Everything you want to know before the discovery call.

The activation fee is the one-time startup fee that begins your SMV package and allows our team to prepare, organize, and deliver the initial materials, setup pathway, and implementation resources for your selected plan.

It is separate from the monthly platform/support fee, state fees, third-party software fees, advertising spend, legal fees, or any outside costs required by your state or local program.

Standard Activation Fee — $7,500

The Standard activation fee covers the initial preparation and delivery of your Standard Path materials, including curriculum files, instructor resources, student resources, assessments, licensure/compliance templates, school document templates, basic LMS Partner build guidance, upload maps, and the implementation roadmap.

Standard is designed for owners who want the core curriculum and document foundation, while their own team handles the setup, organization, local coordination, and execution.

Premium Activation Fee — $8,500

The Premium activation fee covers a more guided and accelerated setup path. Premium includes the Standard foundation, plus additional organization, coordination, and implementation support around curriculum structure, LMS Partner setup guidance, state licensure materials, California certification pathway support when applicable, enrollment workflow preparation, and launch-readiness planning.

Premium is designed for owners who want SMV to help structure the process more closely so they can move forward with less guesswork and a more coordinated implementation path.

Important

Activation must be paid before SMV begins package delivery, document preparation, LMS Partner setup guidance, onboarding, or implementation work.

The monthly platform/support fee keeps your SMV system active after the initial activation phase. It is not a financing payment and it is separate from state fees, third-party software, advertising spend, legal fees, or local school operating costs.

Standard Monthly Platform/Support Fee — $600/month

The Standard monthly fee supports continued access to the Standard Path resources and basic implementation support.

It may include:

* continued access to SMV curriculum and document resources

* access to applicable updates, templates, and implementation materials

* basic LMS Partner organization guidance

* upload map and course-organization support resources

* ticketed support for Standard package questions

* office-hour style guidance when available

* implementation roadmap access

* basic clarification around curriculum, documents, and templates

* ongoing access to Standard Path support materials

Standard is designed for owners who want the state licensure, curriculum and document foundation while their own team handles most of the setup, organization, local coordination, and execution. 

Premium Monthly Platform/Support Fee — $750/month

The Premium monthly fee supports a more guided implementation and launch-readiness pathway.

It may include everything in Standard, plus:

* priority support and communication

* Client Success Manager coordination

* ongoing LMS access and Clinical Ready curriculum and LMS implementation 

* support organizing the Premium pathway across curriculum, compliance, and enrollment materials

* Premium upload map and course-structure support

* ongoing school marketing management

* launch-readiness guidance

* enrollment workflow support

* California certification pathway coordination when applicable

* deficiency-response organization support when applicable

* additional review and guidance around implementation milestones

* ongoing access to Premium Path resources and updates

Premium is designed for owners who want a more coordinated path and less guesswork as they move through curriculum setup, state licensure compliance, LMS buildout and preparation, enrollment workflow setup, and launch-readiness planning.

The right plan depends on how much of the setup, organization, and implementation you want your own team to handle.

Choose Standard if…

Standard is the best fit if you want the curriculum, documents, templates, and basic implementation roadmap, and your team is comfortable organizing the setup.

Standard may be right for you if:

• you want the core dental assisting curriculum and school document foundation
• you have someone on your team who can organize files, follow instructions, and manage implementation tasks
• you are comfortable coordinating local requirements such as CPR, instructors, facility readiness, student records, and school administration
• you want basic LMS Partner build guidance, upload maps, and course-organization support
• you prefer a lower activation fee and more self-directed implementation
• you do not need SMV to closely coordinate the launch pathway

Standard gives you the system and foundation. Your team handles more of the execution.

Choose Premium if…

Premium is the best fit if you want a more guided, organized, and accelerated path.

Premium may be right for you if:

you want SMV to provide exclusive use in your territory of the Clinical Ready curriculum, SMV to perform the state licensure work and compile compliance materials, provide the ready-to-use LMS platforms for the hybrid curriculum, the launch workflow, and done-for-you marketing campaigns and enrollment systems. 

you want less guesswork during implementation.

you want a more coordinated process across curriculum, licensure/compliance, enrollment setup, and launch readiness

you want priority communication and Client Success support.

you are preparing to start a

California dental assisting school with dental board certifications done for you in our California Premium pathway process.

you want SMV to structure the path instead of only providing the files.

