Here are seven facts DSO leaders should know, including the percentage of affiliated dentists and how DSO activity could evolve in 2024:
1. A recent report from the Association of DSOs found that the majority of dentists now work in a group practice, with only 36% of dentists working at a solo practice. Thirteen percent of dentists are now affiliated with a DSO.
2. Only 72.5% of dentists in private practice are owners in 2023, down from 84.7% in 2005, according to a November report from the American Dental Association's Health Policy Institute.
3. DSOs and other management services organizations could start to merge as economic challenges continue into 2024, according to Richard Hall, CEO of Irving, Texas-based U.S. Oral Surgery Management.
4. The top nine largest DSOs in the U.S. support more than 6,700 dental offices combined.
5. Forty-two percent of DSO-affiliated dentists are satisfied or very satisfied with their benefits, according to Dentalpost's 2024 Dental Salary Survey.
6. Dentists who are affiliated with DSOs are more concerned with staffing shortages than dentists that are not DSO-affiliated, according to a survey from the ADA's Health Policy Institute.
7. Dentists who have been out of dental school for 10 years or fewer are more likely to be affiliated with a DSO, according to data from the ADA's Health Policy Institute.