Last week, an advisory firm made headlines with a claim that dentistry is approximately 35% consolidated, along with a prediction that practice valuations will decline as the industry matures. If you're an associate thinking about ownership, or an owner thinking about selling, that number probably made your stomach drop a little.

Here's the thing. I'm an accountant. When a number makes my stomach drop, my first instinct is to go find out where it came from. So, let's check the math, because the American Dental Association publishes its own consolidation figures, and they tell a different story.

Three different numbers, three different questions

The ADA's Health Policy Institute reports that 16.1% of US dentists were affiliated with a dental support organization in 2024.¹ A separate ADA-affiliated study published in Health Affairs² found that the share of dentists affiliated with private equity roughly doubled from 6.6% in 2015 to 12.8% in 2021. And ADA workforce data³ show that about two in three dentists now work in group practices of some kind.

So, which is it? Is dentistry 35% consolidated, 16% consolidated, 13% consolidated, or 66% consolidated?

The honest answer is that these numbers are answering different questions. "What share of dentists work for a DSO" is not the same question as "what share of dentists have private equity somewhere upstream," and neither is the same as "what share of dentists practice in groups." A three-dentist practice owned by the three dentists is a group practice. It is not a DSO, and no private equity fund is involved. Counting it toward "consolidation" tells you something about how dentists like to work. It tells you nothing about who owns dentistry.

The 35% figure was published without identifying which measure it used. That doesn't make it wrong. It makes it unverifiable, and unverifiable numbers deserve your skepticism, especially when they arrive attached to predictions about your financial future.

What the verifiable numbers actually say

Take the strictest definition of consolidation, ownership by corporate or investor-backed organizations, and the picture looks like this: roughly one in six dentists is DSO-affiliated, and roughly one in eight has private equity involvement. Both numbers are growing. Neither is anywhere near a majority. For comparison, in industries we'd all agree are consolidated, like pharmacy chains or hospital systems, the corporate share of the market passed the halfway mark long ago.

Now, is consolidation real? Absolutely. The DSO share has climbed steadily for a decade, and the recent wave of cross-border and private equity deals shows the interest in the dental industry still exists.

On the other hand, in the first half of 2026 alone, several of the largest DSOs in the country entered restructuring agreements with their creditors. Affordable Care, the parent of Affordable Dentures & Implants, alone erased roughly $975 million of a $1.4 billion debt load, with lenders taking control of the company.

But here's the number that never makes the scary headlines. According to the ADA’s own ownership data,¹ nearly three in four US dentists own their practice today. And the Health Policy Institute's 2025 workforce report found that ownership among younger dentists is delayed, not abandoned. Most dentists still become owners. They just do it later than the generation before them did.

What this means if you're thinking about buying

If you're an associate reading consolidation headlines and wondering whether the window for ownership is closing, the verifiable data say it isn't. Practices are transferring at a steady clip, and they will keep transferring, because dentists keep retiring. The real change is on the other side of the table: the competition for quality practices is better organized and better funded than it used to be. The DSO looking at the same practice you are has an acquisition team and a line of credit. You have a dream and a preapproval letter.

That's not a reason to wait. It's a reason to prepare. The buyers who win in a more competitive market are the ones who know their numbers, move decisively, and don't spend two years hoping the perfect practice falls in their lap.

And on the valuation prediction, here's one accountant’s caution. Forecasts that practice values will fall serve some market participants better than others. A seller's advisor benefits when sellers rush to market. Read every prediction with one question in mind: what does the person making it want me to do next?

Consolidation is real. But honestly, I don’t think it ever gets above 20% of all dental practices. I personally think dentists are too smart to give up control of their career to corporations. It is also, by every verifiable measure, a long way from 35%. Before you make a career decision based on a headline, check the math. It usually tells a calmer story.

References

1. Dental practice research. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. https://www.ada.org/resources/research/health-policy-institute/dental-practice-research
2. Nasseh K, LoSasso AT, Vujicic M. Percentage of dentists and dental practices affiliated with private equity nearly doubled, 2015-21. Health Affairs. August 5, 2024. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00574
3. The U.S. Dentist Workforce. American Dental Association Health Policy Institute. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/US_dentist_workforce_2025.pdf