01Move
DNA dimensions
Recall rate, treatment-plan acceptance, chair utilisation, new-patient acquisition cost, complaint rate and Google review velocity.
All playbooksHealth & wellness
Dental clinic playbook.
Private and mixed NHS/private dental practices in London managing recall discipline, treatment-plan conversion and chair time. The win is recall, plan acceptance and reducing no-shows on £1k+ treatments.
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Overview
A London dental practice with 2–4 surgeries typically turns over £600k–£1.8m per year. The single biggest economic lever is recall: every 5 points of recall rate is roughly £40–£80k of recurring yield in a 3-surgery practice. This playbook covers opening or buying a small private/mixed dental practice in inner or outer London — CQC registration, equipment, build-out and ramp.
82%
Recall rate target
+18 pts
Plan acceptance lift
63%
No-show recovery
What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Per surgery
Dental chair + delivery unit
A-dec, Belmont or Planmeca
£18,000–£52,000
Operating light (LED)
£1,400–£4,200
Intraoral X-ray + sensor
Carestream RVG / Planmeca ProX
£8,500–£22,000
Intraoral camera
£1,200–£3,800
Suction pump (per 2 surgeries)
£3,800–£8,500
Compressor (oil-free, per 2 surgeries)
£3,200–£7,500
Surgery cabinetry
£4,500–£14,000
02
Practice-wide
OPG / CBCT machine
Optional but high ROI
£35,000–£95,000
Autoclave (Class B, vacuum)
Mandatory under HTM 01-05
£3,800–£9,500
Washer-disinfector
£4,500–£11,000
Decontamination room build
£12,000–£35,000
HTM 01-05 best-practice; CQC inspectors weight this heavily.
Practice management software
SOE / Dentally / Carestream
£280–£950 / month
Reception + waiting area fit-out
£8,500–£32,000
Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Parking / transport
On-street parking or ≤ 6 min walk to Tube/Overground
Patient catchment for private dentistry is 15–25 min drive; transport is decisive.
Use class
Class E (medical) or D1
Most London units convert under permitted change but extraction + decontamination triggers Building Regs.
Surgery count
2–4 surgeries to start
Below 2 the principal is the bottleneck; above 4 needs a full-time practice manager.
Floor plate
100–220 m²
Allow 14–18 m² per surgery + decontamination room + reception + 2 toilets including accessible.
Plumbing + extraction
Existing or installable
Suction + compressor draw + amalgam separator add £8–£18k if not present.
Accessibility
Step-free entrance + accessible WC
Required under Equality Act 2010; CQC will flag absence.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
Zone 1 (Marylebone, Chelsea, City)
£8,500–£28,000
Private-only model. Average treatment value £380, very high band of new-patient AOV.
Zone 2 (Islington, Shoreditch, Clapham)
£4,200–£12,000
Sweet spot for new private/mixed practices. AOV £180–£260.
Zone 3 (Walthamstow, Wandsworth, Greenwich)
£2,400–£6,500
Mixed NHS+private with strong family base.
Outer / commuter (Bromley, Romford, Sutton)
£1,800–£4,500
Family-driven recall flywheel; lower AOV but higher loyalty.
Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCQC registration (mandatory provider + manager)
Care Quality Commission
£200 first year + annual fee by patient count
8–16 weeks
ReqGDC registration (every clinician)
General Dental Council
£890 / dentist / yr, £125 / DCP / yr
Existing for trained staff
ReqIndemnity insurance (Dental Protection / MDDUS / DDU)
Indemnifier
£3,800–£18,000 / dentist / yr by speciality
1–2 weeks
ReqDBS check (every clinician + manager)
DBS
£40 each
2–6 weeks
ReqIRMER + IR(ME)R registration (X-ray)
HSE + CQC
Free
Pre-opening
ReqRadiation Protection Adviser + Supervisor
External RPA + internal RPS
£900–£2,400 / yr
4 weeks
ReqHazardous waste contract (clinical + amalgam)
Initial Medical / Stericycle
£280–£900 / month
1 week
OptNHS Performer Number (if NHS contract)
NHS England Primary Care
Free
8–12 weeks
ReqInformation Governance / DSP Toolkit
NHS Digital
Free, annual self-assessment
Annual
ReqICO registration
ICO
£60–£2,900 / yr
Same day
ReqPublic + employer liability + cyber insurance
Dental-specialist broker
£1,800–£5,200 / yr
1 week
Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Phase 1 · Plan + finance
Month −9 to −6- Choose squat (open new) vs acquisition (buy existing).
