Dental service organizations are growing across the U.S. as independent offices search for partners to help them thrive.
This list of entrepreneurial DSOs features organizations with fewer than 20 practices, although many have their sights set on growth. Becker's compiled the list based on nominations and editorial research. DSOs do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list.
Here are 20 entrepreneurial DSOs to know, in alphabetical order.
Allied OMS (Fort Worth, Texas). Allied OMS is an eight-practice DSO with locations in Texas, California and Colorado. Four of those practices joined in December. Physicians that join the network keep equity ownership in the practice. Allied OMS provides accounting, payroll and procurement services.
Areo Dental (Chicago). Areo Dental was founded in 2015 and grew 20 percent year over year in 2020. It plans to open its sixth location in the second quarter and aims to grow to 50 locations within 10 years. The organization buys practices from retiring dentists and adds technology and services to boost revenue.
Community Dental (Ventnor City, N.J.). Community Dental was founded in 2013 and now includes seven offices. The organization targets underserved areas in Central and Southern New Jersey, where it plans to continue expanding. Community Dental offices closed for elective cases for two months during the pandemic, but reported more than 1,000 dental emergency cases.
Dynamic Growth Dental Support (Ephrata, Pa.). Dynamic Growth Dental was founded in 2018 and has grown into an eight-practice DSO. The company provides administrative services for dental offices, including billing, marketing and human resources. The company opened its first de novo location in Chester Springs, Pa., this year.
Family Dental Care (Chicago). Family Dental Care opened its first location more than 30 years ago and has grown to include seven practices in Chicago and the surrounding area. Family Dental offers general and pediatric dentistry as well as cosmetic and restorative dental procedures. The DSO has more than 20 dentists and 100 staff members.
Five Point Dental Specialists (Fort Worth, Texas). Five Point Dental Specialists was founded in 2019 and offers administrative services including IT, inventory, human resources and bookkeeping, to private practices. The organization also offers professional development opportunities and performance improvement consulting.
Foundation Dental Partners (Alpharetta, Ga.). Foundation Dental Partners takes an individualized approach to partnership with each network practice. The company provides administrative services for dental offices while the dentist owners maintain equity stake. Foundation Dental added eight locations to its nine-practice DSO in 2020.
Imagen Dental Partners (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Imagen is a rapidly growing twelve practice DPO that allows dentists to maintain ownership in their business and also acquire shares in the collective. Imagen provides comprehensive business support while dentists maintain clinical autonomy and is designed to maximize partners long term wealth creation potential.
Kare Mobile (Louisville, Ky.). Kare Mobile supports owner-operated mobile concierge dental practices. The DSO has six locations and is developing its own practice management software to tackle the challenges tied with operating mobile clinics. The DSO also has a business model for hygienists to own and operate independent dental hygienist practices.
Kids First Dental (Fort Mill, S.C.). With six offices in South Carolina and Virginia, Kids First Dental focuses on providing care to patients in a child-friendly environment. The DSO's care strategy centers on prevention and treatment techniques to ensure the oral health of its patients. Kids First Dental made Inc. magazine's annual list of fastest-growing private companies in 2018 and 2020.
OMS Logistics (Nashville, Tenn.). Formed in 2018, OMS Logistics specializes in oral surgery and general anesthesia mobile platforms for large DSOs. The DSO runs a virtual network of clinics that share a common digital general anesthesia record. It contracts with local and regional surgeons and provides complete surgical and anesthesia armamentarium to dental offices, reducing the setup costs required to launch surgery services.
ProHealth Dental (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). ProHealth Dental was founded in 2016 and has grown to include 13 offices across New York and New Jersey. It also has partnerships with leading medical groups and health systems. The DSO is a member of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Initiative to Integrate Oral Health and Medicine, which aims to develop pathways to unite oral health and primary care. ProHealth Dental aims to add one office per month over the next five years.
Select Dental Management (Rocky Hill, Conn.). Select Dental partners with dentists to grow their practices. The company has a 100 percent doctor retention rate after acquiring a new practice and implements a collaborative decision-making model. The group also offers mentorship and training for clinicians. Select Dental began in 2018 and now includes 14 practices.
Smiles West (Lynwood, Calif.). Smiles West is a 15-location DSO that provides pediatric and family dentistry, orthodontics, dental implants, oral surgery and cosmetic dentistry to patients in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. There are 30 dentists and orthodontists within the Smiles West network.
Spoonwood Dental Partners (Keene, N.H.). Formed in 2016 and consisting of three locations, this Northeastern DSO believes in providing a multitude of paths for dentists and dental teams, from partnership to ownership. Spoonwood is solidifying its internal operations in preparation for rapid growth and expansion. The organization converted all its practices to a new management software and is in the final stages of honing its DSO structure.
Swish Dental (Austin, Texas). Swish Dental is an 11-practice DSO focused on providing a high-tech environment for patient care. The organization's practices provide general, cosmetic and family dentistry as well as sleep apnea treatment. Viraj Desai, DMD, founded the DSO in 2017.
Tomalty Dental Care (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Tomalty Dental Care is a fast-growing dental service organization. Founded in 2013 by Sean Tomalty, DMD, the organization now has 15 locations and 150 employees in Southeast Florida. During a seven-month period from 2019 to 2020, Dr. Tomalty doubled the group's operations by adding seven practices.
Total Health Dental Care (Oakland, Calif.). Total Health Dental Care remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to serve its community with emergency and preventive care. The DSO has 12 offices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, each equipped with an extraoral dental suction system and an air-purification system.
Unified Dental Care (Detroit). Unified Dental Care has seven offices throughout Michigan, where it is actively seeking to grow its presence. The DSO serves more than 100,000 patients throughout the state. In 2019, Delta Dental's Healthy Kids Dental program recognized Unified Dental Care for providing the most dental services to patients ages 13 to 18.
Valley Endodontics & Oral Surgery (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Valley Endodontics was founded in 1996 and has grown to include 11 practices throughout the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas. With more than 125 team members, including 20 dental specialists, the DSO has become Arizona's largest specialty practice. Continuously updating skills to better serve patients, the organization strives to be at the forefront of endodontic, oral surgery and dental implant technology.