What DSOs get wrong about dentist partnerships
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
DSO owners and dental practice sellers are facing a widening gap between outdated partnership models and what dentists now demand—DSOs that fail to adapt risk losing acquisition targets and seeing post-deal retention collapse.
Key points
- Ashish Bagai of Vitana Pediatric & Orthodontic Partners notes that dentists are increasingly evaluating DSOs on long-term alignment, not just cash at close.
- DSOs that maintain rigid, one-size-fits-all partnership structures are losing deals to competitors offering flexible equity, autonomy, or exit options.
- Economic turbulence is exposing which DSOs built sustainable dentist relationships versus those reliant on aggressive roll-ups.
- Practice owners negotiating with DSOs should compare partnership models on post-sale clinical control and compensation structure, not headline valuation alone.
Who should care
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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