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Retirement: A Difficult Decision to Make William W. Iversen, DDS, MS

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by William W. Iversen, DDS, MS

We live in uncertain times, and the transition and sale of your orthodontic practice has never been more important to your financial future than it is today.

On the macro level, the economy is beginning to recover from a deep recession, but how long it will be before it returns to a somewhat normal level, we do not know.


For a retiring orthodontist, in addition to the impact of the economy on the ongoing practice, there are also uncertainties when considering retirement. In order to retire you must transition your practice. There are numerous questions about the process: What is the sales price? When is the optimal time to transition? Who are the candidates to purchase the practice? How do I determine the asking price? What about my employees? What about my patients? The list goes on and on…

Many of you might have decided to work a few more years in hopes that the economy turns around and offers a more stable retirement. However, if you are 62 years old or older, or have practiced 30 or more years, you are probably thinking about retirement regardless. There are many scenarios for your retirement, and one of the following conditions might exist in your practice:
  1. You are a solo practitioner and will be looking for an associate to join you in the practice and eventually buy you out in six months, one or two years. It is very important that you make up your mind to retire and not just bring in an associate to see how it is going to work. There are definite steps and goals to which you must adhere for the successful transition and sale of your practice.
  2. You are in a group practice and you and your partners will make the decision to either bring in an associate, or have the existing partners purchase your share of the practice and not look for a replacement. It is advantageous to determine the value on an annual basis and know in advance what your share in the practice is worth.
  3. You are a salaried employee and have no ownership in the assets of the practice, and have retirement benefits in a 401K, simple or IRA plan. You will not be responsible for finding someone to take your place.
The most difficult decision you will make is deciding when to retire. This decision is yours, and you must make this decision at least 24 months in advance of your anticipated retirement date. There are certainly some variances from this 24-month window, and these might include an unfortunate illness or serious legal ramifications ending your practice. It is important to be aware of how your practice is doing on an annual basis. If you see your practice losing value, it is probably time to consider retirement. The question is not if, but rather when to retire in a successful manner.

Once the decision to retire has been made, you are ready to look for your replacement and set goals for the transition of your practice to another orthodontist. In many cases this new orthodontist will be a recent orthodontic graduate with little clinical experience, and with even less knowledge of practice management and the skills necessary to run the practice.

The AAO keeps a list on file of orthodontists who are looking to sell their practices. They also keep a list of those looking to purchase a practice (Fig. 1). This might be a good resource for you to find the right person to purchase and eventually become the future owner of your practice. Due to the recent economy, this Practice Opportunities Service by the AAO has more individuals looking to purchase than those looking to sell (Fig. 2).

No matter what the case, you will need to set some goals for the transition, and review these very carefully with the purchaser of your practice.

These goals will include:
  1. Determining the value of your practice.
  2. Establishing a buy/sell agreement and salary options for the new orthodontist during the transition.
  3. Determining when and what days the new orthodontist will work.
  4. Informing your staff and patients about the transition.
  5. Setting a definite date when you plan to leave the practice.
In summary, the most difficult question you will need to answer is: When do I retire? Once you have made this decision, the other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place. Give yourself plenty of time. If possible, look five years in advance of the day you will "walk out the door," and leave the practice to the new orthodontist. You must prepare yourself, your family, your staff, your patients and your community before you make the transition final. This planning should be aided by a practice transition specialist, an accountant and an attorney.

This is a big decision, and you need to get it right. It is not the time to make a mistake. Plan ahead to attain the goal of making your retirement successful.
Author’s Bio
Dr. William W. Iversen graduated from University of Iowa in 1968 and 1973, with his DDS and MS, respectively. He recently retired from the practice of orthodontics in 2009 after 36 years of specialty practice.

Iversen is the co-founder of Ortho2 computer systems, which operates in Ames, Iowa. He recently founded a new company, W. W. Iversen and Associates, LLC, to help determine the value of practices, provide legal and accounting expertise and provide guidelines for transitions and retirement. Iversen can be contacted at wwiversen@aol.com or visit www.wwiassociates.com.
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September 2025
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