$450,000 in 10 days

A growing dental practice in Colorado had a new imaging technology decision: a CBCT (cone beam CT) system that would enable a suite of higher-margin procedures — implant planning, endodontic diagnosis, airway assessment — currently referred out to specialists. The equipment cost was $450,000. The revenue uplift from bringing that work in-house was projected at $16,000/month within 90 days of installation.

The practice had strong revenue, but the owner's personal credit had taken a hit during the COVID-era deferral period. Their bank offered a 7-year equipment loan — but required a personal guarantee and a lien on the practice's primary operating assets. The owner wasn't willing to put their home or the practice's core revenue machinery on the line for a technology purchase that was clearly going to pay for itself.

Medical equipment loans exist at banks, but the underwriting profile the practice presented — healthy revenue, but a personal credit score below 680 due to COVID-era deferrals — triggered a manual review process. Manual review for a $450K equipment loan meant 6–8 weeks minimum.

The equipment financing alternative — a fintech lender specializing in medical equipment — offered faster approval but with a rate 3 points higher than what a standard term loan would have carried, and the same personal guarantee requirement.

What the bank couldn't underwrite was the revenue trajectory: $16K/month in new billable services within 90 days of the equipment going live. That signal — the equipment as underwriting — is something alternative lenders evaluate differently than banks.

Equipment financing structured as a 36-month term loan with the equipment as the primary underwriting signal. No personal guarantee required. The equipment — the CBCT imaging system — had a strong residual value and a documented revenue enablement profile that the underwriter evaluated directly.

Key structure element: the equipment served as its own collateral. The lender held a purchase money security interest in the equipment rather than a blanket lien on the practice's operating assets. This meant the owner's personal guarantee was not required, and the practice's other equipment and receivables were not encumbered.

The imaging system went live 45 days after funding. New billable services started generating in week 3 of operation. Within 90 days, the $16,000/month figure in new revenue was realized — driven primarily by implant planning and endodontic diagnosis referrals that had previously gone to outside specialists.

The term loan was fully amortizing over 36 months at a fixed rate, with predictable monthly payments. No revenue share, no flexibility clause, no adjustment mechanism.

The CBCT system went live 45 days after funding. New billable revenue began generating in week 3 of operation.

• $16,000/month in new billable services within 90 days
• 36-month fixed-rate amortization, no personal guarantee
• Equipment as primary underwriting signal — credit score not evaluated as primary factor
• Three additional specialist referral relationships established since in-house capability was in place

The practice is now evaluating a second equipment financing for a digital scanner that would add another $9,000/month in billable revenue — using the same structure, same lender, same documentation process.