Access to the most up-to-date information is essential for business owners throughout the profession. Dental Elite understands the value of data you can trust, sharing analysis each autumn of the profit and loss statements and reflecting on the data from the last year. The Benchmarking Report is now available to download for free from the Dental Elite website.
Representative data
The data is composed of a mix of new practice valuations and recurring annual valuations carried out between July 2025 and July 2026. This means it’s not drawn from a static group of practices every year. Additionally, historical data from 2023, 2024, and 2025 provide context and establish a long-term baseline. Variations across the annual benchmarks reflect both general market movements and specific operational differences in individual practices, as a result.
To ensure benchmark accuracy, outliers – the top and bottom 10% of practices in terms of net performance – are excluded.
Financial performance analysis
The A key aspect of the Benchmarking Report reviews the financial performance of dental practices. This year, the total average turnover reached an all-time high of £947,817, driven by the delivery of private fee-per-item allocations – which rose to £513,008 this year – and hygiene dedicated revenue average which achieved six figures for the first time – reaching £101,436.
In comparison, NHS contract value dropped to an average of £390,901 from £412,573 last year, with Plan revenue also taking a hit, down to £133,000 – a similar level as seen in 2024.
Collective gross profit margins in 2026 rose to a record 49.75%. However, net EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) margins across all practices remained flat, at 21.09%. This resulted in a drop in absolute cash value to £185,145, indicating that high clinical gross margins were offset by increases in non-clinical fixed commercial overheads: ancillary staffing, light and heat, computer expenses, advertising, insurance, repairs and renewals, increase in leasehold value.
Observations by practice type
Whilst broad averages are helpful, given as an overall picture of changes year by year, they can hide clear structural differences between distinct practice types. As such, the Benchmarking Report breaks this down into predominantly NHS contracts (80%+ NHS revenue), mixed practices, and predominantly private configurations (80%+ private revenue).
Predominantly NHS practices have continued to reduce in overall scale (albeit it should be noted that this is because as practices increase their private revenues they fall into the mixed category instead), with average turnover falling to £642,824 in 2026. However, despite lower total volume, NHS practices retain the highest net profit margin across the industry – 25.72% EBITDA – owing to low material costs and lab fees, combined with contract floor adjustments implemented as part of NHS England’s minimum contract guidelines. UDA pay rates are up overall, at an average of 40%, however that’s less than private pay-out ratios at an average of 47.15%.
Mixed practices continue to represent the highest-grossing model, with average turnover growing to £1,191,481 in 2026. Although baseline NHS funding remain flat in a typical mixed practice – approximately £457,000 – private revenue increased to £524,850.00. The expansion on the private side directly boosted EBITDA cash value to £270,178, with a percentage margin of 22.68%.
For predominantly private practices, a typical practice turnover settled at £793,746, EBITDA margins decreased to 14.88%, and EBITDA cash was valued at £118,145. This is directly attributed to higher operating metrics – material requirements and lab fees – in addition to private associate pay-outs, which are on the whole higher than NHS.
Breakdown by capacity
To understand financial productivity more deeply, the Benchmarking Report also offers analysis based on a practice’s physical capacity.
Typically, mixed practices occupy the largest physical setups. This is reflected in the data, with an average of 4.04 active surgeries per site. In these settings, the highest total revenue yield per surgery chair is achieved compared to any other model, at £294,431 each. Often, mixed practices maximise profit by prioritising hygiene appointments and reducing NHS capacity per surgery, allowing for a focus on private revenue.
Private practices are usually smallest, with 2.73 surgeries per practice. Although they achieve lower collective turnover compared to mixed, their chair-level performance is high, at £290,368. NHS practices, on the other hand, average 2.88 surgeries per location, and achieve the lowest revenue per chair – £222,783. The nature of UDA funding requires higher patient volumes and surgeries to achieve equivalent revenue.
Get informed, stay ahead
Regardless of whether you’re preparing to sell your practice, it’s important to have a good understanding of the financial landscape of the dental profession. This is the only way to prepare your business, and optimise growth effectively. Download your free copy of the Benchmarking Report today for a full breakdown, and contact the team at Dental Elite, who will be happy to support you.
For more information on Dental Elite visit www.dentalelite.co.uk, email info@dentalelite.co.uk or call 01788 545 900
Paul Wilkinson, Co-founder Dental Elite
