Lauderdale County, AL had 32 dental practices with employees in 2023, and 21.9% had fewer than five employees, against 52.2% of physician practices (CBP 2023). This page covers the counts, dental clinic financing, imaging and operatory equipment, practice purchases and the records partners read.
At a glance
- Employer establishments
32 employer locations countywide (CBP 2023)
- Fewer than five employees
21.9% of the county's 32 (CBP 2023)
- Annual payroll
$14.5 million across 302 employees (CBP 2023)
- Without paid employees
16 counted with no payroll (NES 2024)
Dental Office Counts for Lauderdale County, AL
Among offices of dentists (NAICS 6212), Lauderdale County, AL had 32 employer establishments in 2023 with 302 paid employees and $14.5 million in annual payroll; 7 of them, or 21.9%, had fewer than five employees, and 26 used a ZIP 35630 address (County Business Patterns and ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). That is about 9.4 employees per establishment and about $47,934 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate program that uses NAICS 2022 codes, counted 16 businesses without paid employees in offices of dentists (NAICS 2022 6212) in the county in 2024, with $1.4 million in combined receipts, or about $86,625 each (our arithmetic). The two programs count different businesses and are not added together here.
Dental Business Loans: How It Works in Florence, AL
A dental office earns from patient payments and insurance, and its biggest costs are people and equipment: hygienists and assistants, operatory chairs and delivery units, sterilization, and imaging. With about 9.4 employees per office in the county (our arithmetic), payroll is a large fixed cost. Funding requests fall into equipment, a build-out or second office, a claims gap, and the purchase of a practice.
Dental Clinic Loans: What Lauderdale County, AL Owners Compare
| The cost | Funding type to compare | What a partner reads |
|---|---|---|
| Operatory chairs, delivery units | Equipment financing | The quote and production |
| Imaging (panoramic, 3D) | Equipment financing or a lease | The quote and procedure volume |
| A new office or added operatories | Term loan plus equipment financing | The plan, lease and production |
| Buying a retiring dentist's practice | Term loan | The seller's collections and patient base |
| Payroll while claims are paid | Working capital or a line | Claims aging and deposits |
Dental Office Financing Across Lauderdale County, AL
Equipment financing ties the money to the chair or the scanner. Illustration only, invented figures: a $110,000 3D imaging unit financed at 9% a year over 72 months costs about $1,983 a month, about $142,762 in total. At $250 collected per scan, about 8 scans a month cover the payment (our arithmetic on invented figures).
Dental Clinic Financing for Florence, AL Firms
A build-out for a new office or added operatories involves plumbing, cabinetry and electrical work as well as equipment. A term loan can carry the build-out while equipment financing carries the chairs and imaging, each matched to its own life. A partner reads the lease, the contractor's quote and the practice's current production.
Dentist Practice Loans: When It Fits in Florence, AL
Buying a practice from a retiring dentist is one of the larger requests a dental office makes. A partner reads the practice's collections for several years, the number of active patients, the hygiene schedule, the equipment's age and the purchase agreement, including any period the seller stays on.
Dentist Business Loans Across Lauderdale County, AL
- Collections and production by month for two to three years
- Active patient count and hygiene recall figures
- Insurance claims aging
- Equipment list with ages, and quotes for anything new
- Bank statements, tax returns and the lease
Health Care Employers by Shoals ZIP, 2023
| ZIP (USPS name) | Health care and social assistance employers | Share with fewer than 5 employees |
|---|---|---|
| 35630 (Florence, AL) | 206 | 41.3% |
| 35661 (Muscle Shoals, AL) | 65 | 44.6% |
| 35660 (Sheffield, AL) | 38 | 31.6% |
| 35653 (Russellville, AL) | 31 | 29.0% |
| 35674 (Tuscumbia, AL) | 27 | 44.4% |
ZIP 35630 held 26 of the county's 32 dental offices, or 81.2% (our arithmetic; ZBP and CBP 2023).
A Practice Purchase Worked Through in Lauderdale County, AL
Illustration only, invented figures: a dentist buys a practice collecting $900,000 a year for $630,000, with the seller carrying $80,000 paid over three years. The buyer borrows $550,000 at 9% over 120 months, a payment of about $6,967, or about $83,606 a year, about 9.3% of current collections (our arithmetic on invented figures). A partner sets that share against the practice's overhead and the buyer's own pay, and asks what happens if some patients leave with the seller.
Running these numbers before the call shows whether the asking price and the practice's collections fit together.
Questions to Settle Before a Dental Request
- How many operatories are in use, and how many would the plan add?
- What share of collections comes from insurance, and how long do claims take?
- Is the imaging or chair being replaced or added?
- For a purchase: how long will the selling dentist stay, and will staff remain?
Physician and therapy practices have their own pages: medical practice loans in Florence, AL and the chiropractic and therapy page.
By Coastspring Funding Group · Updated