Many of our podcast episodes discuss healthcare practice deals from the seller’s perspective, but this one flips to the buyer's side of the table. Justin Marti sits down with Kathy Ells, founder of Next Step Dental Consulting and a buyer's advocate with more than three decades in dental practice transitions, financing, and accounting, including years inside dental lending.

Kathy has supported more than 1,500 dental practices, and she now guides dentists through startups and acquisitions: evaluating opportunities, assembling an advisory team, running due diligence, coordinating financing, and preparing for day one.

For any resident or younger dentist weighing ownership, it is a practical look at what an advocate does before you sign, how lenders decide to fund you, why the lease so often decides a deal, and how to tell your staff about a sale without sending everyone to look for new jobs.

• The four jobs a buyer's advocate covers before you sign: financial, operations, clinical, and legal
• What lenders actually check before they pre-approve a practice loan, including how much cash they want to see
• Why the lease, not the purchase price, is often the thing that sinks a dental deal
• How to introduce a new owner to the staff so the team does not panic and start job hunting
• Where AI helps in a practice purchase, and where trusting it still costs you

Timestamps

[00:00] Intro: Meet Kathy Ells, the buyer's advocate

[02:21] From 35 years in dental lending to a retirement that did not stick

[06:10] The four jobs your advocate does before you sign

[11:29] Red flags or opportunity: when not to kill the deal

[15:50] The three passes every first time buyer makes

[17:47] What lenders check before they pre-approve you

[19:03] Why the LOI matters more than buyers think

[28:58] The 60 second bank quiz: rate is not the whole story

[31:35] Why the lease can sink the entire deal

[34:57] Telling the staff without spooking them

[39:14] Where AI helps, and where it still costs you

[40:40] Where to find Kathy

• Next Step Dental Consulting (nextstepdentalconsulting.com)
• Provide (dental lending)
• Henry Schein One (referenced from the earlier Office Hours episode with Allie Hyatt)
• Marti Law Group due diligence checklist
• ChatGPT (mentioned in the context of buyers drafting their own purchase agreements)

• Website: nextstepdentalconsulting.com
• Phone: 508-864-2113
• Email: kathy@nextstepdentalconsulting.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-ells-bb9211a/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmarti
• Email: justin@martilawgroup.com
• Website: martilawgroup.com

Justin Marti welcomes Dr. Anthony Stefanou, founder of Connect the Dents and a practicing dentist for 39 years, for a candid look at how dental practices are really valued, sold, and matched with buyers.

After two decades chairside, Dr. Stefanou moved into dental M&A, appraisals, and the psychology of the deal. Today, he runs a dental-specific valuation method and a one-at-a-time DSO matching program. In this discussion, he explains why the highest bid rarely produces the best outcome, how outdated “percentage of collections” formulas can shortchange a seller by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and why the same one-million-dollar practice can be valued at $750,000 by one method and $1.2 million by another.

The conversation covers when to get appraised (far earlier than most owners think), why a single well-matched DSO beats a drawn-out bidding war that ends in deal fatigue, and why protecting a practice’s legacy (its patients, its team, and the name on the door) can matter as much as the check at closing. For any practice owner weighing growth, exit timing, or life after the sale, it is a grounded, colleague-to-colleague roadmap.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why the right buyer (fit, alignment, and life after the deal) often matters more than the highest bid
• How outdated “percentage of collections” valuations can quietly cheat sellers and leave buyers overpaying
• The hidden $500,000 swing: why the same practice can be worth $750,000 or $1.2 million depending on how it’s valued
• Why one well-matched DSO beats a chaotic bidding war that ends in deal fatigue and broken trust
• When to get your practice appraised (hint: years before you plan to sell) and why checking every couple of years pinpoints your peak value
• How shifting market multiples make “my buddy got 12X” a dangerous benchmark

[00:00] Intro: Why fit beats price in dental M&A

[01:57] From 20 years chairside to dealmaking

[04:01] The consolidation wave reshaping dentistry

[06:19] More buyers, more options, more confusion

[07:17] Protecting the legacy of a practice built over decades

[09:26] The problem with outdated, embellished valuations

[13:20] The stand-alone appraisal with no strings attached

[15:40] Inside the one-at-a-time DSO matching program

[22:44] Why the wrong attorney can kill the right deal

[25:08] How to Valuate Dental Practices: the two-day workshop

[31:03] The truth about shifting multiples and “12X” claims

[33:59] When to get appraised and why quarterly tracking wins

Resources Mentioned

• Connect the Dents: connectthedents.com
• How to Valuate Dental Practices, two-day workshop hosted in New York City
• Dental-specific practice valuation methodology (fair market value and EBITDA based) referenced throughout
• One-at-a-time DSO matching program (Connect the Dents)

Connect with Dr. Anthony Stefanou

• Title: Founder & CEO, Connect the Dents (Dental M&A Advisor, Certified Business Intermediary)
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tonydmd
• Company: Connect the Dents: connectthedents.com
• Workshop: How to Valuate Dental Practices (two-day, in person)

Connect with Justin Marti

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/justinmarti
• Email: justin@martilawgroup.com
• Website: martilawgroup.com

In this special episode of Office Hours, host Justin Marti of Marti Law Group pulls back the curtain on his own team, the people who move healthcare and dental deals from open to close. He is joined by Caryna Vilela, an M&A attorney, Shana Robinson, paralegal, and Ashley Roth, who leads operations at Marti Law Group.

Together they reveal the business, emotional, logistical, and human side of buying and selling a practice. Dive into the personalities, the panic, the 11th hour renegotiations, and the war stories clients never see. If you have ever assumed the legal work is just paperwork, this conversation will change how you think about the entire process.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why selling a practice is as much an emotional journey as a legal one, and how the right team manages both
• The buyer and seller personality types that show up in every deal, and how to spot yours early
• What actually happens during closing week, from lender checklists to chasing signatures across time zones
• How a deal can nearly die at the 11th hour when settled terms resurface, and how a strategic team keeps it alive
• Why culture, communication, and an entrepreneurial mindset separate a boutique advisory firm from big law

Timestamps

[00:00] Intro: Meet the Team Behind the Deals

[04:49] The Emotional Side: Why Clients Really Hire Lawyers

[06:47] Reading the Room: The Personalities in Every Deal

[10:01] Why Buyers and Sellers Are Never Aligned

[13:46] Closing Week: The Chaos Clients Never See

[17:15] When Deals Nearly Die at the 11th Hour

[18:18] Inside a Deal: From Open to Close

[27:41] What Justin Is Really Like on Closing Week

[44:25] War Stories: Envelopes, Doormats, and Five Dollars Cash

[48:44] Why the Team Is Bigger Than the Name

Connect with the Marti Law Group Team

• Reach the team through Marti Law Group at martilawgroup.com
• Caryna Vilela, M&A and Securities Attorney at Marti Law Group
• Shana Robinson, Paralegal at Marti Law Group
• Ashley Roth, Operations Manager at Marti Law Group

Connect with Justin Marti

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmarti
• Email: justin@martilawgroup.co