Dentistry’s Tipping Point: Why Some DSOs are Failing & What It Means For Practice Owners

Date: March 19, 2026 | 7:00 PM CST/8:00 PM EST
Duration: 1 Hour
Credits: 1
Presenter: Connor Jorgensen, Director at TUSK Practice Sales, and Ryan Mingus, Managing Director & Partner at TUSK Practice Sales
Sponsor: TUSK Practice Sales
Cost: Free

Nobody in dentistry wants to say this out loud. So we will.

In this live session, Ryan Mingus and Connor Jorgensen of TUSK Practice Sales share what DSOs and most brokers won’t, unpacking the most consequential findings from the 2026 Dental Industry Report, including rare, candid interviews with DSO leadership on capital pressure, their recapitalization timelines, and their appetite for acquisitions in 2026.

Learn why many DSOs are failing with groups running out of runway, shedding offices, or selling for parts, while others are well-capitalized and using the environment to acquire premium practices.

This session connects the dots between tighter capital, margin compression, associate-to-owner pipeline shifts, and how those forces reshape deal structures and timelines for dentists.

If you are a practice owner evaluating your options, this session gives you the insider knowledge to inform your next steps. Cut through the noise and get the data behind what’s actually changing in dentistry. 

What You’ll Learn:

• The Indicators of Prepared Owners In 2026: The metrics and decision points that tend to separate proactive planners from reactive sellers.
• 2026 Dental Industry Report Breakdown: Key takeaways on how operational environment realities and economic policy are impacting profitability, growth capacity, and transition planning in dentistry.
• Why DSOs Fail: The most common breakdown points, what “failed” looks like in 2026, and what it signals for the broader market.
• DSO Sentiment Survey Results: The priorities, opportunities, and risks DSO leaders are focused on right now.
• Associate-to-Owner Pipeline Trends: What’s weakening the path to ownership, and what it means for private practice continuity.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze key findings from the 2026 Dental Industry Report and explain how capital markets, economic policy, and operational pressures are impacting dental practice profitability and growth.
• Identify common failure patterns among DSOs in 2026 and describe the financial and operational warning signs associated with underperforming organizations.
• Interpret current DSO sentiment data to evaluate acquisition appetite, recapitalization timelines, and strategic priorities shaping the transaction landscape.
• Assess trends in the associate-to-owner pipeline and discuss their implications for private practice continuity and long-term ownership opportunities.
• Evaluate the characteristics and performance indicators of well-prepared practice owners and apply these insights to inform strategic transition planning and timing decisions.

Presented By

Ryan Mingus, Managing Director & Partner, TUSK Practice Sales
Ryan has 12+ years of sales and leadership experience in the dental and healthcare industry, most recently as Business Development Director for Strategy and Optimization at Align Technology, Inc. Mr. Mingus earned his BA in Economics and Business from the Virginia Military Institute and his MBA from the University of San Diego. He also held the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army National Guard.

Connor Jorgensen, Director, TUSK Practice Sales
Connor Jorgensen has over a decade of experience in the dental industry focused on growth strategies and value creation. Most recently, he was the Director of Business Development at a national DSO focused on organizational growth. He earned his B.S. in Marketing from the Ivy School of Business at Iowa State University.

Supported in part through an unrestricted educational grant by: