Henderson, Nev.-based PDS Health is zeroing in on organic growth, opening de novo offices, technology and oral systemic health to drive growth this year.
The healthcare company has opened more than 30 offices this year and launched new partnerships to advance oral healthcare.
Dan Burke, chief enterprise strategy officer at PDS Health, recently spoke with Becker’s to discuss the company’s achievements from 2025 so far and what the company has planned to finish the year strong.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How would you describe PDS Health’s growth so far this year?
Dan Burke: 2025 has been another strong year of growth for PDS Health. We continued to focus on same-practice, profitable growth in every practice we support. Same practice growth, especially in more tenured practices, is a meaningful indicator of long-term success in this space. We’ve also seen continued strength in our continuing care patient count, another indicator of long-term success, which is a compliment to the owner dentists and the teams.
Q: What accomplishments from the company are you most proud of?
DB: This was our first full year operating as PDS Health following our brand evolution in 2024. When Steve Thorne, our founder and CEO, announced the change, we were curious how the market would react to the rebranding of a well-known 30-plus year brand. We have been heartened to see how quickly the industry, the profession and our own team members have embraced our new identity. Today, we are clearly PDS Health. What began as a dental support organization focused on clinical excellence has become a healthcare organization with a broader mission to lead the future of integrated care. This public shift happened fast, after years of behind-the-scenes preparation and curation, because our culture was already built for it. We’ve always been deeply committed to serving clinicians in a comprehensive care environment, and that commitment now extends across both dental and medical care, enabling a model where patients are seen more holistically and outcomes continue to improve.
Q: What else is the company focused on for the rest of 2025?
DB: We are focused on continuing our organic growth, both within our medical, dental and specialty care businesses and also by opening new practices. With more than 1,100 dental and medical practices, we continue to support one practice, one clinician, one patient at a time. De novo growth remains our preferred strategy, both for cost-effectiveness and for maintaining cultural alignment. One business line showing great progress is our PDS Health Technologies business which deploys and supports our instance of Epic and platform for its customers. As for projects, we have more that we will be announcing later this year. Recently, we were pleased to announce the Smile Generation ADHA Dental Plan, created in partnership with the ADHA for their hygienist members. We’re excited to serve that important population and help to ensure that our industry takes care of those who take such great care of patients.
We’re also continuing to accelerate how we operationalize the Mouth-Body Connection®. The science around oral-systemic health isn’t new, as Becker’s readers understand. It’s well established and widely recognized. Dental schools are teaching it. Academic and research institutions are publishing on it. Federal health agencies and health organizations have acknowledged it. Indeed, the recently published draft physician fee schedule includes payment for medical doctors to do oral exams and refer to dentists – this alone could catalyze a major movement towards integrated care. As we know, there’s no shortage of data showing the connection between oral health and systemic conditions – brain health, women’s health, pregnancy, diabetes, heart health, cancer and more. The imperative now is to put science into action, and that’s exactly what we’re focused on.
For example, we’re working with Delta Dental of Massachusetts on a first-of-its-kind program using saliva screening to help patients better understand their oral health and take proactive steps to improve it. By offering this kind of non-invasive wellness screening at the dental visit, we’re seeing new ways to activate patients and create meaningful engagement around their overall health.
We have also been conducting a pilot with Delta Dental of Arizona in which they are paying our supported dental clinicians to do A1c testing. That’s a big deal. It shows that payers are recognizing the critical role dental providers can play in identifying chronic conditions and initiating a connection to medical care. That kind of integration is where health care is headed. We are also pleased to partner with the American Heart Association and Delta Dental of California in an important study focused on the role of dental practices in heart health. There is so much untapped value in dental practices across our country. Pilots such as these can really drive positive change.
We’re also seeing momentum in saliva science. New CDT codes are coming later this year that support point-of-care saliva screening, which moves us closer to making saliva screening a standard part of preventive care in dentistry throughout the United States. This will allow patients, with the guidance of their clinician, to make more informed decisions around their oral healthcare. Eventually, saliva will be a bridge between medical and dental, permitting collaboration around a number of systemic conditions. The ADA Forsyth Institute is leading in this area and is a good resource for your readers to accelerate their understanding of saliva science.
Q: What are some of the benefits of focusing on de novos?
DB: If I look in the rear-view mirror, I don’t see a reason why we would have done it any other way. De novo growth has been the right path for PDS Health from the beginning. Steve started with de novos more than 30 years ago and has remained steadfast ever since due to its many advantages. De novo growth seamlessly leverages the investments that we continue to make in our platform. I don’t know of another private company in the dental space that’s invested more in building a platform that’s both scalable and sustainable. When you’ve invested in the way we have for scale — in Epic as our practice management system, in revenue operations, in clinical infrastructure — opening new practices from the ground up just makes sense. Each one is built to fit our model and culture from day one. Every new office is a direct expression of our culture, not something we have to retrofit. Additionally, prior to ownership, our owner dentists have worked as associates for another owner in a PDS Health practice. Thus, when a would-be owner dentist is ready to purchase their office, they know exactly what they are getting.
With acquisitions, you’re inheriting systems and technology you may not need. You’re taking on processes that likely don’t align with your platform. And you’re trying to integrate people who may not come from the same culture. Those are hurdles. Not necessarily insurmountable ones, but hurdles all the same. With de novos, we get to start strong and scale with intention. This is not to say that we won’t one day consider an acquisition, but the strengths of a de novo model are compelling.
Q: What is the greatest challenge facing DSOs right now?
DB: As Steve likes to say, this is the golden age of dentistry and oral health care in the United States. We’re cognizant of headwinds in the greater economic space, but for us, this has been a time of accelerated growth, and we anticipate that to continue.
I think we’re seeing a clearer divide between DSOs that truly add value and those that don’t. The ones that will thrive are focused on improving clinical care and clinical outcomes, helping patients get the best care and doing it on scale. The value creators talk about lifetime patient value, care quality and long-term impact. They put clinicians and patients first, knowing that business results will follow. Those organizations will continue to play an important role in shaping the future of healthcare in neighborhoods around the country.
The DSOs that will have the biggest challenges are those that still see themselves primarily as aggregators — trying to grow by simply cobbling together more practices. That model isn’t built for long-term success. The real challenge isn’t interest rates or other external pressures. It’s whether or not they’re adding real value to the clinician and the patient. At the end of the day, that’s how DSOs need to judge themselves when they look in the mirror.
