Dental service organization (DSO)

Definition

A management company that owns everything in a dental practice except the clinical practice itself.

Why It Matters

It is how consolidator capital operates behind the ownership wall, and it is the other of the two markets a practice trades in: a DSO buys on EBITDA at a platform multiple and a dentist buys on collections. A seller who has been courted by one arrives with a higher number in mind. A DSO deal that failed in diligence or on the affiliation terms is the same practice coming back to the dentist-to-dentist market, so ask why it fell over before pricing it.