Best student loan refinance lenders for dentists

The best refinance lender is the one that gives you the lowest fixed rate with the protections you care about. You only find that by checking several. Advertised lows go to a small slice of borrowers, so a list of starting rates tells you little.

This page covers what each company is good for, from facts on its own site as of September 2026.

First: should you refinance at all?

Refinancing turns federal loans into private ones. You lose access to RAP, PSLF, federal forgiveness, and federal forbearance and deferment for those loans. The CFPB adds that you may lose federal death and disability discharge.

If you work, or might work, at an FQHC, the VA, a public health service or another nonprofit, stop here. Read Refinance vs PSLF vs RAP and When refinancing is a mistake first.

How we compare lenders

Some of these companies pay us when you refinance. That never changes the order or what we say. There’s no numbered ranking here, because the right choice depends on your situation. Our method is on how we rank lenders.

We only list features we found on each company’s own site. Where a site didn’t say, we say so.

Marketplace vs direct lender

A direct lender makes and holds or services the loan itself. You get one offer per application.

A marketplace shows offers from several lenders after one form. It’s a faster way to shop, but the loan comes from one of its partner lenders. Credible says it’s paid by its lending partners, and Splash says it doesn’t work with all lenders.

Both kinds offer a rate check that doesn’t affect your credit score. The hard pull comes when you pick an offer and apply, as Splash’s disclosures spell out.

The seven at a glance

Company	Type	Good for	Worth knowing
SoFi	Direct lender	A resident option, if you’ve ruled out RAP and PSLF	Resident loan with reduced payments; unpaid interest capitalizes when residency ends
Splash Financial	Marketplace	Comparing offers, including a resident option	Shows offers from partner lenders; not every lender is on it
ELFI	Direct lender	Borrowers who want a person to talk to	One-on-one loan specialist; $10,000 minimum; 680 minimum credit score
Earnest	Direct lender	Borrowers who value hardship flexibility	Skip one payment a year; resident option; death and disability discharge policy
Credible	Marketplace	Seeing many lenders side by side	About 10 lenders; paid by its partners
LendKey	Marketplace	Credit union and community bank loans	650 minimum credit score; fixed or variable
Juno	Free membership group	Member-only discounts	Negotiates as a group; lenders pay Juno

SoFi

SoFi is a direct lender. You need at least $5,000 of loans used for tuition at an eligible Title IV school. Its rate check uses a soft credit pull.

SoFi runs a medical and dental resident refinance loan with a reduced payment during training. SoFi says unpaid interest is added to your principal when the residency period ends. So your balance grows during residency. Compare that with RAP’s interest waiver before you sign: see Refinancing during residency.

Splash Financial

Splash is a marketplace. Its site says checking your rate never affects your credit, and that continuing an application with a lender triggers a hard pull.

Splash advertises a medical and dental resident refinance option with a reduced payment during training and for six months after. Its own disclosure warns the loan will likely cause negative amortization during residency. The fine print on that page describes a SoFi resident loan.

ELFI

ELFI is a direct lender. Its eligibility page lists a $10,000 minimum loan, a 680 minimum credit score, $35,000 minimum income and 36 months of credit history.

ELFI charges no application or origination fee and no prepayment penalty. Each borrower is paired one-on-one with an ELFI loan specialist through the application.

Earnest

Earnest is a direct lender offering fixed and variable rates. It says it charges no fees, “not even late payment fees.”

After six months of on-time payments, you can skip one payment a year. Interest keeps accruing and the term gets longer. Earnest’s help center says its refinance loan may be fully discharged if the primary borrower dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled.

Earnest also runs a medical and dental residency refinance with reduced payments during residency and for a period after. Its blog says unpaid interest accrues but isn’t added to principal when full repayment begins. The program is for residents enrolled or matched in a program of seven years or less.

Credible

Credible is a marketplace, not a lender. It compares offers from about 10 lenders, and checking rates doesn’t affect your credit score. It discloses that it’s paid by the lenders shown.

LendKey

LendKey matches you with a network of credit unions and community banks. It offers fixed or variable rates and charges no origination fee, application fee or prepayment penalty.

Its listed requirements include a 650 minimum credit score and steady employment or a job offer. Loans generally must be more than $5,000, with higher minimums in some states.

Juno

Juno is a free membership group, not a lender. It gathers borrowers and has lenders bid for the group’s business. Lenders pay Juno a fee on loans that go through it.

As of September 2026, its refinance partners are Earnest, SoFi and LendKey, plus Brazos for Texas residents. Members get extra perks, such as a rate reduction or cash back. Juno’s page says each partner checks rates with a soft pull.

Laurel Road is now KeyBank

Laurel Road’s site now redirects to KeyBank, which says the Laurel Road and GradFin brands “have joined KeyBank.” KeyBank’s doctor refinance pages are at doctors.key.com, checked September 26, 2026.

KeyBank’s resident refinance page lists reduced payments during training and says accrued interest doesn’t compound while you train. That page speaks to medical residents and doesn’t name dental residents, so ask before you apply. We’ll add KeyBank to the table once we’ve confirmed its terms for dentists.

What we left out, and why

We didn’t list cosigner release or death and disability terms for every lender. Most of these sites didn’t state them on the pages we read. The CFPB says many, but not all, private lenders offer a death or disability discharge. Ask each lender for its policy in writing, and read the promissory note.

How to pick

1. Decide you’re a refinance candidate. Private practice, no PSLF plans, income well above what RAP forgiveness would need. The refinance vs forgiveness tool shows the break-even.
2. Check at least three rates with soft pulls. A marketplace such as Credible covers several at once. Add one or two direct lenders it doesn’t show, such as Earnest or ELFI.
3. Compare the same term and rate type. A 5-year variable quote and a 10-year fixed quote aren’t comparable. Use the rate guide.
4. Weigh protections, not just rate. A slightly higher rate with a death and disability discharge and a skip-a-payment option can be worth it.
5. In residency? Compare SoFi’s resident loan with staying on RAP until you’re an associate. The math usually favors waiting.
6. Only then apply. That’s when the hard pull happens.