Can a dental practice be sold before the seller has finished treating current patients?

A dental practice sale can close while some patients have treatment plans in progress, but the selling dentist's professional obligations toward those patients don't end simply because the practice changes hands. Continuity of care is a real concern for the governing college, so a responsible transition plan needs to address who completes work already underway, how patients are told about the change, and what happens if a patient prefers to have their existing dentist finish the treatment rather than switch to the new owner.

Practically, this is usually handled through a mix of clear patient communication before or at closing, an arrangement for the departing dentist to complete certain in-progress cases where feasible, and appropriate adjustments to the purchase price or holdbacks if a meaningful volume of unfinished treatment affects the value of what's being bought. The purchase agreement should specifically address responsibility and any related liability for treatment that spans the closing date, rather than leaving it as an assumed detail.

Because incomplete treatment plans can also affect malpractice exposure if follow-up care is mishandled during the transition, this is worth addressing explicitly in both the patient communication plan and the purchase agreement itself.