In this article, we try to make sense of the current financial environment and how it may affect the profession. If you are concerned about how to manage your practice through these uncertain times and would like someone to talk to, our specialist dental partners have many years of experience to help guide you through.

What effect will the current financial pressures have on the future of the business of dentistry? Without the knowledge of dealing with a recession on dentistry in recent times, especially on modern private dentistry, predicting the outcome is not an easy matter.

Despite the Government’s intention to improve access to NHS dentistry, it is suspected this will be an easy area for the Government to make cutbacks, After all public money, needed to help the country out of recession, will have to be found from somewhere.

In the period since the 1990s and the last recession, the fast growth of privatisation meant that prudent financial management and business planning were not high on the lists of concerns for dentists. Today, with the rise in redundancies and reduced spending, this market is shrinking. It may be said that many private practices simply do not have large numbers of patients to lose without it having some financial effect.

Now is the time to take stock of the current business environment and how it may impact on your practice. Start by asking yourself if your pricing is competitive and realistic, what services should you be offering, what economies can be made. You may wish to review you own personal career goals and think about any new skills you could learn.

The health care sector has traditionally been seen as a sound investment. However, with fewer lenders and fewer funds now available and the lending criteria set much higher than before, loans for either private or commercial use are proving harder to secure. In addition, the situation within the profession is not helped by the unstable relationship between the NHS and private sectors and the altered role of the PCTs.

With April 2009 looming, there is general expectation that the new NHS contracts will offer reduced UDA values. This is likely to have an effect on associates’ remuneration. Faced with this and the likely prospect of an increased workload, many more dentists could be looking to purchasing their own practice.

Hopefully, the current downward pressure on practice and goodwill values will be offset by this demand. Even with today’s restricted access to lending, it is anticipated that the limited supply of available practices will keep prices stable despite the recession.

If you would like help with business planning or are looking to purchase a practice, please let us know. We have many years of experience in helping dentists at various stages of their careers, from just starting out right through to retirement.