Here are eight dental industry updates that have taken place in Florida since April 3:
1. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Imagen Dental Partners added a Florida dental practice to its network.
2. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills concerning the state's dental industry. House Bill 855 requires all patients receiving dental treatment through telehealth to have an in-person examination and a dentist to remain primarily responsible for all treatments. Senate Bill 938 removes the requirement of out-of-state dentists who receive a Florida dental license to practice in Florida for one full year after being licensed. The bill also gets rid of a law that requires dental school students to wait until their final year of school to apply for licensure.
3. Gov. DeSantis also signed Senate Bill 892: Dental Insurance Claims, which made changes to the dental insurance claims process in the state. The bill prohibits contracts between insurers and dentists from having restrictions on certain payment methods. It also prohibits insurers from charging a fee to send payment through Automated Clearing House transfer unless the dentist consents to the fee, among other changes.
4. A building housing a Heartland Dental-supported practice in Bradenton, Fla., was sold for $3 million.
5. Supermarket chain Publix purchased a shopping center in Coral Springs, Fla., that includes an Aspen Dental, for $58.5 million.
6. Suncoast Career Academy opened a training facility in Brandon, Fla., to help alleviate the state's dental assistant shortage.
7. Modis Dental Partners, a DSO focused on practices that provide dental implants, added a Florida periodontics and implant dentistry practice.
8. Nashville, Tenn.-based Endodontic Practice Partners added a Florida practice to its network.