The economics
What "owning the group" actually means for you.
An ESOP — an employee stock ownership plan — is how the doctors who do the dentistry come to own the company they build. Here's how the money works, in plain terms.
The idea
A trust owns the company, on behalf of its owners.
In an ESOP, an independent trust holds the company's shares for the benefit of the owner-participants. When you contribute your practice, you receive equity in that trust — a real, valued ownership stake in the whole group, not just your one office. As the group grows, the value of that stake grows with it, and it's yours to vest into and eventually draw from.
Valuation
Your practice is valued independently — not by us.
Independent
A qualified, third-party appraiser sets the value at close. The number isn't ours to decide, and it isn't a guess.
Transparent
You see the methodology and the inputs, and your own accountant and attorney review everything before you sign.
Fixed at close
The valuation is set by the definitive agreements at closing — not floated, revised, or walked back afterward.
Vesting & distributions
Equity you grow into, and share in.
Vesting
Ownership vests over time, the way equity in any company you help build does. It aligns everyone around the long-term health of the group rather than a one-time sale.
Distributions
As an owner in the group, you share in its distributions — the upside of pooled scale, a shared back office, and collective purchasing power — not just the earnings of your own chair.
The difference
How this differs from selling to private equity.
A private-equity sale
- Outside capital buys your practice once and keeps the upside.
- You typically exit with a slice of what you built.
- Control and future value move to the investor.
Joining the group
- You become an owner of the whole company, not a seller to it.
- You keep sharing in the value as the group grows.
- Ownership stays with the doctors doing the work.
This page is educational and is not tax, legal, accounting, or investment advice, and it is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. Any ownership interest would be offered only through definitive agreements, to eligible persons, and in compliance with applicable law. Talk with your own attorney, tax advisor, and accountant before making any decision. See our Disclaimer.