Louisville, Ky.-based Mortenson Dental Partners plans to ride the momentum from its growth in 2025 to expand its network and add to its teams.
The DSO affiliated with practices in several states last year, most recently adding its first office in Missouri. The organization now supports more than 150 locations in 10 states.
Mortenson Dental Partners CEO Bill Becknell recently spoke with Becker’s to discuss the DSO’s growth and goals for 2026.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How would you describe the company’s growth in 2025?
Bill Becknell: 2025 was a strong growth year for Mortenson Dental Partners. Organically, we experienced growth at about two times the industry average, with strong improvements in revenue cycle management and some modest headwinds in consumer sentiment. In addition to organic growth, Mortenson Dental Partners expanded several practices and completed five acquisitions that significantly expanded our footprint.
Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of from MDP?
BB: The partnership with our supported providers. Our doctor retention rate is over 90% and our hygiene retention rate is greater than 85%. As a doctor- and employee-owned organization, we are focused on supporting providers and team members, and partnering with them to achieve their clinical aspirations and lifestyle goals. The result is an engaged team that has the clinical autonomy and administrative support to deliver outstanding care. This is reflected in our Net Promoter Score, which has consistently been greater than 90.
Q: What can we expect to see from MDP in 2026 in terms of organic and inorganic growth?
BB: Organically, we are experiencing strong demand from established practices. Often our days to the first appointment are longer than we are comfortable with, signaling we will have strong organic growth potential as we add providers and team members to meet the patient demand. We expect organic growth to remain ahead of the profession in 2026.
Regarding inorganic growth, we expect to continue to grow with affiliations in 2026. We continue to see more opportunities becoming available and interested in affiliation. Many groups and practices are specifically reaching out to MDP because they seek a partnership with an organization that does not have any external investors and provides a comprehensive support platform that will enable them to focus on patient care and growth.
Q: What are your predictions for the DSO field for 2026? What challenges and opportunities for growth will there be?
BB: I believe consumer sentiment will be similar to 2025, where some portion of patients are more impacted with financial decisions. Furthermore, I believe the percent of the population that is covered by private or dental insurance will continue to be slightly lower than historic levels, both of which will make it more difficult for patients to accept needed treatment. The good news is that patients are becoming keenly more aware of the impact oral health has on overall health. As dental practices, we must continue to educate patients on this relationship for their overall health outcomes.
I believe the opportunities for DSO growth will continue to escalate as some private practices continue to look for support through these challenging times and capture the benefits of scale DSOs can bring. I also believe we will see more private equity-backed DSOs going to market as hold periods for investors and their desire for liquidity continues to climb.
Q: What will DSOs need to be successful next year?
BB: 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.
