# Dental service organization (DSO)

A term used when buying dental practice.

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

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](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/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.

Part of: Buying a Dental Practice (https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice)

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/guides/buying-a-dental-practice/terms/dental-service-organization-dso
Not dated: The same editorial definitions as the glossary, inside a trade.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt