- HIGH
- Business
- Tier 1
- Hard News
Is practice ownership still the ‘endgame’ for dentists? 10 stats to know
- Source
- Becker's Dental + DSO Review
- Author
- Cameron Cortigiano
- Originally at
- beckersdental.com(opens in a new tab)
Summary and scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol. Not the original publisher.
Why it matters for dental
Practice ownership remains the career endpoint for most dentists, but DSO affiliation is accelerating and ownership is occurring later, so owners and DSOs should track regional workforce shifts and plan staffing and succession models accordingly.
Key points
- 01
American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute report shows solo practice share dropped 3.9 percentage points from 36.5% in 2022 to 32.6% in 2025.
- 02
DSO affiliation rose from 7.2% in 2015 to 17% in 2025, with the largest state gains in Colorado, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
- 03
Among dentists five to nine years after graduation, ownership fell to 21% for the 2016-2020 cohort; 90% of dentists own by 25-plus years post-graduation.
- 04
Gender gap in ownership persists: 14% of female dentists versus 30% of male dentists own five to nine years out for the 2016-2020 cohort.
Who should care
- Owner
- DSO
- Associate
Read the original
Becker's Dental + DSO Review
Full reporting and any paywalled content live on beckersdental.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.