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What happens to a dental lab’s accounts after a practice sale?

After a practice sale, as firms that serve dental practices learn, the new owner decides which lab receives the cases, and a DSO may centralize that decision: 16.1% of U.S. dentists were DSO-affiliated in 2024, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute. Labs keep accounts by engaging the new decision-maker early and proving continuity.

By DDSIntel Editorial· Published · Data as of

Key numbers

When is a lab account most at risk?

The account is most at risk in the months around closing and the first quarter after, when the new owner reviews vendors and the former owner’s relationships are no longer the deciding factor. A sale to a DSO raises the risk because purchasing may move to a central team. See the labs hub.

How can a lab prepare before a sale?

Keep records of case volume, remake rates and turnaround, and make sure more than one person in the practice knows the lab’s team. Those records let the lab show a new decision-maker a track record. Ask the dentist, in confidence and at the dentist’s choice, how the lab can help with the transition.

Aggregate transition signals help a lab decide where to focus relationship work.

What keeps an account after the sale?

Continuity of the clinical results the dentist and staff rely on, competitive terms at group scale, and a named contact for the new owner’s operations team. Labs that offer to meet the buyer’s purchasing team and share data on past cases are often kept; those that wait to be asked are often replaced.

See DSO acquisition planning for how buyers think about vendors, and equipment demand around a sale for a parallel supplier story.

How much is private ownership declining?

The ADA Health Policy Institute reported that 72.5% of dentists in private practice owned their practice in 2023, down from 84.7% in 2005. Fewer individual owners means more purchasing decisions made by organizations, which changes who a lab needs to know. See dentist ownership and age.

Frequently asked questions

Do DSOs always change labs?

No. Practices differ, and a DSO may keep a lab that performs well and fits its terms.

Should a lab ask a dentist whether they are selling?

Respect the owner’s confidentiality. Offer help with continuity if the owner raises a transition, and never assume intent from public records.

Where do the national numbers come from?

From the ADA Health Policy Institute and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, listed on the data hub.

Can a lab see sales in its territory?

Aggregate counts by region are published once each release is signed off; individual practices are never named.

Sources

  1. ADA Health Policy Institute. The U.S. Dentist Workforce, 2025 update. ada.org.
  2. ADA Health Policy Institute. Practice Ownership Among Dentists Continues to Decline (November 2023). ada.org.
  3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians and Medical Appliance Technicians, Occupational Outlook Handbook. bls.gov.

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