Practice transitions--past, present, and future.

Upon their retirement, dentists have gone from simply closing their office doors to seeing the sale of their practice as a means to fund their retirement. Today, other practice transition options are used to the advantage of both the retiring dentist and the dentist just starting out. Options will continue to meet the changing needs of dentists, particularly new dentists who must pay off higher education debts and may not opt for immediate ownership of a practice upon graduation.