Hazelford Funding, a small-business funding service in Lebanon, Tennessee, helps general and specialty dental practices in Wilson County, TN request equipment financing for chairs, imaging and sterilization, term loans for build-outs and new operatories, and working capital for payroll while insurance claims are paid. This is business funding for the practice, never patient financing. Partners review collections and decide.
| Dentists' practices with payroll, Wilson County, TN | 52 employers (NAICS 6212), CBP 2023 |
|---|---|
| People on those practices' payrolls | 435, with $27.6 million annual payroll, CBP 2023 |
| Dentists with a 37087 address | 20 on the ZIP 37087 roll, ZBP 2023 |
The dental practice cash cycle
Dental offices collect from two sources: patients, at or after the visit, and dental insurers, on their own schedules. Staffing is substantial, with hygienists, assistants and front-desk staff, and the equipment is specialized: chairs and delivery units, intraoral cameras, digital sensors, panoramic and cone-beam imaging, sterilization equipment and practice management software.
Dental practices also tend to be larger employers than other practitioner offices, which shapes their funding needs.
Dental offices in Wilson County, TN
Wilson County, TN had 52 offices of dentists as employer establishments in 2023, with 435 employees and $27.6 million in annual payroll (County Business Patterns 2023). Only 25.0% had fewer than five employees, a much smaller share than the 52.3% for all county employers. ZIP 37087, the main Lebanon, TN ZIP, had 20 dental offices (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
The county also had 27 dental offices without payroll in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024), a separate program and year.
Dental practice equipment financing
Chairs, delivery systems, lights, imaging units, intraoral scanners, milling units, sterilizers and compressors are common requests. Imaging and milling equipment often lasts many years and suits longer terms or leases; computers and sensors suit shorter ones. The equipment financing page explains leasing and buyout options.
Partners want the vendor quote, including installation, plumbing and electrical work, and training where it is bundled.
Build-outs and new operatories
Adding operatories or moving to a larger space is a defined project that fits a term loan. A business loan for a dental office build-out is judged on the existing practice's collections and the quote for the work. Check zoning and permits early; the Lebanon, TN zoning checklist lists what to confirm.
Working capital for a dental office between claims
A working capital loan covers payroll and supplies while insurance claims are paid, or while a new associate builds a schedule. Practices with recurring gaps may prefer a line of credit.
| Need | Funding shape |
|---|---|
| Chairs, imaging units, scanners and sterilizers | Equipment financing |
| New operatories or a larger space | Term loan |
| Hygienist and staff pay while claims settle | Working capital |
| Recurring collection gaps | Line of credit |
Dental practice loans: what partners review
- Production and collection reports by month.
- Insurance and patient payment mix.
- The practice's operating-account statements.
- Equipment or build-out quotes.
- Existing practice loans and equipment leases.
Illustration only: a practice adds two operatories at a quoted $96,000 including chairs and plumbing, and expects each to support about six additional patient visits a day once the schedule fills. Pairing the quote with expected production and the time to fill the schedule helps a partner assess the request. These numbers are an example, not an offer.
Associates, specialists and new hygienists
Growth in a dental practice usually means adding people: an associate dentist, a specialist who visits on set days, or another hygienist to open more recall appointments. Each adds payroll before the schedule fills. Partners like to see the hiring plan alongside the practice's current production, so the request shows how quickly the new provider is expected to cover their own cost.
A working capital loan or a line of credit usually carries the first months, and an associate who needs a dedicated operatory may add an equipment or build-out request to the same file.
Practice software and digital workflow
Moving from film to digital sensors, adding an intraoral scanner, or bringing crowns in-house with a milling unit changes both the equipment list and the practice's lab costs. A partner may see a milling unit as an investment that replaces outside lab fees, which makes the request easier to explain when the practice can show its current lab spending. Practice management and imaging software can be financed as part of an equipment package where the vendor bundles it.
Patient payments, insurance and the front desk
Dental offices collect part of each visit from the patient and part from the insurer, often weeks apart. A practice that moves more treatment to in-house payment plans or adds a membership plan changes that timing again. When the front desk can show collections by source, a partner can see where the gaps fall and size a line of credit or working capital request to them.
Dental office loans and the per-office numbers
The 2023 County Business Patterns totals give Wilson County, TN dental offices about 8.4 employees each and about $63,333 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic). That compares with about 6.1 employees per office for chiropractors, therapists and optometrists (NAICS 6213) and 9.6 for physician offices, so on average a dental office sits between the two.
For a business loan for a dental office, that payroll is the first thing a slow insurance month affects. A practice that can show its average days from claim to payment, by insurer, gives a partner the cash cycle in one table.
- List the top five insurers by collections.
- For each, note the usual days from claim to deposit.
- Add the patient portion collected at the visit.
- Compare the result with two payrolls and a supply order.
Related pages
See also medical practice funding and chiropractic and therapy practices. More trades are on the industries page, and county figures sit on the Lebanon, TN page.
