Making the move from NHS to private dentistry is a big step, and for many dentists it’s something they’ve thought about for years before finally deciding to take the leap. It’s an exciting transition, full of opportunity – more clinical freedom, the chance to shape your practice environment and often the potential for stronger financial performance. Although it’s also a change that brings a lot of complexity, particularly when it comes to your finances and how your business is structured.
We caught up with Iain Stevenson, Head of Dental at Wesleyan Financial Services, who has spent more than two decades working closely with dentists across the UK, and one of the first things he pointed out is something we see time and time again – dentists tend to focus on everything and everyone else during a transition and put themselves at the bottom of the list.
Iain notes that dentists are thinking about their patients, their team, the look and feel of the practice and how the business will perform. All of that is absolutely understandable. But in doing so, it’s very easy to overlook the personal financial implications of leaving the NHS. And those implications are significant.
When you step away from NHS dentistry, you’re not just changing how you work – you’re stepping away from a whole set of benefits that have likely been part of your professional life for years. Your NHS pension stops building. Your access to sick pay disappears. The safety net you may have relied on is no longer there in the same way.
What’s important to understand is that while your NHS pension doesn’t vanish, it effectively becomes frozen. It forms a solid foundation, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. If you’ve still got twenty or thirty years ahead of you in your career, the question becomes: what are you going to build on top of it? This is where we often see one of the biggest challenges, not that dentists don’t understand the need to plan, but that they delay doing anything about it. That delay comes at a cost. Financial planning tends to be more effective and often more affordable, the earlier you start. Leave it too long, and you may need to contribute more, take on more risk, or accept a different outcome than you originally hoped for. There’s also the risk that something unexpected happens in the meantime, and you don’t have the protections in place that you thought you’d “get around to.”
Alongside personal financial planning, there’s the wider question of how your business is set up.
Moving into private dentistry often brings with it improved profitability, but it also introduces new decisions. How should you take income from the business? Is your current structure still the right one? Should you be operating as a sole trader, in partnership, or as a limited company?
These aren’t just technical questions – they have a direct impact on how much you take home, how your business evolves, and how resilient it is in the face of change.
There’s also the practical reality that contracts and agreements that worked perfectly well in an NHS setting may no longer be fit for purpose. Associate agreements, staff arrangements, and internal processes may all need reviewing.
What becomes clear quite quickly is that this isn’t about tweaking one or two things. It’s about standing back and taking a proper, joined-up look at everything that’s affected by the move.
And that leads into perhaps one of the most important, but often overlooked, areas: having the right legal and ownership structures in place.
Iain shared a story that really brings this to life. Two dentists, close friends since university, built a practice together and achieved what they’d always dreamed of. But they never formalised what would happen if something went wrong. When one of them sadly passed away, his share of the business automatically passed to his 17-year-old son.
The result was incredibly difficult for everyone involved. The surviving partner found himself in business with someone who understandably had no interest in running a dental practice and the family were dealing with both emotional loss and a complicated financial situation.
It’s the kind of scenario that no one likes to think about, but it underlines just how important it is to have clear agreements in place. Whether you’re operating as a partnership or through a limited company, documents like partnership agreements or shareholder agreements set out exactly what should happen in situations like this.
Crucially, though, those agreements need to be backed up financially. It’s one thing to say that a share of the business will be bought out if a partner dies – it’s another to actually have the funds available to make that happen.
Putting the right financial protection in place ensures that, at what would already be a very difficult time, the business can continue smoothly, the surviving owner retains control and the family receives fair value without added stress.
When you step back and look at all of this, it’s easy to see why specialist advice is so important.
Dentistry is a unique profession, with its own income structures, risks and opportunities. Working with people who genuinely understand that landscape makes a huge difference. And it’s rarely about just one adviser.
As Iain described, the best outcomes can come from what’s sometimes referred to as a “circle of trust” – made up of financial planners, accountants, solicitors, and other specialists all working together around the dentist. Each brings their own expertise, but it’s the collaboration between them that ensures everything fits together properly.
So, where should you start if you’re thinking about making the move, or if you’ve already made it and haven’t fully reviewed your position?
The first step is simply to pause and take stock. Get a clear picture of where you are now, both personally and professionally. From there, it becomes much easier to identify what needs attention first. You don’t have to fix everything overnight, but you do need to start.
What really matters is that you follow through. Plans only make a difference when they’re put into action. And once those plans are in place, they shouldn’t be forgotten – they need to be revisited regularly to make sure they still reflect your goals and circumstances.
Ultimately, moving into private dentistry is a positive and empowering step for many dentists. But like any big transition, the outcomes depend heavily on the decisions you make along the way.
By taking the time to understand the financial implications, putting the right structures in place, and surrounding yourself with the right expertise, you’re not just protecting your future – you’re giving yourself more choice, more control and a stronger foundation to build on.
And that, in the long run, is what makes the transition truly worthwhile.
If you are new to Practice Plan and found this blog useful, you can find out more about our sister company, Wesleyan Financial Services by visiting their website here…
Practice Plan has been welcoming practices into the family since 1995, helping them to grow profitable businesses through the introduction of practice-branded membership plans.
If you’re looking for a provider that has that family feel but knows a thing or two about dentistry then you’re in safe hands. Be Practice Plan and get in touch. Call 01691 684165 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/be-practice-plan/
Practice Plan Limited (Registered in England and Wales No. 03089948) is a part of the Wesleyan Group. Registered office: Cambrian Works, Gobowen Road, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1HS Telephone number: 0330 021 7754. Website: www.practiceplan.co.uk. Practice Plan Limited is an introducer appointed representative of Wesleyan Financial Services Limited.
Wesleyan Financial Services Ltd (Registered in England and Wales No. 1651212) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: Colmore Circus, Birmingham B4 6AR. Telephone: 0345 351 2352. Calls may be recorded to help us provide, monitor and improve our services to you.