Premium helps you move faster with more guidance, structure, and support.

Simple rule

If you want the tools and documents and your team will organize the work, choose Standard.

If you want the tools, documents, structure, and a more guided implementation path, choose Premium.

If you are unsure, submit a Request a Business Prospectus form or call us. 

Yes. Standard clients may request to upgrade to Premium later, subject to SMV review and availability.

An upgrade may make sense if you start with the Standard Path but later decide you want more guidance, more organization, priority support, LMS Partner setup guidance, or a more coordinated implementation process.

Then you simply switch your monthly plan and pay the difference in activation fees .

Simple rule

Start with Standard if you want the foundation and plan to organize more of the work yourself.

Upgrade to Premium if you want SMV to  structure the path more closely and provide done-for-you implementation process.

A gate is a pass/fail clinical validation. A student must demonstrate the skill to standard (often timed, always observable) without coaching to pass. If they don't pass, they remediate and re-test. Gates prevent graduation based on attendance or test averages and ensure students earn readiness through performance.

No. SMV does not collect hidden fees, royalties, revenue share, or per-student fees.

You keep your tuition revenue. We do not charge a percentage of student tuition, and we do not charge per student enrolled. Your student LMS access is structured to support unlimited students annually under your SMV package.

What this means

No royalty percentage

No per-student fee

No tuition split

No enrollment revenue share

No hidden student-volume charges from SMV

Your costs are limited to the selected SMV  applicable monthly platform/support fee. 

What Standard includes

Standard gives you the curriculum, documents, templates, LMS Partner guidance, upload maps, and implementation resources.

Standard clients may choose their own marketing company, run their own advertising, and manage their own enrollment process. SMV provides marketing templates and enrollment resources, but Standard does not include SMV-managed marketing.

What Premium includes

Premium includes a more guided implementation path and includes SMV-managed marketing at no additional SMV management fee.

However, the school is still responsible for its own advertising budget. For Premium, the required school marketing budget is $1,500 per month, paid toward advertising spend for the school’s student recruitment campaigns.

This is not an SMV royalty, student fee, or revenue share. It is the school’s marketing budget used to help generate student inquiries and fill classes.

Important marketing note

Student recruitment marketing is specialized. If you choose Standard and hire your own marketing company, make sure the company has real experience with student-centered marketing, enrollment funnels, lead response, and education-program advertising.

Many marketing companies charge a separate management fee of $2,000–$4,000 per month, plus the advertising budget. With Premium, SMV includes marketing management support as part of the Premium path, but the required ad budget remains the school’s responsibility.

Standard is $600/month, or $7,200 annually. At $4,000 tuition per student, the Standard platform/support fee is covered by approximately 1.8 student enrollments per year.

Premium is $750/month, or $9,000 annually. At $4,500 tuition per student, the Premium platform/support fee is covered by approximately 2 student enrollments per year.

Clinical Ready Student tuition ranges $4,800–$5,500 for the 12-week program, which includes a 3-week paid externship in Phase 02. You set your own tuition — it's your school.

Depends on your state's proprietary school authorization timeline. Typical states: 4–8 months. California: 60–90 days via the affiliate-campus model (Premium required).

No. You're the school owner, sponsor, and clinical supervisor — not the day-to-day operator. SMV handles compliance, curriculum operations, and (on Premium) marketing and enrollment. You approve major decisions; your internal team handles operatory coordination.

You're assigned a dedicated State Compliance Expert. They draft your licensure packet using state-aligned templates, collect the business details from you, run a pre-submission quality check, and guide submission through final approval. Premium includes done-for-you filing; Standard includes guided templates.

No. Didactic content is delivered online through the LMS. Clinical lab hours use one or two operatories plus the standard infrastructure you already have. Most partner schools run Saturday clinical blocks.

Typical cohort size is 8–18 students depending on market size and your practice footprint. California urban markets and Premium done-for-you marketing push cohorts higher — some CA partners run 20+ per cohort.

SMV provides an hour-by-hour instructor guide usable from an iPad. Most practices use a credentialed RDA as lead instructor. Premium includes full instructor certification; Standard provides structured onboarding materials.

