Stepping Back from the Chair: What It Takes and Whether It’s Worth It

At a certain point, many doctors reach a stage where they want more time, more flexibility, and less day-to-day pressure without giving up the practice they worked so hard to build.

The right path depends on what you want the next phase of your life to look like. There are several ways to step back, each with its own advantages, challenges, and trade-offs.

Table of Contents

• Keeping the Practice While Reducing Your Clinical Time
• Selling the Practice and Staying On Clinically
• Choosing the Right Buyer
• Making the Right Decision for You
• Need Help Deciding Your Next Step?

Keeping the Practice While Reducing Your Clinical Time

It is absolutely possible to step back from the chair and still maintain ownership of your practice while continuing to earn income. That part is not the challenge. The real question is whether you are willing and able to replace the functions you currently perform inside the practice with people who can do them competently.

Your income is not tied to you physically being there every day. It is tied to the roles you fulfill and how well those roles are executed. If you can successfully delegate and systemize those responsibilities, the practice can continue to produce while you work fewer hours.

However, ownership always comes with responsibility. Even if you reduce your clinical time to just a couple of days a week, or remove yourself from day-to-day operations almost entirely, you are still ultimately responsible for what happens in that practice. Whether it is a staffing issue, a patient concern, or an operational breakdown, it still falls on you.

For some doctors, that level of responsibility is perfectly acceptable, especially if they have built strong systems and a reliable team. For others, that ongoing responsibility is exactly what they are trying to move away from.

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Selling the Practice and Staying On Clinically

If your primary goal is to reduce responsibility rather than just reduce clinical hours, selling your practice may be the better option. One common approach is to sell the practice and remain on as an associate for a limited number of days per week.

This allows you to continue practicing dentistry and earning income, but without the burden of ownership. You gain more control over your schedule while eliminating the stress of managing the business side of the practice. When you are ready to fully retire, you have the option to step away completely without any ongoing obligations.

Choosing the Right Buyer

If you do decide to sell, the next step is determining who you want to transition the practice to, and this is an important decision both for you and for your patients.

Selling to a new graduate can work, but it is important to be realistic about their level of experience. New graduates are still developing their clinical skills, which comes with time and mentorship. If maintaining the standard of care for your patients is a top priority, you will likely need to stay involved for a period of time to guide and support them as they grow into the role.

Selling to a DSO is another option, and these organizations can vary significantly. Some are purely business-focused, with decisions driven primarily by financial performance. Others are owned and operated by dentists and place a stronger emphasis on patient care and clinical standards.

The key factor is not simply whether it is a DSO, but who owns it and what their primary objective is. That will ultimately influence how the practice is run and the experience your patients receive after the transition.

Making the Right Decision for You

This is not just a financial decision. It is a lifestyle decision that should align with your long-term goals.

If you want to maintain ownership and are comfortable continuing to carry responsibility, restructuring your practice to reduce your clinical involvement can be a very effective path. If, on the other hand, your goal is to step away from responsibility altogether, selling the practice will likely provide a cleaner and more complete transition.

Both options can work well when executed properly, but they lead to very different outcomes in terms of your time, your involvement, and your level of control.

Once you are clear on that, the right path becomes much easier to identify.

Need Help Deciding Your Next Step?

Every practice is different, and the right approach depends on your current structure, your team, and your long-term objectives.

For any questions or additional information, please call 800-640-1140 or go to MGEonline.com

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