Wildbend Funding Group, a small-business funding service in Newark, Ohio, helps Licking County, OH physician and dental practices compare equipment financing, term loans for buy-ins and remodels, and working capital for claim delays. Practice cash depends on insurers paying, and equipment is costly, so structure matters. Funding partners review each request and make their own decision.
| Dental offices | 50 employers in Licking County, OH (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Physician offices | 34 employers (CBP 2023) |
| Health care in ZIP 43055 | 144 employer locations (ZBP 2023) |
| Common fits | Equipment, term loan, working capital |
Why practices borrow even with full schedules
A full appointment book does not mean full bank accounts. Insurance claims take weeks to settle, and some are denied or reworked. Meanwhile the practice pays staff, supplies, lab fees and equipment payments on fixed dates. Add a major purchase, a new associate or a move to a bigger suite, and the timing gap grows.
Dental practice financing options generally fall into three buckets: equipment, practice ownership changes, and operating cash.
Healthcare equipment financing
Dental chairs, intraoral scanners, panoramic and cone-beam imaging, sterilization units, exam tables and diagnostic devices are financed through equipment financing or leasing. Some healthcare equipment holds value, but technology changes, so leasing is one option for imaging and software-heavy devices. Check whether installation, staff training and software licenses fall inside the financed amount.
Illustration only, with invented figures: a practice adds an intraoral scanner priced at $32,000 with no down payment, over 60 months at an assumed annual rate of 9. That is about $664 a month, about $39,860 in total. If the device lets the practice avoid outside impression costs, those savings are the number to compare against the payment. Not an offer.
How to finance a dental practice purchase or buy-in in Licking County, OH
Buying into a practice, buying out a retiring partner or buying a practice outright are longer-horizon projects suited to a term loan. Partners usually ask for the practice's tax returns and production and collection reports, the purchase or buy-in agreement, and the buyer's background. Transition periods, where the selling doctor stays on for a time, can support the file.
A business loan for a dental office remodel or new suite
Adding operatories, moving to a larger suite or opening a second office combines construction, equipment and a ramp-up period. Partners often split the request: a term loan for build-out and equipment financing for chairs and imaging. Check zoning and permits before signing a lease; the Newark, Ohio zoning and permit checklist lists the questions.
Medical clinic financing for claim delays
When payroll is due before claims settle, working capital or a line of credit covers the gap. Partners will look at the practice's collection history and the age of receivables. A practice with a large share of slow-paying claims should expect questions about how they are worked.
| Need | Usual structure | Repayment source |
|---|---|---|
| Chair, scanner, imaging | Equipment financing or lease | Production from the new equipment |
| Buy-in or practice purchase | Term loan | Practice profits over several years |
| Payroll while claims settle | Working capital | Insurance collections |
| Remodel or new suite | Term loan | Added capacity |
Physicians and dentists in Licking County, OH
| Code | Employer establishments | Share under 5 employees | In ZIP 43055 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offices of physicians (6211) | 34 | 44.1% | 16 |
| Offices of dentists (6212) | 50 | 32.0% | 21 |
Dental offices outnumbered physician offices among employer establishments, and about two-thirds of dental offices had five or more employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Nonemployer Statistics 2024 counted 71 physician and 22 dental businesses with no payroll in the county (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024), a separate program and year. Health Care and Social Assistance had 311 employer establishments countywide, and 144 in ZIP 43055 (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023), second only to retail there.
Chiropractors, physical therapists and optometrists are covered on the health practitioners page. Other sectors are on the industries page, and local counts on the Newark, OH data page.
Questions to settle before a buy-in
- What exactly is being bought: a share of the entity, a share of the patient base, or equipment and goodwill?
- How the price is set: on collections, on profit, or on an appraisal, and over which years?
- What happens if the senior doctor leaves early: is there a non-compete and a transition period?
- Who carries existing debt: equipment leases and lines often stay with the practice and reduce what it can borrow.
A partner reviewing a buy-in will read the agreement closely, so settle these points before the request goes out.
Practice files: what partners commonly review
- Two or more years of practice tax returns and recent profit and loss
- Production and collections reports and receivables aging
- Equipment quotes, buy-in agreements or purchase agreements
- Existing practice debt and equipment leases
- The practitioner's professional standing, as a partner may verify it
No partner publishes fixed requirements, and Wildbend does not decide or set terms.
By Wildbend Funding Group · Updated