How to Choose the Best Location for a Dental Practice

A practical guide for dentists planning a startup, acquisition, relocation or second location.

The short answer.

The best location for a dental practice has enough of the right patients nearby and enough room in the market for your practice.

No single number makes a location good or bad. You want the important numbers to tell the same story.

Start with one filter the data can't apply for you: where do you and your family want to live 10 or more years from now? Your location has to work for your life over the long term, whether that means raising kids, being near aging parents or something else. A market that's right for another dentist isn't necessarily right for you. Once you know where you want to be, here's how to check the market.

Step 1: Define your target patient.

Before comparing locations, decide what kind of practice you want to run. Ask yourself:

• What's my strategy? High volume, boutique, family-focused?
• Which procedures and services will I offer?
• Who are the patients most likely to want them?

Your answers define your target patient. That profile is what you'll look for in the data later. Your specialty shapes it too:

For specialists, nearby dentists who refer to you matter too. The referral ratio compares those referring dentists (general dentists, plus pediatric dentists for orthodontics) to competing practices in your specialty. Check it at each scale. A higher ratio means more potential referrals for each office.

Step 2: Analyze the market at multiple scales.

A scale of analysis is the size of the area you measure around a location. It could be anything from a 2-mile radius to a 60-minute drive.

Picking the right scale for your area matters. We like to use New York City as an example. Analyzing a Manhattan location at a 3-mile radius would paint a misleading picture, because few patients are going to travel 3 miles across the city for a dental appointment. In a rural market, the opposite is true: a small radius may barely include anyone, while patients are used to driving 30 minutes or more.

The wrong scale can give you skewed data, and skewed data can lead to the wrong decision.

Using a few scales together shows how the market changes as you move out from the site. For most suburban markets, we recommend looking at both:

• Drive times (for example, 5, 10 and 15 minutes) to show how patients actually travel.
• Radii (for example, 2, 3 and 5 miles) for a consistent comparison between locations.

Adjust those up or down to fit how people in your area really get around.

Step 3: Review the demographics.

Now go back to the target patient you defined in Step 1. Based on your strategy and the procedures you plan to offer, look for areas where residents match that profile. The demographics that tell you the most:

• Household income: Signals which services the market can support, and whether patients are more likely to use Medicaid, private insurance or cash.
• Age: Shapes the care people need. Older populations tend to need more restorative work, and age is key for specialists, from pediatrics to periodontics.
• Homeownership: Suggests a stable, established population.
• Household makeup: Families bring several patients at once.

Step 4: Measure saturation.

The number of competitors alone doesn't tell you much. What matters is how many people they're sharing.

Residents per practice = local population ÷ competing practices

For general dentistry, we use 2,000 residents per practice as a minimum benchmark. It isn't a pass/fail line. Look at it alongside the demographics from Step 3 and at each scale from Step 2.

If an area comes in below 2,000 residents per practice, it's more competitive, and you should know that going in. You'll need to do more to stand out. And if saturation means you see fewer patients, larger procedures can help keep production up.

Step 5: Check population growth.

The demographics in Step 3 describe who lives in an area today. Growth tells you how that area is changing. New residents may not have a dentist yet, while a shrinking population means fewer patients to share over time.

Look at past and projected growth at each scale from Step 2, and weigh it next to saturation. A growing area with room in the market today is a stronger sign than growth alone.

Step 6: Visit the site.

The data tells you about the market. A visit tells you about the building. Check access, visibility, parking, signage, the layout of the space, neighboring tenants and how easy the office is to find from the main roads.

Step 7: Compare your options.

A location only looks good or bad next to something else. Run the same analysis on two or three sites, then make sure the best one also fits your financial plan.

How your goal changes the analysis.

The steps stay the same, but what you're looking for changes depending on where you are.

Starting a practice

You're opening with zero patients, so you need a market with room for your new office.

• Ideally, look for residents per practice above the benchmark at every scale, not just one.
• Map where competitors cluster and look for gaps between them.

Buying a practice

A practice's financials show how it performed in the past. The market tells you whether that can continue.

• Check whether new competitors have opened nearby in the last few years.
• Make sure the area's demographics still match the practice's patients and services.
• Look for opportunities to add a service or procedure the area's demographics can support.
• Use the market data alongside the valuation. A strong market supports the price; a weak one adds risk.

Relocating

Your biggest asset is the patients you already have. Don't move too far from them.

• Map where your current patients live.
• Compare drive times from the old and new sites to see who might be lost.
• Think about where your patients work, not just where they live. Younger patients without kids tend to seek care near work, while older patients prefer care near home.
• Check competition around the new site. You may be walking into a busier market.

Opening a second location

The goal is to reach new patients, not split the ones you have.

• Overlay drive-time areas for both offices and look at how much they overlap.
• Make sure the new area has enough population and room on its own.
• Stay in a similar type of area. Opening in a completely different market makes it hard to scale. For example, it's tough to run one cosmetic practice and one Medicaid practice.
• Consider the drive between offices for you and your team.

How Dentagraphics helps.

Whether you're starting, buying or growing a practice, we can help with every step above. Dentagraphics has worked in the dental industry for over a decade, helping thousands of dentists find the best spot for their practices.

Our team is here to consult and guide you throughout your search, from the first market you explore to the final site you choose. Our tools include:

• Demographics on Demand: Explore markets nationwide on an interactive map.
• Single Site Study: A deep look at one address, with drive times, radii, competition and demographics.
• Area Analysis: Find the best pockets within a region before you have an address.

Frequently asked questions.

When should I run a market analysis?

Ideally, it's your first step. For a startup, we recommend beginning with area-level research 12 to 18 months before you want to be in the practice. For an acquisition, start 6 to 12 months ahead, and keep in mind that many transitions are agreed to in the second half of the year. Running the analysis before you tour sites, talk to brokers or look at listings tells you which areas are worth your time.

Can I evaluate a market if I don't have an address yet?

Yes. You can compare cities, counties or neighborhoods first, narrow down to the strongest areas and then look at specific addresses.

Do patients travel farther to see a specialist?

Generally, yes. Patients will usually drive farther for an orthodontist or oral surgeon than for routine cleanings, so specialists should pay close attention to the larger scales.

Is a higher-income area always a better location?

Not always. Income tells you more about residents than any other single variable, but higher-income areas can come with more competition and higher rent. Income matters most when it fits the services you offer.

Should I look at where people work, or only where they live?

Both matter. Younger patients, especially those without kids, are more likely than older patients to look for care close to work. Older patients tend to look for care close to home. Who you want to serve should guide which one you weigh more.

Sources & data notes

Dentagraphics market data: U.S. Census demographics, updated annually, and a continuously maintained national database of dental practices. The 2,000 residents per practice figure is the minimum benchmark Dentagraphics typically uses when evaluating saturation for general dentistry.