Dental Office 1031 Exchange Properties

DSO-backed dental offices with long leases and small, flexible buildings.

Dental offices are among the steadiest healthcare properties you can exchange into. Americans spent $189 billion on dental care in 2024, most of it routine care that patients come back for year after year, and the buildings are small, flexible and easy to understand.

The industry is consolidating into dental support organizations, or DSOs, which generally prefer to lease rather than own. That steady flow of sale-leasebacks is why so many dental buildings come to market as net lease investments.

Start with your dates, then look at what is on the market today.

Why Dental Offices Work for a 1031 Exchange

Long terms from large operators. Heartland Dental supports more than 1,900 practices and 3,100 doctors in 39 states and is the tenant on most dental listings we track. Aspen Dental’s parent supports more than 1,400 locations in 46 states. Both are rated below investment grade by S&P, B and B- respectively, so the guarantee and the location matter most.

Lower cap rates, lower stress. Investors value the mix of DSO guarantees, long terms and small buildings, so dental tends to price at lower cap rates than most healthcare types. That suits an exchanger who wants stability over maximum yield.

A building that re-leases. Dental offices are usually freestanding or end-cap buildings of a few thousand square feet on busy roads, with plumbing and suction at every chair, easy to re-lease to another dental group or medical user.

A clean price point. Most dental properties sell in the low single-digit millions, so they pair well with mid-size exchanges or as one of two properties in a larger one.

What to Check Before You Identify

Before you identify a dental property, read whether the lease is guaranteed by the DSO parent or only by the local practice entity, how long the practice has been at the site, and how much term remains. More than 1 in 4 dentists within 10 years of dental school were DSO-affiliated in 2024, and consolidation cuts both ways: a DSO that acquires practices can also merge locations, so favor offices with the deepest patient base.

Comparing a building to a DST? See when a DST makes sense, and when it doesn’t.

Questions Exchangers Ask

Is a DSO lease as strong as a corporate lease? It depends on who signs. A lease guaranteed by the DSO parent is very different from one signed only by the local practice, even under the same brand.

Can I exchange into two dental offices? Yes. Under the three-property rule you can identify up to three properties and buy one, two or all three, which makes two smaller dental offices a common way to diversify.

Sources: American Dental Association Health Policy Institute (CMS data, January 2026; ADA News, November 2025); Heartland Dental and The Aspen Group company data and S&P Global Ratings via Investment Grade Research. Pricing and lease term reflect listings tracked by Investment Grade Research and update automatically. This is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice.