In most cases yes. A personal guarantee is standard on dental equipment financing, and it is not a signal that anything is wrong with your file. Nearly all small-business equipment credit is written this way.
Every owner holding 20% or more of the practice is normally asked to sign. The guarantee is a promise to stand behind the payments, not a mortgage on your house and not a deposit.
Corporate-only approval, which carries no personal guarantee, does exist, and Five West writes it. It is a narrow program rather than a default: generally 7+ years in business plus a record of previous comparable business borrowing. In dentistry that usually means a DSO, a multi-location group, or a practice owned by several dentists together.
What a personal guarantee actually is
Your practice is a legal entity (a PC, PLLC, or S-corp), and the loan is made to that entity. A personal guarantee is a separate promise, signed by you as an individual, that if the practice stops paying, you will.
That is the whole mechanism. It converts a debt the entity owes into one you are also answerable for.
Two things it usefully clears up:
- It is not collateral. Signing a guarantee does not put a lien on your home, your car, or your personal accounts. The lender's lien is on the equipment. The guarantee is an unsecured promise, which is a genuinely different thing.
- It is not a down payment or a deposit. Nothing changes hands when you sign it. In the overwhelming majority of files the practice pays as agreed and the guarantee never does anything at all.
What it does mean, stated plainly so you are not surprised later: if the practice defaults and the recovered equipment does not cover the balance, the lender can pursue you personally for the shortfall. That is the actual exposure, and it is worth understanding before you sign rather than after.
Why lenders ask for it
Dental equipment is good collateral and still imperfect collateral. A chair or a scanner recovered from a closed practice sells at a fraction of what you paid, and the cost of getting it out of the operatory eats into that. The guarantee covers the gap between what the equipment returns and what is owed.
There is a second reason, and it is more about behavior than security. A practice owner who has signed personally treats the payment differently from one who has not. Lenders price that in, which is part of why guaranteed paper is cheaper than corporate-only paper.
None of this is dentistry-specific. Ask a restaurant owner, a contractor, or a trucking company about their last equipment purchase and you will hear the same answer.
Who has to sign
General practice in equipment finance. Requirements vary by lender and by file; subject to credit approval.
On spouses. A lender generally cannot require your spouse to sign simply because you are married, if you qualify on your own. That is federal law under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B. A spouse who is an owner of the practice is a different matter and may be asked to guarantee in that capacity. If you are asked for a spousal signature and your spouse has no ownership interest, ask why.
Corporate-only: what it actually takes
This is the part most articles skip, usually because they are written by people who do not underwrite these files. Corporate-only is real, and it is narrow.
Financing with no personal guarantee is available, but it is a specific program rather than a default. It generally takes 7+ years in business plus previous comparable business borrowing: prior facilities at or near the size being requested, paid as agreed. In dentistry that profile usually means a DSO, a multi-location group, or an established practice owned by several dentists.
The requirement people underestimate is the second one. Time in business is easy to evidence. A borrowing track record is not something you can assemble in a quarter. It takes prior debt, at meaningful size, already repaid. A twelve-year practice that has never financed anything larger than a $30,000 chair is long-established and still does not have the history to support a $700,000 corporate-only request.
Where this fits: DSOs, multi-location, and group practices
DSOs, multi-location practices, and group practices owned by multiple dentists are where corporate-only is genuinely worth pursuing, and the reasons are structural rather than about credit quality.
- DSOs and management organizations. The entity is capitalized to carry debt on its own, and equipment purchases are frequent and sizable enough to have built exactly the borrowing record underwriting wants to see. Getting individual dentists off guarantees is often a governance requirement rather than a preference.
- Multi-location practices. Several years of consolidated performance across locations is a stronger story than one operatory's collections, and the entity has usually financed buildouts before.
- Group practices owned by several dentists. The obstacle here is rarely credit. A guarantee means chasing four or five signatures, each with their own personal credit profile and their own opinion about signing. Corporate-only removes that entirely.
That last one comes up more than people expect. A five-owner group where one partner is mid-divorce, or carrying a recent credit event, or simply declines to sign, can stall a straightforward equipment purchase for weeks. If the entity qualifies, the problem disappears.
What it costs to skip the guarantee
Corporate-only is not free. Removing the personal recourse removes a real protection for the funder, and pricing reflects that. Expect a somewhat higher rate than the same entity would get with guarantees attached, and expect the file to be underwritten harder: full financial statements, interim figures, a debt schedule, and a closer look at the balance sheet.
It is also slower. Application-only speed and corporate-only underwriting do not go together, because the approval rests on a close reading of the entity's financial strength.
For a solo owner, the trade is usually not worth it even when it is available. For a DSO with a board that does not want individual dentists on the paper, it plainly is. That is a business decision rather than a financing one.
If you have to sign, sign it well
Assuming a guarantee is part of your deal, a few things are worth reading for before you sign. These are ordinary requests, not adversarial ones.
- Is it joint and several, or several? Joint and several means the lender can pursue any one guarantor for the entire balance, not a proportional share. It is the standard, and partners should understand it going in.
- Is there a cap? Some guarantees are limited to a stated dollar amount or a percentage. Worth asking about, particularly in a multi-owner group.
- Is there a release on exit? If a partner sells out in year three, does the guarantee follow them? Negotiate this at signing rather than at exit, when you have no leverage.
- Does it cover this transaction only? A continuing guarantee can extend to future obligations to the same lender. Know which one you are signing.
- How does it report? Whether a guaranteed obligation shows on your personal credit varies by lender. Ask directly, especially if you are also planning a mortgage.
Building toward corporate-only
Getting off guarantees is a reasonable goal for a growing group, and the path there is unglamorous but clear.
