In this episode of Dentistry Inspired, Dr. Sean Robertson shares a presentation titled “Retiring with Grace,” exploring one of the most significant and often overlooked transitions in a dentist’s career: moving from practice ownership into the next phase of life.

Drawing on real conversations with dentists and years of experience advising practice owners, Sean walks through the practical and psychological realities of selling a dental practice. From financing challenges and lease structures to due diligence and advisory teams, he outlines the five greatest obstacles to a smooth ownership transition and the key factors that can dramatically impact practice value.

Sean also explores the deeper questions that many dentists face when leaving ownership behind, questions of identity, purpose, and what life looks like after the practice that once filled so much of your time and energy.

Whether you’re years away from selling or beginning to think about your exit strategy, this episode is an invitation to reflect, plan intentionally, and approach one of dentistry’s biggest milestones with clarity and confidence.

Discover Succession Compass Here

–

Dr. Sean Robertson is the Lead Strategist and founder of Practice Advocate (www.practiceadvocate.ca). Practice Advocate provides freelance strategy services for dentists and private practice owners that includes practice valuations, practice sale facilitation, and concierge practice management coaching that focuses on sustainability, profitability, and fulfilment. Sean is also the Director of Integration, Partnerships, & Business Education at The Confident Clinician, a global evidence-based knowledge research base that integrates artificial intelligence capability to save medical practitioners time in the delivery of the highest level of care (www.theconfidentclinicianclub.com).

Sean has performed more than $300M in Canadian dental practice valuation work and supported practice ownership transfer since 2018. Sean teaches Practice Management for the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto and has guest lectured for the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University. He writes regularly for Ontario Dentist, The Journal of the Ontario Dental Association and has authored articles for Oral Health, a national journal for the profession of dentistry in Canada.

Dr. Robertson is regularly called upon by the major Canadian banks, dental associations, and dental support organizations to consult on trends, predictions, and perspectives in the Ontario and Canadian dental practice marketplace. He has completed in-person training in communication and the art of negotiation with The Black Swan Group and Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split The Difference. Sean has lectured at the Ontario Dental Association’s Annual Spring Meeting and the Canadian Dental Association on the topics of practice valuations, acquisitions, sales, and practice management. He contributed to the development of the Career Options Initiative with the Canadian Dental Association.

Sean is the author of two books: One, written for dentists is titled From DEBTistry to Dentistry: A buyer’s guide to successful transitions (2016) and the other, written for Integrative and Functional Medical Practitioners is titled, The Profitable Clinician: Why Clinician Fulfilment is Mandatory For Optimal Patient Care (2025).

Connect with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/practice_advocate/?hl=en