# How early should a dentist plan for retirement?

Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions advises owners to begin planning 5 to 10 years before an intended exit, and the average U.S. dentist retired at 68.7 in 2024 (ADA Health Policy Institute). The milestones below are sequenced rather than dated, because owners’ circumstances differ, and they sit in the transition stage of the [practice lifecycle](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle).

By DDSIntel Editorial. Source: DDSIntel, https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/retirement-timeline. Published 2026-10-26; data as of 2026-10-25.

## Key numbers

- **5** years, the early end of one broker’s advised planning lead time (Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions, 2026-07-03; https://dentalpracticetransitions.henryschein.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-sell-a-dental-practice/)
- **10** years, the long end of that lead time (Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions, 2026-07-03; https://dentalpracticetransitions.henryschein.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-sell-a-dental-practice/)
- **68.7** average retirement age (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2024; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce)
- **41.3** years, the average career length (ADA Health Policy Institute, 2024; https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce)

## What are the milestones of a retirement plan?

Milestones run in order: define goals such as date, income and legacy; get a baseline valuation; choose an exit route; prepare the practice; market it and negotiate; then close and complete any transition period. The [preparation checklist](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/preparing-to-sell-checklist) covers preparation, and [exit options](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/exit-options) covers the route decision.

## How early should a dentist start?

Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions advises 5 to 10 years before an intended exit, with a pre-sale readiness phase of 12 to 24 months. Because careers now average 41.3 years in ADA Health Policy Institute data, planning can begin well before the final working years, and an owner who has not decided to sell can still plan.

## Why does the exit route change the timeline?

A sale to a DSO can include a period in which the owner keeps practicing, an associate buy-in may be staged over years, and a sale to a private dentist depends on buyer financing. Henry Schein places buyer sourcing at 1 to 6 months and due diligence at about 30 days, so the route sets the pace.

## How do retirement plans show up in public records?

Planning can leave traces: an entity change, an associate’s license added at an address, or eventually a license moving to retired status. DDSIntel reads these in aggregate as [lifecycle signals](https://ddsintel.com/signals/lifecycle-signals), and an observed trace says nothing about an owner’s intent. See [the dental exit window](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/dental-exit-window).

Related guides: [how to prepare a practice for sale](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/preparing-to-sell-checklist), [patient records in a sale or closure](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/patient-records-in-a-sale), [unplanned transitions](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/unplanned-transitions).

For the age data, see [when do dentists retire?](https://ddsintel.com/lifecycle/when-do-dentists-retire) and [dentist retirement statistics](https://ddsintel.com/data/dentist-retirement-statistics).

## Frequently asked questions

### When should a dentist start planning to retire?

One broker advises 5 to 10 years before an intended exit; no public dataset measures an ideal runway, so owners should adapt it with advisers.

### What is the average retirement age for dentists?

68.7 in 2024, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute.

### What is the first step in a retirement plan?

Define goals (date, income, legacy) and get a baseline valuation, ideally with a CPA.

### Does a sale to a DSO delay retirement?

It can, if the agreement includes a period of continued work; the terms are negotiated, so an attorney should review them.

## Sources

1. Henry Schein Dental Practice Transitions. How long does it take to sell a dental practice? And how to control the timeline (July 3, 2026). https://dentalpracticetransitions.henryschein.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-sell-a-dental-practice/
2. ADA Health Policy Institute. The dentist workforce. https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dentist-workforce

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DDSIntel is a dental transition intelligence platform that detects pre-market dental practice transition signals for brokers, DSOs, lenders and the firms that serve them.