Younger dentists are far more likely than their senior colleagues to be tied to a DSO or a multilocation practice, according to 2025 data from the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.
The analysis covers 198,110 of the 211,761 practicing dentists in the U.S. for whom the institute could assign at least one practice location. Dentists’ career stage is based on years out of dental school.
Note: The Health Policy Institute said its methodology likely slightly undercounts dentists affiliated with DSOs and larger groups. Its one-location, one-dentist category excludes solo practices affiliated with a DSO.
Here are 10 things to know from the data:
- DSO affiliation falls sharply with career stage. About 27.1% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school are affiliated with a DSO, compared with 15.5% of those 11 to 25 years out and 9.7% of those more than 25 years out. Overall, 17% of U.S. dentists are DSO-affiliated.
- The newest dentists are the most likely to be affiliated. Among dentists zero to five years out of dental school, 31.4% are DSO-affiliated, compared with 22.4% of those six to 10 years out.
- Early-career dentists are far more likely to work for very large groups. About 20% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school are affiliated with practices that have 100 or more locations, compared with 10.7% of those 11 to 25 years out and 6.6% of those more than 25 years out.
- Solo practice rises as career stage advances. Practices with one location and one dentist, which the ADA treats as solo practice, account for 14.8% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school, 34% of those 11 to 25 years out and 46.7% of those more than 25 years out.
- More than 40% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school are affiliated with practices that have two or more locations, compared with 27.8% of those 11 to 25 years out and 17.4% of those more than 25 years out.
- The single-location group practice, with one location and two or more dentists, is the most common setup among early-career dentists at 44%. It is also common among later-career dentists, at 38.2% of those 11 to 25 years out and 35.9% of those more than 25 years out.
- Nevada has the highest early-career DSO affiliation. About 43.6% of Nevada dentists up to 10 years out of dental school are DSO-affiliated, followed by Oklahoma at 38%, Georgia at 37.3%, Florida at 36.8% and Colorado at 34.6%. Among dentists zero to five years out, Nevada’s rate is 52.1%, the only state above 50%.
- The lowest early-career DSO affiliation among dentists up to 10 years out of dental school is in North Dakota at 4.3%, South Dakota at 4.7% and Alaska at 6.2%.
- The generational gap is widest in Nevada, where 43.6% of dentists up to 10 years out of dental school are DSO-affiliated, compared with 14.4% of those more than 25 years out.
- More than half of late-career dentists work in solo practices in three states: California at 56.1%, Hawaii at 52% and West Virginia at 50.3%.
