Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
Smile Source
Other · independent · est. —
Smile Source is a membership network for independent dental practices, providing group purchasing power, marketing support, and practice resources while dentists retain ownership. A franchisee is an established dental practice owner who joins the network and continues operating their own office, using the affiliation to lower supply costs and support the practice.
Smile Source net unit count grew +30.6% from 2013–2019 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
10.9%
fiscal 2019, per Item 20
Cost to open
$61K–$435K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
1 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2017–2019
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2019, 68 of 623 franchised outlets left the system — a 10.9% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 58 | 145 | 269 | 470 | 562 | 623 |
| Opened | 100 | 150 | 114 | 161 | 143 | 179 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Terminations | 7 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 11 | 28 |
| Non-renewals | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 30 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 4 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 59 | 10 |
| Outlets at end | 145 | 269 | 352 | 562 | 623 | 734 |
| Net change | +87 | +124 | +83 | +92 | +61 | +111 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 1 SBA-backed loans to Smile Source franchisees since 2015. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
0 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$541,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO SMILE SOURCE BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $0 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $61K–$435K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$61K–$435K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$0
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
1.43%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$14K
1.43% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$143K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Smile Source with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Smile Source. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
8 questions to ask a Smile Source franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what Smile Source has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Smile Source’s own Item 20 shows 68 of 623 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2019 — about 10.9%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2019
- 02
2 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2019. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.
FDD Item 20 · FY2019
- 03
You pay 1.4% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 04
Smile Source’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2020
- 05
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 06
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 07
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 08
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if Smile Source’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Smile Source's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
Smile Source franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Smile Source franchises closed last year?
In Smile Source's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2019), 68 of 623 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 10.9%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Smile Source franchise cost?
Per Smile Source's 2020 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $0 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $61K–$435K (Item 7).
What royalty does Smile Source charge?
Smile Source charges an ongoing royalty of 1.4% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2020 FDD.
Does Smile Source disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Smile Source's 2020 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.