From the filings
Software purchasing decisions at Comfort Dental Group appear to flow through the franchisor entity, with Dr. Rick A. Kushner listed as the Agent for Service of Process in the 2024 FDD. No mandated technology stack is disclosed, leaving an open landscape for vendors. The addressable market consists of 145 franchised dental offices, all operating under a 15-year initial term with renewal options.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Franchisor behaviours
16 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 9 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, a cumulative balance sheet and income statement, copies of applicable state sales and use tax reports, all quarterly Federal Tax Form 941’s as well as quarterly federal and state tax returns;
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
As of the date of this Disclosure Document, we or our affiliate, M’KNIB, are the only Vendors for Dental Office furniture, fixtures, dental equipment, dental laboratory services, and supplies when you open your Dental Office.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We and our affiliates may derive revenue or other material consideration directly from sales to franchisees of required products or services.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
A charge not to exceed the actual cost of the test may be made by Franchisor and shall be promptly paid by Franchisee.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
You must notify us and obtain our written approval in advance if you would like to purchase or lease items from a Vendor we have not designated or approved.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor has the right, at any time during business hours and without prior notice to Franchisee, to inspect the books and records prepared and maintained by Franchisee and inspect and audit, or cause to be audited, the books, records, reports, tax returns, statements, information and supporting data of the Dental…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to revise the Manual from time to time as it deems necessary, to update operating and marketing techniques or standards and specifications as long as those updates do not affect Owners’ ability to exercise their independent clinical judgment and/or legal obligations as licensed dentists;
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You do not select the site for your Dental Office; we will select the site for you before you sign the Franchise Agreement.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
You may not develop and use websites, social media accounts or pages or any other written or electronic advertising without our express written approval.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
You agree to participate in any grand opening, promotion or local store marketing campaign we establish.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
Subject to applicable law, you must purchase all products and services required for the sale and establishment of a Dental Office from certain manufacturers, vendors, distributors, suppliers, service providers and producers (each, a “Vendor” and collectively, “Vendors”) that we may designate unless approved in…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Subject to applicable law, you must purchase all products and services required for the sale and establishment of a Dental Office from certain manufacturers, vendors, distributors, suppliers, service providers and producers (each, a “Vendor” and collectively, “Vendors”) that we may designate unless approved in…
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Upon request, Franchisee shall execute such forms that Franchisor and its affiliates require to allow the preauthorized payment of Marketing Fees by electronic transfer of funds from Franchisee’s bank account into the account designated by Franchisor.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor will establish, and Franchisee shall comply with, required standards and specifications for the appearance and operation of the Dental Office and the required uniforms, materials, forms and supplies used in connection with the Dental Office.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
Periodically, additional seminars and training programs may be required (Sections 3.4, 4.1(a) and 5.7, Franchise Agreement).
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall attend all regular meetings of franchisees called by Franchisor or committees thereof and all special meetings which Franchisor in its sole discretion deems necessary.
Comfort Dental Group operates 145 franchised dental offices, with no company-owned units disclosed in the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. The system’s average unit volume sits at $420,092, giving software vendors a clear revenue-per-location benchmark when modeling total addressable contract value. Year-over-year unit growth is not reported, but the existing base of 145 locations represents a stable, concentrated target for practice management, patient engagement, imaging, or revenue cycle platforms.
The franchisor is headquartered in Colorado and appears independently owned—no parent company is on file. This independent structure often means a leaner HQ team and fewer layers between a vendor’s proposal and the decision-maker, though it also means vendors must prove clear ROI without a corporate-mandated tech stack to leverage.
The 2024 FDD lists Dr. Rick A. Kushner as the Agent for Service of Process. While no additional C-suite or IT leadership is named, the presence of a single named executive at HQ suggests that technology purchasing authority is centralized. Vendors should direct initial outreach to the franchisor entity rather than individual franchisees, absent evidence of multi-unit owner autonomy. No operator footprint is mapped in our corpus, reinforcing the HQ-centric buying model.
Comfort Dental Group’s 2024 FDD does not disclose any mandated or recommended technology systems. There is no named POS vendor, no practice management platform, and no patient communication tool captured in the document. For software sellers, this absence is a double-edged signal: it means no entrenched incumbent to displace, but also no compliance-driven urgency for franchisees to adopt a new tool. Vendors will need to build the business case from scratch, likely starting with operational pain points common to dental groups of this size—scheduling efficiency, insurance verification, and patient recall.
Item 8 procurement signals are not extracted in the available data, so the franchisor’s formal purchasing model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier list, or fully open—remains unknown. Vendors should clarify this early in discovery conversations.
Renewal timing offers a predictable window for technology evaluation. The initial franchise term is 15 years. Franchisees in good standing can renew for up to two additional 10-year terms, provided they give at least 180 days’ notice, pay a $15,000 renewal fee, renovate all dental offices, and sign the then-current Franchise Agreement. These renewal inflection points, particularly the 180-day notice period, create natural moments when franchisees reassess their operational stack. A vendor that aligns its sales cycle with these renewal windows can position itself as part of the modernization that the renovation clause implies.
The 2024 FDD is embedded below for full-text review. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and financial disclosures that govern the franchise relationship. For software vendors, the most actionable sections are typically Item 8 (procurement obligations), Item 11 (franchisor assistance and required systems), and Item 17 (renewal conditions). In this case, Item 11 yields no mandated tech, and Item 8 is not captured, so direct inquiry with the franchisor may be necessary to map the true buying process. When you are ready to prioritize targets by decision-maker access, tech stack gaps, and renewal timing, FranCloud can generate a ranked list tailored to your product.
Questions vendors ask
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment Comfort Dental Group files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Comfort Dental Group’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Related Health services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.