Startup course:How to start a dental practice
An online course on how to start a dental practice from scratch, built to be used while you do it. Eleven modules guide associate dentists from an empty commercial space to a working office with a filled schedule, organized in the exact order decisions arise.
The community is free to join and includes Foundations, our course on whether to own and whether to build or buy. Available today.
The full dental practice startup track curriculum
Find the site
Location selection and site evaluation
Turn demographic data into a shortlist and evaluate commercial spaces based on dental construction requirements, not landlord pitches.
Commercial lease negotiation
Read a dental lease clause by clause: TI allowance, exclusivity and use, personal guarantee, assignment rights, and thirty red flags to catch before you sign.
Working with brokers, landlords, and reps
Learn broker compensation structures and decide whether to hire a tenant rep or negotiate directly with landlords.
Design the practice
Floor plan and workflow design
Plan operatory capacity for your five-year growth target, then design sterilization, storage, and clinical spaces around daily patient flow.
Construction budgeting and project management
Build a reliable construction budget, price change orders accurately, and spot costly red flags before signing contracts.
Equipment selection and vendor negotiation
Separate day-one equipment from future additions, evaluate vendor pricing models, and build your custom equipment spec sheet.
Operating systems
Building your tech stack
Select practice management software, imaging, and communication tools as a connected system using an objective evaluation matrix.
Insurance credentialing for startups
Sequence applications correctly, handle complex plans, and track approval status to prevent delayed launches.
People
Hiring your first team
Decide who you actually need on day one, set compensation before revenue exists, and know when the second and third hire are justified.
Launch
Pre-open marketing and patient pipeline
Establish your local search presence and build a waitlist before opening, then run a soft open to fill your first month's schedule.
Grand opening and first 90 days
Convert pre-open interest into a filled schedule, collect reviews from the first week, and work an operational checklist through day 90.
Taught by people who do this for a living
Every module is taught by a practitioner who works specifically in that field, covering lease negotiation, credentialing, construction, and hiring.
Built specifically for dentists starting a dental practice from scratch
This track is built around one path to dental practice ownership. It assumes the decision between buying and building is already made, or close to it.
Associate dentists committed to a startup
You want control over layout, tech, and culture, and you accepted a cash-flow-negative runway to get it.
Dentists deciding between building and buying
Get clear visibility into the real build-out sequence, credentialing timeline, and pre-open costs before committing capital.
Dentists already under lease or mid-build
Jump directly to the modules covering floor plans, change orders, and credentialing to clear active bottlenecks.
Foundations covers that decision and is free inside the DOC Community. If buying an existing practice looks more likely, learn about our Dental Practice Acquisition Track.
7 hours 55 minutes of video across 57 lessons. Lessons are under nine minutes each so you can watch them between patient appointments.
Foundations answers whether to own and which path fits: readiness, P&Ls, lending, business structure, market analysis, and a capstone that lands on a decision. It is free inside the DOC Community. The Startup course focuses entirely on execution, taking you step-by-step from lease negotiation and build-out to credentialing, hiring, and launch.
Once you create your account, you can revisit any lesson whenever you need it.
Join the Startup Track waitlist, or start Foundations today
The Dental Practice Startup Track opens fall 2026. Foundations is free in the DOC Community and available right now.
Foundations free today