With the rapid growth of DSOs in the industry and rising operating costs, many dental professionals are wondering what this means for independent dental practices.
Here, four dental professionals share with Becker's what they see for the future of independent dentists.
Note: Responses were lightly edited.
Question: What percentage of dental practices will be independent in five years? Why?
Daniel Benson, DDS. Painless Dentistry (Wyandotte, Mich.): I do not have the current percentages of dental practices that are in a DSO but believe that number will double in the next five years. Two main reasons are work-life balance and financial limitations due to student debt. Also, selling practices are receiving a higher valuation from DSOs than a private purchase. Even though dentists are a small share of overall healthcare, and thereby have an advantage over physicians in remaining private, the DSO expansion is mirroring the same experience of physicians.
Stan Kinder. Founder of EverythingDSO (Haymarket, Va.): My guess is somewhere between 40 and 50 percent. Consolidation is continuing at breakneck speed. If you believe that medicine precedes dentistry, and fully 70 percent of physicians are employed in practices owned by hospital systems or consolidators, then the number of dentists in independently owned practices will continue to shrink. The forces driving this trend are manifold — the extraordinarily high levels of educational debt, the gender distribution of graduating classes in dental school, and the statistical preference of many female graduates for part-time work and the avoidance of ownership (I say this recognizing that there are countless very successful female practice owners but merely speaking to a statistical reality), and of course the ever-growing challenge and complexity confronting solo practitioners.
William J. Coco, DDS. Dentist in Greenville, N.C.: I have no idea. I don't know what the percentage is now. I do know as a single independent dentist of over 35 years — and have always been a solo practice — it is near impossible now to start on your own. If I were to guess, 40 percent [of practices will be] independent, but mainly group practice.
Barry Lyon, DDS. Dental Director for Dental Care Alliance (Sarasota, Fla.): According to the American Dental Association, traditional solo practices are becoming less common as dentists gravitate toward group practices for a number of reasons. New dentists may have student loans to repay, and also place high value on a positive work-life balance. Similarly, the number of dentists who receive support services from a dental support organization continues to increase and is attractive to dentists of all ages. DSOs like Dental Care Alliance offer the best of both worlds, with world-class support for allied dentists.
While it's hard to predict the future, and perhaps accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, I expect the decreasing trend in the percentage of traditional solo practices to continue in the next five years.