What is the transition process like? 

Here’s what you can expect for yourself, your team, and your patients during the transition process: 

  1. We’ll spend as long as needed in informal conversations until everyone is comfortable moving forward. 
  2. We’ll both sign a non-disclosure agreement and begin an initial evaluation, which includes a visit to your dental practice(s) and submission of several financial documents.
  3. We’ll calculate an offer price for your practice(s) and begin low-pressure negotiations. Once in agreement, we’ll execute a non-binding letter of intent.
  4. Once our deal has been approved by our Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors, our in-house counsel will conduct any remaining due diligence. We will also begin planning our final phase of integration.
  5. Once we’ve received final approval, we’ll initiate a binding letter of intent and prepare the definitive documents required for closing.
  6. We’ll begin to transition you, your team and your practice(s) into the MDP family!

How does valuation work? 

Once you and MDP have made the decision to proceed, we’ll both sign a non-disclosure agreement and begin our initial evaluation. MDP will then request several pieces of information to begin an initial financial analysis. These pieces include a practice profile summary and financial template along with profit-and-loss statements, tax returns and an asset listing.

During the valuation process, there will most likely be questions and/or clarifications needed.  We can work directly with you or your representative, such as a CPA, Financial Advisor or General Counsel.

Upon completing our valuation, we’ll advise you of our preliminary purchase price and issue a non-binding letter or intent. If we attain an agreement in principle, we’ll then request approval from our Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors. Upon approval, we’ll move to the legal due diligence phase and schedule the transaction closing.

What will happen to the staff when I sell?

  1. Our priority is to always maintain the staff present at the time of the transaction.  
  2. Our intent is to have business continue uninterrupted and for all patients to notice nothing different.   
  3. Upon joining MDP, a part of the synergy we bring is the handling of various administrative tasks. If current team members are performing tasks that ultimately are transferred to the MDP Support Center, then those team members would be repurposed into different roles. Our goal is to always find roles for every team member, although sometimes it could be something different than what they were doing prior to the transaction.