What it actually costs to open a dental practice
The fitout is roughly half of it. Here is the whole number, including the parts that surprise people in the last month before opening.
The short answer
Every builder quotes the fitout. Every supplier quotes the chairs. Almost nobody adds it up for you, which is why the honest answer to this question is longer than a single figure and more useful.
Key points
- The build is $216k to $324k on a typical 180 m² practice. That is about half the total.
- Equipment is bought separately and lands between $180k and $400k for three surgeries.
- Rent during construction and the first quiet months is the cost people forget entirely.
- Allow for the fees: council, certifier, consultants, radiation licensing and legals.
Every builder quotes the fitout. Every supplier quotes the chairs. Almost nobody adds it up for you, which is why the honest answer to this question is longer than a single figure and more useful.
What follows is a whole-of-project view for a typical three to four surgery practice of around 180 square metres, in a warm shell, in a capital city. Every figure is an indicative planning range, and the last section explains what moves them.
The build
Allow $1,200 to $1,800 per square metre for the dental fitout itself, excluding equipment and GST. On 180 square metres that is roughly $216,000 to $324,000.
That covers partitions, ceilings, lighting and power, the services brought to each chair position, the sterilisation room, joinery, finishes, data, and the builder's preliminaries. A cold shell adds roughly $350 to $550 per square metre before you choose a single finish, which is the single largest swing in the whole project and is decided by which shell you sign for.
Equipment, which is not in the build
This is the half that surprises people, because it is bought from somewhere else entirely and quoted separately.
| Item | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Chairs and delivery units, 3 | $90,000–$210,000 |
| OPG, or OPG with CBCT | $60,000–$150,000 |
| Intraoral sensors and small x-ray | $15,000–$35,000 |
| Compressor and suction plant | $12,000–$25,000 |
| Steriliser, ultrasonic, sealer | $15,000–$35,000 |
| Scanner, if you take one | $25,000–$60,000 |
The spread inside each line is real and it is mostly about brand and specification rather than about you being quoted badly. Three mid-range chairs and a standard OPG sit near the bottom; premium chairs with a CBCT and a scanner sit near the top.
The fees nobody budgets
Individually small, collectively a five-figure line.
- Council and certifier. Development application or complying development fees, construction certificate, occupation certificate. Varies by council and by value of works.
- Consultants. Architectural documentation, mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, access and acoustic. On a clinical fitout you will use most of them.
- Radiation. A shielding design by a radiation consultant, plus the state premises licence. This one sits on the critical path rather than beside it.
- Legal. Lease review, which is the cheapest money in the entire project.
- Practice setup. Software, IT hardware, signage, loose furniture, uniforms, stationery, initial consumables.
The one everybody forgets
Rent runs from the day the lease starts, not the day you open. If approvals take three months and construction takes ten weeks, that is five or six months of rent against no revenue, and it is real money that never appears when two builders' quotes are compared.
Then the ramp. A new practice does not open at capacity, and the gap between opening day and a full book is usually measured in months rather than weeks. Working capital to cover salaries, rent and loan repayments through that period belongs in the project budget, because the alternative is discovering it in month two.
A rent-free period helps here, and how it is structured matters more than its headline size. That is covered in lease incentives and fitout contributions.
Putting it together
| Component | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Fitout | $216,000–$324,000 |
| Equipment and plant | $180,000–$400,000 |
| Fees, consultants, licensing | $25,000–$60,000 |
| IT, furniture, signage, setup | $25,000–$60,000 |
| Rent during construction and ramp | $40,000–$90,000 |
| Total | $486,000–$934,000 |
The range is wide because the decisions inside it are wide. It is not imprecision, it is the difference between a careful three-surgery practice in a good shell and a premium four-surgery practice in a cold one.
What moves the number most
Shell condition, first and by a distance. A cold shell can add $60,000 to $100,000 on this footprint before you have chosen a finish.
How many surgeries you plumb now. Roughing in services for a fourth and fifth surgery while the slab is already open costs a fraction of returning later. Fit out three, rough in five.
Imaging. An OPG alone is a different project from a CBCT with its shielding design and licence.
Whether the tenancy fights you. Slab on ground or suspended, three phase power available or not, mechanical capacity present or absent. All of that is knowable before you sign, and all of it is expensive to discover afterwards. That is what a feasibility check is for.
Sources and further reading
Indicative planning ranges from clinical projects, not a quote. Equipment pricing comes from suppliers and moves with brand and specification. Tax treatment of any of this is a question for your accountant.
Practice guidance for Australian dentists, including infection prevention and control.
Standards for general practices, 5th edition. The physical-practice requirements behind general practice accreditation.
Source for AS/NZS 4815 and 4187 reprocessing, AS 1428.1 access and AS 1668.2 ventilation. The standards themselves are purchased, not free.
Capital works deductions and depreciating assets, which is how a fitout and a landlord contribution are actually treated at tax time.
Questions
How much does it cost to open a dental practice in Australia?
For a three to four surgery practice of around 180 square metres in a warm shell, allow roughly $486,000 to $934,000 all up. The fitout itself is $216,000 to $324,000 of that, equipment is $180,000 to $400,000, and the balance is fees, IT and setup, plus rent through construction and the opening ramp. All figures exclude GST.
Is equipment included in a dental fitout quote?
No. Chairs, delivery units, imaging, compressor, suction and sterilisers are bought from your supplier, not your builder. A fitout quote covers bringing services to each chair position and building the rooms around them. Treat them as two separate budgets that have to be coordinated, because the equipment schedule determines the services set-out.
What is the biggest single variable?
Shell condition. A cold shell, meaning a concrete box with a power supply and a water point, adds roughly $350 to $550 per square metre before you choose any finish. On 180 square metres that is $60,000 to $100,000, and it is decided the day you sign the lease rather than during construction.
Should I fit out extra surgeries now or later?
Rough in more than you fit out. Running suction, air, water and waste to a fourth and fifth chair position while the slab is already open costs a fraction of coming back in three years, when it means cutting a finished floor and closing part of a trading practice.
How long should I budget rent for before opening?
Longer than the construction program. Approvals commonly take two to three months before a trade is on site, construction is eight to twelve weeks, and a new practice does not open at capacity. Five to six months of rent against little or no revenue is a realistic planning assumption.
Related
Dental fitout cost
The build rate on its own, and what sits inside it.
Read onWarm shell or cold shell?
The single biggest swing in the budget.
Read onHow practices fund a fitout
Where the money comes from, and what lenders ask.
Read onThe business plan
The capital budget, the ramp and the break-even.
Read onSend us the floor plan
A site assessment tells you what the tenancy can take and what it will cost to get there, ideally before you have signed for it.