DSO success this year will largely depend on staff support, technology investments and patient engagement.
Becker’s has spoken to several DSO executives in recent weeks to discuss what organizations need to be successful in 2026.
Here is what five leaders have shared:
Note: Responses were edited for clarity and length.
Bill Becknell. CEO of Mortenson Dental Partners (Louisville, Ky.): Providers and patients are what drive DSO success every year, and [2026] is no exception. Supporting doctors and hygienists so they can focus on their patients’ care and experience is critical to ongoing and consistent success. It’s important to ensure providers know they have a voice by giving them plenty of opportunities to provide feedback and share the type of support they need from their DSO. Along with providing the administrative support to run their practices on a daily basis, DSOs can also support the long-term growth of providers by giving them access to clinical education opportunities that will help them expand their skillset so they can serve more treatment needs. Yes, there are many other strategies, but all of those need to be evaluated through the lens of how it supports the provider and patient interactions.
Dan Burke. Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer and General Counsel at PDS Health (Henderson, Nev.): Remember that we exist in a service industry. Healthcare isn’t retail and that means we have to put the patient first while bringing to bear all the tools that will help them understand their oral health. Using the capabilities we have today can help them make the right decision for their care.
Second, focus on supporting, training and building a community of invested clinicians. Dentists, specialists, hygienists and all support roles will be busier than ever. Invest in their growth to create a positive healthcare environment that treats its teams (and patients) exceptionally well. We are on the verge of the largest aging population boom in human history — and they are informed consumers who are focused on their systemic health and longevity. This will feed a significant and prolonged spike in demand for oral healthcare, especially integrated care. For those who are ready to serve this population with excellent care, success awaits.
Ash ElDifrawi. Chief Commercial and Brand Officer for The Aspen Group (Chicago): Success will come from aligning the provider experience with the patient experience. Patients want easy access, transparency and modern care options. Providers want strong support, autonomy and opportunities to grow clinically.
Technology will help, especially AI and digital workflows, but it only works when clinicians are trained to use it well. That’s why TAG U and the Oral Care Center matter so much. We have the most advanced clinician development program in the DSO space, with proven results helping clinicians build confidence with new tools and advanced procedures, which ultimately leads to better outcomes.
The DSOs that blend responsible technology adoption, strong clinical development and a genuine commitment to both patients and providers will be the ones that lead the next phase of the industry.
Scotte Hudsmith. CEO of Specialized Dental Partners (Franklin, Tenn.): All of us have had to get lean and really focus on what we can do to improve efficiency, and AI certainly brings a lot of promise in that area. I think we’re all hopeful about AI. I also think we have to take a very practical approach to it. We can’t just go explore every toy. There are a lot of amazing, great point solutions out there. Many of them are just wrappers around the other language models, and they’re leveraging it so they may have a workflow or user interface, but it’s really something else in the back end. Picking the right ones and understanding what’s really going to add value and how we bring it in is going to be critical for all of the DSOs, regardless of whether you’re a general dentistry DSO, a specialty or multispecialty practice, you’ve really got to pick well.
At the same time, we can’t forget we’re in the people business, so we need to use AI to take away those mundane tasks and things that can be administratively done by a machine, and get the people back talking to the patients and referring doctors and the other specialists that we all work with across the organizations, and just make sure we have people talking to people and machines doing tasks that add no value. I think if we can really do that, it’s going to be fantastic. I think this is kind of a test year for that, where we’re going to see a lot of that technology get rolled out. We’re going to make some mistakes. We’re far from perfect, and there are going to be things we think that technology is going to do that it’s not going to do. So, getting through this to where we can really see the benefit in the next two, three and five years is going to be extremely important. If anybody is not looking at leveraging technology and the things that are available to do that, they’re probably behind the curve.
Alisa Ulrey. COO of U.S. Oral Surgery Management (Irving, Texas): To me, success will come down to execution. This can mean embracing new tools and technologies that improve efficiency. It is essential that while we do that, we maintain our strong clinical quality and help our teams be open to change to support sustainable growth.
Building systems that reduce administrative work and redundant processes is also key. These areas in our space include centralized scheduling, billing, verification, collections, staffing and training. For me, the ability to improve processes, control costs, and enhance outcomes without compromising the patient experience will be essential to success.
Maintaining high standards in M&A and ensuring smooth transitions for new partners is always important. Finally, standardizing operational processes across their organization will allow practices to operate more consistently and efficiently at scale.
