HIGHBusinessTier 1

Good news, bad news for dentistry

SourceBecker's Dental + DSO ReviewTier 1Hard News

By Ariana Portalatin

Originally at beckersdental.com

Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.

Why it matters for dental

Graduation growth and rising patient visits help owners and DSOs plan hiring and revenue, while lagging reimbursement and assistant turnover threaten margins and daily operations for practices across the U.S.

Key points

  • ADA data show dental-school graduates rose from 5,811 in 2015 to 7,015 in 2025.
  • Levin Associates reports dental M&A deal volume fell 7% from Q2 2026 and 27% from Q3 2025.
  • TUSK Practice Sales data indicate reimbursement rates climbed 19% since 2021 while inflation reached 27% and practice expenses rose 4.9%.
  • Dental Assisting National Board survey finds roughly half of assistants satisfied with their jobs in 2026, with 32% considering leaving.

Who should care

OwnerDSOStaff

Read the original on Becker's Dental + DSO Review

Full reporting and any paywall content live on beckersdental.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.

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