Your legacy. Your team. Preserved.
You built something worth handing off well. Bluetree gives you a phased path out that protects your patients, your team, and the name on the door.
Not sure yet if selling is the right move? We wrote a longer piece on how to think through the decision, with honest tradeoffs on your three real exit options.
What's Your Real Exit Story? Honest Answers for Practice Owners
Every practice owner eventually asks the same question. Whatever you end up doing, doing it with a clear head is worth more than most of the details. Here's how to get there.
Tell us what matters. We'll build a page around you.
Every exit is different. Tell us what yours looks like and we'll build the page that fits.
What matters most to you...A real exit, without abandoning what you built.
Most DSO sales end on closing day. A Bluetree partnership is the start of a phased transition that runs on your timeline, not ours.
What The Exit Looks Like
- Fair ValuationBluetree pays market value with earn-out terms in plain English.
- Phased TimelineStay involved as long as it makes sense. Five years, three years, or through transition only.
- Shareholder EquityYou gain ownership in the parent, not just a cash payout.
- Second Act FlexibilityPractice as much or as little as you want during transition.
What You Leave Intact
- Your TeamTheir jobs and roles do not change.
- Your NameThe practice keeps its local identity.
- Your StandardsThe clinical culture you built continues.
- Your PatientsThe relationships you built are protected.
A handoff, not a walk-off.
"It changes the way I look at retirement. With the growth occurring at a multiple much larger than a single practice would, the retirement value has been great."
Kevin Olson, DMD · Carson City Pediatric Dentistry
What a real exit path looks like for a practice owner.
For most dentists who own their own practice, the exit is the single largest financial event of their career. It should not be an afterthought. The wrong exit path leaves you searching for another dentist to buy your slice, financing the deal yourself, and hoping the buyer keeps your team intact and your patients well cared for.
Bluetree Dental structures partnerships to solve that problem. We pay real cash at close based on what your practice actually earns, not an inflated headline number designed to win a bidding war. You get equity in the entire 45+ practice group, not just your individual office. When you are ready to exit, you sell back to the group. You do not have to find another buyer or carry the paper.
Most Bluetree deals also include performance-based upside beyond cash and equity, so you continue to share in the value you keep creating after the close. The specifics depend on your practice. The principle stays the same: you stay rewarded for what you build, not just for what you agreed to at the closing table.
The process typically takes 75 days to six months. Every deal moves at its own pace. We have closed in 75 days when momentum carries. We have taken six months when the seller needed more time. The path is the same. The pace is yours.
Selling to a DSO: the questions practice owners actually ask.
If you are evaluating whether to sell your practice, these are the specifics that decide whether the deal is right for you.
How is the cash-at-close number determined?
We start from EBITDA (what your practice earns each year after the normal cost of running it) and apply a multiple. Higher multiples sound better in a pitch, but they only mean something if the underlying number is real. Our number is based on what your practice actually earns at the group level.
What does 'equity in the whole group' actually mean?
Your stake is in all 45+ Bluetree practices, not just the one you sit in. As the group grows, your stake grows with it. When you exit, you sell back to the group. Many DSOs offer equity only in your individual practice, which forces you to find another buyer to exit.
How long does the sale process take?
75 days on the fast end, six months when a seller needs more time. Days 0 to 7: NDAs, Key Practice Information form, kickoff call. Weeks 2 to 4: financial and operational review. Weeks 4 to 6: Letter of Intent. 30 to 60 days after LOI: diligence. 90 to 120 days after LOI: close.
What changes about my practice after I sell to Bluetree?
The back-office burden lifts. Billing, accounting, IT, HR, compliance, group purchasing, we take all of it. Supply costs go down. What does not change: your clinical decisions, your team, your patient relationships, and the local identity of the practice you built.
Will my team stay?
Yes. Your team stays with the practice. Same names, same faces, same culture you built. Bluetree adds central support (HR, benefits administration, IT) around them, not on top of them.
Do I have to leave right after selling?
No. Most owners stay on as practicing dentists for years after the sale. You choose your role and your timeline. Some sell and continue full-time. Some transition to a reduced schedule. Some plan a longer retirement runway.