Crunchless credit

Major lenders report no big blips in practice financing

Despite a credit crisis that is affecting broad segments of the U.S. economy and could ultimately send it into recession, two leading dental lenders say things are mostly status quo.

"There really isn't a squeeze for us," says Joe Mitchell, senior vice president for GE Healthcare Finance's Practice Solutions division in Boston, adding that GE follows a conservative lending strategy to practitioners. "As a result, we continue to be very dedicated to the dental market," he says. "We grew last year in both the practice and equipment financing arenas."