- Run NAVIZIX Demand Radar on 3 catchments.
- Arrange specialist healthcare lending (Wesleyan / Allica / Lloyds Healthcare).
- Engage solicitor + healthcare-specialist accountant.
02
Phase 2 · CQC + lease
Month −6 to −4- Identify Registered Manager.
- Begin CQC application (allow 12–16 weeks).
- Sign lease subject to CQC + planning.
- Order long-lead surgery equipment.
03
Phase 3 · Build-out
Month −4 to −1- MEP first fix.
- Surgery + decontamination room build.
- Install chairs, X-ray, autoclaves.
- Practice management software setup + staff training.
04
Phase 4 · Pre-opening
Month −1 to 0- CQC pre-opening visit.
- Hire associates, hygienist, nurses, receptionist.
- Soft-launch with friends-and-family + full review automation.
05
Phase 5 · Compound
Month 0+- Week 4: First DNA scan + recall automation live.
- Month 3: First peer benchmark on recall + plan acceptance.
- Month 6: Launch finance options (Tabeo / Chrysalis) for £1k+ plans.
- Month 12: Refinance once 12-month T&O established.
Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Acquisition (existing 3-surgery practice)
£280,000 → £950,000
Squat (new) — fit-out for 3 surgeries
£180,000 → £420,000
Equipment (3 chairs, X-ray, autoclaves)
£85,000 → £220,000
Decontamination room build
£18,000 → £45,000
Software + IT + integrations
£3,500 → £12,000
Licensing + indemnity + professional fees
£18,000 → £48,000
Branding + website + opening marketing
£8,500 → £28,000
Working capital (3 months)
£45,000 → £140,000
Typical total
£35k → £85k
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Rent + service charge
£2,400 → £12,000
Business rates
£0 → £3,800
Utilities + waste (incl. clinical)
£900 → £2,800
Staff (associates self-employed; nurses + reception PAYE)
£14,000 → £48,000
Lab fees (crowns, dentures, ortho)
£3,500 → £18,000
Consumables (impression, sterilisation, gloves)
£2,200 → £8,500
Software + integrations
£320 → £1,200
Indemnity (monthly equiv. across team)
£900 → £3,500
Marketing (Google + Facebook)
£800 → £4,500
Typical total
£5.8k → £23k
Numbers that compound
How a dental clinic actually looks on a chart.
Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.
First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 0
Doors open. Recall, plan-follow-up and review automations all live.
02Day 14
First DNA scan — usually flags recall and plan follow-up as top opportunities.
03Day 30
First recall measurement (3-month rolling window).
04Day 60
First peer benchmark on recall rate + average daily yield.
05Day 90
Finance partner integrated; £1k+ plan acceptance lifts 15–25 pts.
What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a dental clinic.
02Move
Suggested route
Fix recall first (it pays for the rest), automate treatment-plan follow-up, then build a verified review engine to lift local SEO above corporate chains.
03Move
Automations
6-month recall reminders, treatment-plan follow-up at 3/7/14 days, no-show recovery via WhatsApp, post-treatment review request and finance-option nudges.
04Move
Integrations
Software of Excellence / Dentally / Carestream, Stripe, NHS BSA portal (mixed practices), Google Business Profile and Xero.
05Move
Benchmarks
Recall rate, plan acceptance and average daily yield vs London practices in the same NHS/private mix band.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors from multi-site London groups paired with NAVIZIX AI for daily KPI nudges to the principal and practice manager.
Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a dental clinic often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
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