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.
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
№ 01 / 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
№ 02 / 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.
№ 03 / 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
№ 04 / 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.
№ 05 / 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
№ 06 / Numbers that compound
How a dental clinic actually looks on a chart.
Interactive projections rebuilt from real UK operating data — toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Source · NAVIZIX cohort · 2–4 surgery London private/mixed dental practices · 2025–2026
№ 07 / 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.
№ 08 / 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.
№ 09 / 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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