I remember the exact moment I knew there was no going back.

I was still working. The practice had already sold. The DSO had taken over the payroll, the billing, the business headaches I’d been carrying for 37 years. But I was still there, still seeing patients, still walking those hallways. We had started telling people I was going to retire, and one day I heard one of my team members tell a patient.

Just like that. Matter of fact. “Dr. Garner is retiring.”

What an odd sensation! Relief and a punch to the gut, both at the same time. I hadn’t expected that. You’d think after months of telling yourself you were ready, you’d just feel ready. But hearing those words out loud, from someone else’s mouth, to a patient sitting in the chair, that was different. It made it real in a way that signing the papers never quite did.

When dentists sell to a DSO, the sale closes. But you don’t just walk out the door. At least, I didn’t. Before I signed, I made a promise. I would stay until they found two dentists to replace me. My patients were not going to be left in the lurch. That was the deal I made with myself, and I intended to keep it.

The first dentist they brought on was wonderful. The patients loved her, my team loved her, I loved her. She was exactly the kind of person you’d want taking care of your people. Then her husband got a promotion that required a move to Texas, and just like that she was gone. Nobody did anything wrong. Life happened. I stayed.

It took a while longer to find the second dentist. He was also great, solid clinician, easy to be around, the kind of guy you trust. He actually stayed on past the day I left. When I walked out the door on April 30, 2024, he was still there. That mattered to me.

The third dentist took several more months. My exit date was tied to his start date. The DSO gave me the okay to leave once he had a confirmed start, and he began May 1st, one day after my last day.

During those months of waiting, I won’t pretend it was easy. My pay had dropped substantially. Before the sale, as the owner, I was taking a percentage of the entire practice production, mine, my associates, the hygienists. Afterward, as an employee, only my own production counted. That stung. My involvement in hiring decisions faded as the months went on, which made sense. I wasn’t going to be there much longer. Things I used to own, I didn’t own anymore.

But I also noticed what I didn’t have to carry. No payroll. No insurance billing. No business fires to put out on a Tuesday afternoon. No hiring concerns or letting team member go that were not performing. That part was a genuine relief.

I’ve been back to the office several times since I left. The second and third dentists have actually done dental work for members of my family and myself. That tells you everything you need to know about how I feel about them.

Here’s what I want to say to you, if you’re getting close to the finish line:

Your patients trusted you with their health for years. Some of them for decades. Your team showed up for you, learned your systems, covered for you when you were tired, stayed when they could have left. That loyalty runs deep.

So when the check clears, what are you going to give them on the way out?

Selling your practice doesn’t end your obligation to the people inside it. You were a professional long before you were a business owner, and you’ll be a professional on the way out too. Honor the commitment. Stay until they’re ready. Let the transition be something your team remembers well.

The title “Dr.” was never just a label. It was a standard. Don’t stop living up to it on the last day.