200+ clock hours across two phases. Phase 01 (weeks 1–6) covers operatory foundations, safety, instruments, four-handed dentistry, infection control certification, and materials. Phase 02 (weeks 7–12) covers radiology certification, restorative assisting, crown & bridge, iTero scanning, and a final 6-station practical validation.

Standard uses traditional grade-average advancement — students pass if their averaged score clears a threshold. Clinical Ready™ (Premium) uses pass/fail gates — students demonstrate each skill independently under observe-only conditions. Clinical Ready™ graduates are validated practice-ready before externship; Standard graduates are validated to traditional academic standards.

Clinical Ready™ uses a pass/fail skills validation model for hands-on clinical tasks because dental assisting skills must be performed safely, consistently, and to a defined standard.

A student does not pass a skill just because they “mostly understand it.” They pass when they can demonstrate the skill correctly based on the checklist, instructor criteria, infection control expectations, documentation requirements, and practice-readiness standard.

In Clinical Ready™, pass/fail does not mean harsh or punitive. It means the student is either:

Pass: The student demonstrated the skill to the required standard.

Not Pass: The student needs more coaching, correction, and practice before being marked competent.

If a student does not pass a skill, they are not simply pushed forward. The instructor documents what was missed, provides correction, assigns focused remediation, and gives the student another opportunity to demonstrate the skill.

The process is:

• Document the missed standard
• The instructor records what the student did not complete correctly.
• Correct and coach
• The instructor explains what needs to change and demonstrates the correct process if needed.
• Focused practice
• The student repeats the skill through targeted drills or supervised practice.
• Re-attempt the skill
• The student performs the skill again for evaluation.
• Pass when competent
• The student is marked as passing only when they can perform the skill to the required standard.

This protects the student, the school, the practice, and future patients. Clinical Ready™ is designed to produce students who are not just exposed to dental assisting skills, but who can demonstrate readiness before moving forward.

Clinical Ready™ does not rely on “close enough” skill performance. Students must demonstrate the required standard before being marked competent.

Most traditional dental assisting curriculums are built around classroom learning, quizzes, chapter exams, and general exposure to dental assisting topics. Students may complete the course, but that does not always mean they are ready to function confidently in a real operatory.

Clinical Ready™ is different because it is built around practice readiness, not just course completion.

The program focuses on the skills dental practices actually need from new dental assistants: infection control, operatory setup, tray readiness, suction and isolation, four-handed dentistry flow, restorative support, dental materials, documentation closure, digital scanning/iTero awareness, radiography judgment where applicable, crown and bridge support, and general dentistry workflow.

Instead of only asking, “Did the student finish the lesson?” Clinical Ready™ asks:

Can the student perform the skill correctly, safely, consistently, and in the right clinical sequence?

This produces a stronger student because the student is not simply moved forward for attendance or average grades. They must demonstrate that they can meet the required skill standard before being marked ready.

Traditional curriculum teaches the subject. Clinical Ready™ validates the performance.

Premium plans include done-for-you paid ads (Meta + Google), landing pages, email/SMS nurture, and an AI enrollment agent that responds to new leads within 30 seconds. Standard plans include marketing templates and guidance — you run the campaigns.

Premium's AI enrollment agent responds to every new lead via SMS and email within 30 seconds of form submission — qualifying the prospect, answering questions, and booking them to a discovery call. This is typically the single biggest driver of cohort fill rate.

Yes. California launches as Premium + a one-time $2,500 CA pathway fee (total $10,000 activation + $900/mo). The fee covers affiliate-campus onboarding, CA Dental Board course integration, and extra compliance overhead. California cannot start on Standard — the affiliate-campus model requires Premium operations.

Radiation Safety, Coronal Polishing, Infection Control, Pit & Fissure Sealants, and Dental Practice Act. All five are integrated into the 12-week curriculum — no separate coursework.

Read the fine print. Surety bonds are typically backed by escape clauses — student counts drawn from a wide geography, timelines spanning years, "guaranteed" students that may include no-shows. SMV doesn't sell bonded guarantees. We focus on the actual mechanics of launching and operating a successful school: curriculum, licensure, marketing systems, admissions, and operations.

Franchises typically cost $50K–$150K+ setup plus ongoing royalties and marketing co-op fees. SMV is $7,500 activation + a flat monthly plan. You keep 100% of tuition. No royalties, no revenue share. See the compare page for the full matrix.