The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario published new guidance in July 2026 directed at practice owners approaching a transition, whether that transition is retirement, a sale, or an unplanned change in ownership. The guidance centers on a question every practice owner will eventually face and few prepare for early enough: who becomes the custodian of your patients’ records, and your practice, when you are no longer the one running it?
What RCDSO Is Asking Practice Owners to Prepare
RCDSO’s guidance frames succession planning around custodianship, meaning the formal responsibility for maintaining, protecting, and providing continued access to patient records once a dentist’s ownership of the practice ends. This applies whether the change is planned, such as a sale or retirement, or unplanned, such as illness, incapacity, or death.
Source: RCDSO, “Guidance: Succession Planning for Practice Owners,” July 2026 (published via RCDSO’s official channels)
Why This Is Worth Acting On Now, Not Later
Succession planning tends to sit on the “someday” list for practice owners, especially those who are years away from retirement and focused on the daily demands of running a clinic. RCDSO’s guidance is a reminder that the custodianship question is not only relevant to owners nearing retirement. Unplanned transitions, an owner’s sudden illness, a disability, or worse, can force a practice into a succession scenario with no notice and no plan in place.
A practice without a named plan for who takes custody of records and continues patient care in an emergency leaves staff, patients, and family members scrambling at the worst possible time. A practice with a plan already in writing turns a crisis into a manageable transition.
For owners actively planning a sale or retirement, the custodianship question intersects directly with the sale itself. Buyers, associates being considered as successors, and RCDSO all need clarity on how patient records will be maintained and transferred, and that clarity is far easier to establish well ahead of a transition than in the middle of one.
What You Should Do
Start with a written succession plan, even a basic one, that names who would take custody of your patient records and practice operations if you were suddenly unable to continue. If you are actively considering a sale, retirement, or bringing in a successor, begin that conversation now rather than waiting until a timeline is forced on you. Review your current record-keeping and storage systems to confirm they are structured in a way that could be handed off cleanly, not just accessed by you day to day. Talk to your accountant, lawyer, and RCDSO directly about the specific requirements that apply to your practice structure, since corporate arrangements and associate relationships can change what custodianship looks like in practice.
How MAP Can Help
Succession planning touches nearly every part of how a practice runs, from records and compliance to staffing and valuation. MAP Healthcare Consulting and Management works with Ontario dental practice owners on succession and transition planning through our Strategy and Risk and Compliance service lines, helping you build a plan well before you need one. Visit maphcm.com to learn more.