- Borrow, and repay as agreed, under the entity's name. The track record only accrues if the debt is in the practice entity, not in yours personally.
- Keep the entity continuous. Restructuring into a new EIN resets the clock on the 7+ years requirement, however long you have actually practiced.
- Maintain real financial statements. Corporate-only is underwritten on the entity's numbers. Tax-basis figures assembled once a year are a weaker foundation than reviewed statements.
- Step the size up. A history of $50,000 facilities supports a $50,000-ish request. Building toward a seven-figure corporate-only line means having carried meaningful debt before.
Five West programs at a glance
Most dental equipment financing is written with a personal guarantee from owners at 20% and above. We also write corporate-only for entities that carry the history for it, meaning 7+ years in business plus comparable prior borrowing. That is where DSOs and multi-location groups usually land.
- Rates
- Priced to your credit profile, term, and equipment; competitive with a bank on rate, not on speed
- Terms
- 24 to 84 months, with 10 years on select programs
- Amounts
- $20,000 to $5 million+
- Application only
- Up to $500,000 with no tax returns or financial statements
- Credit
- Established businesses from 600+, startups from 700+
- Equipment
- New, used, refurbished, dealer, and private-party purchases
- Speed
- Same-day options on qualified files, with approvals in as little as a few hours
- Coverage
- Nationwide, U.S. territories, and cross-border
Tell us how the practice is owned and we will tell you what the file will require. Free consultation, no obligation.
Free consultation, no obligation. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting; rates and terms depend on the complete business and credit profile.
The bottom line
Expect to sign one. A personal guarantee on dental equipment financing is routine, it is required from owners at 20% and above, and it is not evidence that a lender is uncomfortable with you. The exposure is real but narrow, and in a practice that pays as agreed it never comes into play.
If you are a DSO, a multi-location group, or a practice owned by several dentists, corporate-only is worth asking about. The two things to have ready are 7+ years under the entity and evidence that the entity has borrowed at comparable size before.
Send us the structure and the quote, and we will tell you which side of that line you fall on before you fill anything out.
On rates: Any range on this page is illustrative rather than a quote. Your actual rate can come in higher or lower, and it depends on personal and business credit, time in business, the equipment itself, the term you choose, and the size of the transaction. Two files for the same machine can price differently. It is also worth checking the date on anything you read elsewhere. A good deal of the equipment-finance content still circulating was written when prime was 3.25%, and prime is 6.75% today, so if you happen to come across rates like 5% or 6%, it is worth confirming whether the page is current before you plan around it. The surest way to know your number is to let us price your file.
Personal guarantee questions dentists ask
Do you need a personal guarantee for dental equipment financing?
In most cases yes. A personal guarantee is standard on dental equipment financing and is normally required from every owner holding 20% or more of the practice. It is not a sign of a weak file, because nearly all small-business equipment credit is written this way. Corporate-only approval with no personal guarantee exists but generally requires 7+ years in business plus a record of previous comparable business borrowing.
What does a personal guarantee actually do?
It makes you personally answerable for the debt if the practice stops paying. The loan is made to your entity, the PC, PLLC, or S-corp. The guarantee is a separate promise you sign as an individual. If the practice defaults and the recovered equipment does not cover the balance, the lender can pursue you for the shortfall.
Does a personal guarantee put a lien on my house?
No. A personal guarantee is an unsecured promise, not collateral. The lender's lien is on the financed equipment. Signing a guarantee does not place a lien on your home, your vehicle, or your personal accounts. If a practice defaults and a guarantee is enforced, a lender would have to pursue collection like any other unsecured creditor.
Can I get dental equipment financing without a personal guarantee?
Yes, through corporate-only approval, but it is a narrow program. Five West generally looks for 7+ years in business under the same entity plus previous comparable business borrowing paid as agreed, meaning prior facilities at or near the size being requested. It is underwritten on full financials rather than application-only, and it typically prices higher than the same deal with guarantees attached.
Who is a good fit for corporate-only dental equipment financing?
DSOs, multi-location practices, and group practices owned by multiple dentists. Those entities are usually capitalized to carry debt on their own and have financed enough previously to have built the borrowing record underwriting looks for. For group practices, corporate-only also removes the practical problem of collecting guarantees from four or five owners.
Which owners have to sign a personal guarantee?
Typically every owner at 20% or more. A minority partner below that threshold usually is not asked to sign. In a two-partner 50/50 practice both partners sign; in a five-owner group all owners above the threshold sign, which is one of the reasons larger groups pursue corporate-only.
Does my spouse have to sign a personal guarantee?
Generally not, if you qualify on your own. Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, a lender cannot require a spouse's signature solely because you are married. A spouse who is an owner of the practice may be asked to guarantee in that capacity. If your spouse has no ownership interest and a signature is requested anyway, ask why.
Is a personal guarantee joint and several?
Usually yes. Joint and several means the lender may pursue any one guarantor for the full balance rather than a proportional share, which partners should understand going in. Some guarantees can be capped at a stated amount or include a release on ownership exit, and both are worth raising at signing rather than later.
Related dental financing guides
More on financing equipment for a dental practice.
Wondering whether your entity qualifies for corporate-only?
Send us the ownership structure and a recent set of financials and we will tell you before you fill anything out.
This article is general information about commercial equipment financing and is not a commitment to finance. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting. Rates, terms, and approval depend on the complete business and credit profile. Figures shown are illustrative market ranges gathered from published sources as of August 2026 and are not an offer. Five West Financial is not a tax advisor or an accounting firm; confirm any tax treatment with your CPA before relying on it.