What’s Happening with Dental Support Organizations and the 2018 Hinman Dental Meeting?

Keeping in line with other “mainstream” dental meetings, the Hinman meeting that takes place this week in Atlanta from March 22nd – 24th, lacks any dental group practice or DSO focused continuing education content. While this may not be surprising to many of us in the group practice space, what is surprising is the number of dentists in Georgia who actually work in a dental support setting.

According to the ADA Health Policy Institute’s research from March of 2017, 12.7% of all dentists in the state of Georgia work in a dental support setting.  According to this research, Georgia has the 4th highest percentage of dentists working with DSOs in the country. The ADA Health Policy Institute used data from the Association of Dental Support Organizations and also took into account some larger DSOs which were not members of the ADSO.  What the Health Policy Institute did not include in their research were smaller dental support organizations and group practices which were not members of the ADSO.  According to several other sources, including the data that we collect at Group Dentistry Now, there are most likely another 400 – 600 smaller groups across the United States which were not included in this research.

The lack of continuing education content geared to scaling dental practices, creating a centralized dental support structure, and other DSO related courses is disappointing and one wonders whether this is politically motivated by the dental societies that run these events, or if it just a lack of awareness as to the importance, relevance and growth of dental groups and DSOs within certain states.

Last year’s Hinman Meeting had 5,755 dentists in attendance with over 20,300 total attendees.

Here is a list of dental groups and dental support organizations who will be exhibiting at the Hinman Meeting in 2018.

• 360 Care [Booth 420] – 360Care focuses on serving the dental needs of long term care facilities throughout 18 states.
• Affordable Dentures & Implants [Booth 19] -Affordable Dentures is the largest and fastest growing denture-services provider in the U S with 200+ affiliated practices in 40+ states.
• Benevis [Booth 948] – Exploring options to sell and transition out of your dental practice? Benevis buys and supports general dentistry offices with customized transitions that fit your needs. JoinDSO profile – Affiliations / Careers
• Coast Dental [Booth 1848] -Coast Dental, with practices in California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas, is always in search of talented dentists, hygienists and other staff.
• CORDENTAL [Booth 1052] – CORDENTAL Group is a dental support organization (DSO) that provides business support services to affiliated dental practices across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States.  JoinDSO profile – Affiliations / Careers
• Dental Care Alliance [Booth 15] – As one of the country’s largest and oldest dental support organizations, DCA supports more than 265 affiliated practices in 13 states.
• Great Expressions Dental Centers [620] – For over 35 years, Great Expressions Dental Centers has been exceeding patients’ expectations with more than 50 affiliated offices in metro Atlanta and over 200 affiliated offices in nine states. JoinDSO profile – Affiliations / Careers
• Heartland Dental [Booth 1919] -Heartland Dental is one of the leading dental support organizations in the United States Through career and affiliation opportunities, we have a win-win solution for every doctor and team member. JoinDSO profile – Affiliations / Careers
• ImmediaDent [Booth 422] – ImmediaDent is the nation’s premier urgent dental care provider. All ImmediaDent Urgent Dental Care practices are open 7 days a week from 9 am to 9 pm. With 30 practices in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. JoinDSO profile – Careers
• Pacific Dental Services [Booth 1748] – Pacific Dental Services (PDS) provides administrative support services to dental practices so that owner dentists can focus on their patients rather than running a business. JoinDSO profile – Affiliations / Careers
• Smiles For Life Network [Booth 2144] – The Smiles For Life Network is supported by the largest and fastest growing Specialty dental support organization, D4C Dental Brands, Inc With over 100 doctor-owned pediatric dental and orthodontic offices.
• Sage Dental [Booth 805] – Sage Dental has 60 convenient locations throughout Florida, and the Atlanta, Georgia area.

Sources: Hinman Dental, ADA