The hygienist shortage is the most discussed operational problem in dentistry right now. But the conversation almost always focuses on hiring — finding hygienists, paying them more, offering better schedules.
What gets talked about less is the math of what unfilled hygiene capacity actually costs y...
Every dental practice owner asks some version of the same question: How are we actually doing?
Not gut feeling. Not "we had a good month." Real numbers compared to real peers.
The problem is that until now, there hasn't been an independent, practice-level benchmark for dentistry. You've had your a...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 6-Minute Read
Most dental practice owners think about their equipment the same way they think about their waiting room furniture: it is there, it is functional, it has a cost, and it does not need much more attention than that.
This is a mistake — and i...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 8-Minute Read | For DSO Operators and Group Practice Leaders
The DSO model had a run in the early 2020s that looked, in retrospect, like a period where almost anything worked. Low interest rates made debt cheap. Private equity was aggressive. Multiples e...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 7-Minute Read
The average retirement age for U.S. dentists is now 68.7 years. One third of dental assistants and one third of dental hygienists expect to retire within five years. Several states have more than 40% of their active dentists aged 55 or olde...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 8-Minute Read
President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" has received extensive coverage for its immigration and tax provisions. Its impact on dental practices has received comparatively little — which is a problem, because the implications for pract...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 8-Minute Read
If you are a dental practice owner and you are not maximizing a retirement plan designed specifically for business owners, you are paying more in taxes than you need to. There is no more accurate way to say it.
The SEP IRA—Simplified Emplo...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 7-Minute Read
The 2026 Dentalpost Dental Salary Survey found something that should concern every practice owner and DSO operator reading this: dental assistants are the only dental professional group where satisfaction declined across every single measur...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 8-Minute Read
When you search for the value of a used car, you go to Kelley Blue Book. There is a universally accepted reference point. The market has a number. Everyone — buyer, seller, insurer, lender — consults the same source, and transactions happen...
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 7-Minute Read
Right now, in the summer of 2026, demand for dental practices is high and supply is low. DSOs are hungry. Sixty-nine percent of them expect to increase their acquisition activity this year, and many report relying more heavily on brokers be...
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You've heard it. Or you're about to. Someone in your class drops the phrase "RAP plan" and suddenly the whole table goes quiet. Because nobody really knows what it means, and everybody's scared to admit it.
July 1, 2026 changes everything about how dental students borrow and repay federal loans....
By Dental Strategy Institute | June 2026 | 7-Minute Read
Most conversations about retirement benefits in dentistry focus on what the practice has to build, fund, and administer. That is the right conversation—and it is one DSI covers extensively. But a new executive order signed on April 30, 2026...