The leaders of the largest DSOs in the U.S. oversee networks of thousands of dental practices and dental professionals.
Meet the executives leading the 10 largest DSOs in the U.S.:
Patrick Bauer. President and CEO of Heartland Dental (Effingham, Ill.): Mr. Bauer has been president of Heartland Dental since 2009, and before becoming CEO in 2015, he served as COO since 1997. He has more than 25 years of experience in dental and healthcare operations management.
Robert Fontana. Chair and CEO of The Aspen Group (Chicago): Mr. Fontana originally founded the company as Aspen Dental in 1998. The company rebranded in 2021 to reflect its expansion, taking on dental implants, urgent care and medical aesthetics. He now oversees the organization's more than 1,300 locations in 45 states.
Stephen Thorne IV. Founder and CEO of PDS Health (Henderson, Nev.): Mr. Thorne founded PDS in 1994. In addition to his leadership at PDS, he is also a board member for several dental organizations, including the Forsyth Institute.
Steve Bilt. CEO of Smile Brands (Irvine, Calif.): Mr. Bilt co-founded Smile Brands in 2016. He is also chair of the Smiles for Everyone Foundation. He has won several awards, including Comparably's "Best CEO" for women and diversity in 2023.
Chris Steven Villanueva, DMD. Founder and CEO of MB2 Dental (Dallas): Dr. Villanueva founded MB2 Dental in 2007, leading the company through major milestones of growth to its current network of more than 700 offices in 44 states.
Preet Takkar. President and COO of Sonrava Health (Coppell, Texas): Mr. Takkar was appointed to his role in October. He previously worked for the company in a variety of roles between 2015 and 2022, including senior vice president of revenue cycle management, chief information officer and COO. He then spent two years as COO of Upstream Rehabilitation, an outpatient physical therapy organization, before returning to Sonrava Health.
Pete Bridgman. CEO of Affordable Care (Morrisville, N.C.): Mr. Bridgman will succeed Gene Kirtser as the new CEO after Mr. Kirtser retires at the end of February. Mr. Bridgman previously served as the CEO of Visionworks, the sixth largest optical retailer in the U.S. He then served as chief network officer of VSP Vision following the company's acquisition of Visionworks in 2019.
John "J." Hedrick. CEO of Smile Doctors (Dallas): Mr. Hedrick has served as Smile Doctors' CEO since 2019. His extensive leadership background includes time as CEO of the Pei Wei restaurant chain, COO of restaurant franchise NPC National and vice president of mergers and acquisitions for 7-Eleven.
Jason Heffelfinger. CEO of Dental Care Alliance (Sarasota, Fla.): Mr. Heffelfinger was most recently appointed CEO in November 2023. He previously served as chief service officer at Petco, but now oversees DCA's network of more than 400 practices.
Roderick Place. CEO of Great Expressions Dental Centers (Southfield, Mich.): Mr. Place has served as the company's CEO since 2023. Before joining GEDC, he served as the co-CEO and COO for InterDent Service Corporation. His past experience also includes roles at Alliance Healthcare Services and Eli Lilly.