Several DSOs are focused on opening de novo practices, acquiring offices and adding affiliates in new markets this year.
Becker's reported on nearly 100 moves by DSOs to expand their network during the first and second quarters. Several DSO leaders spoke with Becker's to provide insight into their company's plans for growth this year.
Select Dental Management's new CEO Stephen Saukaitis most recently spoke with Becker's to discuss the DSO's plans, which include acquisitions and organic growth by increasing capacity at its offices.
"We want to be a differentiated partnership model and the best way we can do that is to make sure we deliver world-class service to our practice partners and our patients," he told Becker's. "At the center of what we do, it really is a practice partnership model, and fundamental to that is making sure we support those partners in the best way we can with the services we produce."
Dallas-based MB2 Dental added 70 new partner practices and three de novo locations during the first half of 2023. MB2 Dental is planning additional acquisitions, de novos and practice expansions for the rest of this year, with plans to reach 600 practices by the end of this summer.
Founder and CEO Chris Steven Villanueva, DMD, also noted MB2 Dental's focus on specialty care, which represents more than a third of the company's network.
DSOs are becoming increasingly focused on specialty care. Kristen Cusack is the CEO of Phase 1 Equity, a DSO dedicated to orthodontics and pediatric dentistry. She told Becker's in July that the company intends to target these fields because of the opportunities for further growth.
"When you look at how much of the market has been penetrated as far as DSOs and things like that, there is still a lot of opportunity in both of those areas," Ms. Cusack said. "I don't think anybody's recession-proof, but they're definitely very resilient. And that's been proven time over time that they come back very quickly, and dentistry in general does that. As we could see even from the pandemic and those kinds of things, the bounce back for those specialties has been really strong as well."
Network expansions can also include specific initiatives, such as Pacific Dental Services' focus on medical-dental integration. The Irvine, Calif.-based DSO is continuing its joint venture with Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare to open their first integrated office in California. MemorialCare opened a health center in Irvine in May offering family medicine, obstetrics/gynecology and pediatric services. Pacific Dental Services will bring Culver Smiles Dentistry to the location in the fall.
Pacific Dental Services is also working its way up to surpassing 1,000 practices this year. The DSO has opened more than a dozen practices so far this year and currently has 940 locations in the U.S.
"It's been the best year in the history of the company, and that's saying a lot after almost 30 years of business. Patient demand is strong. We're having the highest number of opportunities per clinician per day," he told Becker's. "Despite the lingering challenges in specific areas due to the pandemic, particularly with supply chain issues, we remain on track."