This month, dental professionals spoke with Becker’s about financial strategies, private equity, workforce retention and more.
Here is what five dental professionals told us in September:
Where independent dental practices may still have the upper hand
Alex Sharp, DDS. CEO of Shared Practices Group (Scottsdale, Ariz.): As much as it pains me to say it, patient experience. In a single practice, everyone’s boots are on the ground in the same four walls. You have a personal relationship with the person who has done your check-in for the last 20 years, and that’s really hard to scale, automate and spin up across the country. If you have a national footprint, you can still deliver a great patient experience, but you have to use a different tactic. In an individual practice, think about what you can do that doesn’t scale. What can you do that patients recognize as value, and that the big-box DSO down the road can’t? That could be local branding, community engagement or a procedure mix that’s hard to replicate across state lines. If I’m a single-site owner, I’m probably going to focus on quality and convenience. If patients want the individual touch of a privately owned dentist, maybe they’ll pay a little more for it, and the right people will see that value and happily do so.
Private equity’s dental reckoning
Andy Schroeder. Director of Business Development, Northern U.S. at Imagen Dental Partners (Scottsdale, Ariz.): The other thing I’m maybe most excited about pushing the envelope on, whether it’s private equity backed or just the group space in general, is what happens in the payer environment. Pay attention to what’s happening in Wisconsin right now with Delta acquiring the group there and having a foot in both worlds. You see groups looking for ways that they can get out of that payer environment and maybe influence what happens next in dentistry. So, when I look at what the next five years ultimately holds, whether it’s for independent dentists or for groups, I think something has to give in the payer environment, and I feel like consolidation is maybe driving some of that to a head. I think that’s going to be one of the biggest net gains, is just blowing up the old system and figuring out what comes next. Hopefully, something better.
Dental margins aren’t bouncing back: 3 dentists on what to do
Bob Skopek, DDS. Owner of Skopek, ClearCut and EverSmiles Orthodontics; Co-founder of Vanguard Orthodontic Group (Huntley, Ill.): In dentistry and orthodontics, there is a dangerous misconception that more patients and aggressive cost cutting automatically mean more profit. They don’t. A practice can be packed from morning to night and still struggle financially. The race to the bottom is rarely a winning business strategy. Cutting every possible cost, aggressive treatment planning and squeezing more patients into every available appointment generally comes at the expense of quality, team morale, patient loyalty and ultimately the reputation of the practice. Healthcare is not a commodity where the highest volume and lowest-cost provider will be on top. The strongest dental and orthodontic practices understand that profitability is a result of delivering exceptional value. The goal should not be to build the busiest and cheapest practice possible; it should be to build a practice so good that patients recognize its value, are willing to pay a fair price for it, tell others about it and choose it again and again.
The workforce strategies dental offices need to prioritize next
Brian Groeschel. CFO at More Dental Solutions (Huntersville, N.C.): On the attraction side, I just think of this analogy in that you can turn your porch light on and you’re going to get a whole ton of bugs come, and then occasionally maybe a butterfly will show up. That’s kind of what I feel like most of us do when we’re trying to hire new staff. You put the Indeed ad out, and maybe every now and then you’ll get a good one. You keep having that Indeed ad out, but you keep having this churn, and it’s like, “Oh, well, it’s not that expensive,” but it really is because of poor performance, constant turnover and just so many different problems. Really, if you had just hired right the first time, spent money maybe even on a Headhunter — and yeah, they look really expensive up front, but if they’d gone out and found the right person, it’s actually cheaper. [With] retaining — [they’re] right about the equity, especially with your dentist. If you want to keep them, they’ve got to be in. If there’s skin in the game for them especially, that’s huge.
PDS Health plans to open 100+ more offices in 2027: Q&A
Dan Burke. Chief Enterprise Strategy Officer and General Counsel at PDS Health (Henderson, Nev.): In the DSO space, we’re seeing a clearer divide between organizations that create real value for clinicians and patients and those that are primarily aggregators.
In dentistry more broadly, access and affordability remain important issues. The profession will need to continue exploring ways to make care easier for patients to access, while also supporting clinicians and practice owners as they navigate rising costs, workforce pressures and changing patient expectations.
I’m also watching how the profession responds to a broader shift in healthcare toward prevention and earlier intervention. Dentistry has an important role to play in that conversation, but realizing the opportunity will require continued collaboration among dentists, physicians, payers, employers and other healthcare stakeholders. Candidly, as an industry and a profession we need to be more impatient in our demands for positive change. We can deliver better healthcare at lower overall costs by recognizing that oral health is an inextricable part of overall health. We need everyone to rally around these causes.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
