Pennsylvania is quickly becoming one of the most active states for DSOs this year, with several organizations entering the market to expand patient care and accessibility.
New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Dental365 is just one of many groups that have eyed Pennsylvania for growth. Since making their first addition in the state in 2023, the DSO has added more than 20 locations.
Entering Pennsylvania was a “logical step” for the company based on the state’s proximity to the company’s New York headquarters, according to Robert Kolts, DDS, the senior vice president of clinical affairs at Premier Care Dental Management, the parent company of Dental365.
“It’s a really diverse state. It has some concentrated urban areas and there are many rural [areas] where there’s a lot of need, and it’s just filled with hardworking, good people,” he told Becker’s. “It’s an area where it’s not overly saturated with dental support organizations and there’s a need for increased access to providers.”
Although DSO presence in Pennsylvania was small just a couple of years ago, that could be quickly changing with the number of companies that have since made their way into the state. Just this year alone, Phase 1 Equity and OMS360 have entered Pennsylvania, with others to follow. Blue Cloud Pediatric Surgery Centers, which provides dentistry and oral surgery services under general anesthesia for pediatric and special needs patients, plans to open its first office in Pennsylvania in 2026. The ASC chain said the opening will help bring great access to these services in the state.
The state’s struggle with dental care accessibility has grown over the years, and DSOs are not the only ones trying to solve it.
Pennsylvania currently has 148 dental professional shortage areas, according to data from the Health Resources & Services Administration. The PA Coalition for Oral Health has said previously that the state needs 2,000 dentists, 7,000 dental hygienists and 10,000 expanded function dental assistants to ensure each resident receives regular dental services, but much work is still needed to bring that many providers into the state.
The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee recently held a hearing to discuss the lack of access, which included testimony from dentists and other industry leaders about the effects of inaccessibility in rural areas of the state. Potential solutions discussed during the hearing included continuing water fluoridation, expanding oral health education in schools and reforming insurance in the state to include oral health as essential healthcare.
Amid Ismail, BDS, PhD, dean of the Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry, announced during the hearing that Temple University will open a dental school in Tamaqua, Pa., the first rural dental school in the state. The new school, which could open as soon as 2026, aims to reduce dental workforce shortages in rural communities.
At the legislative level, there are several bills currently being considered to improve the state of dental care, including one to restore certain dental services under Medicaid and another to join the Interstate Dental & Dental Hygiene Licensure Compact.
While it could be a few years before the new dental school and legislative updates have a measurable impact on Pennsylvania’s workforce, DSO acquisitions and practice openings could be a more immediate answer to the state’s dental accessibility issues.
