I delivered a keynote address for a Global Dental Conference in Rome on May 7, and then a study session for interested parties on group dental practices. The session was packed. There were dentists from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, South America, Saudi Arabia, and Asia, as well as three from the United States and two from Canada.
I was surprised to learn the high degree of consolidation, via mergers and acquisitions, of dental practices throughout the world, particularly in first-world countries. For example, an entity called “My Dentist” has 650 practices in England, Wales, and Scotland, and sees 7 million patients a year. But there were some DSOs in the study session in the mid-range, with 100 to 200 practices, as well as some small and emerging types as well.
The Future of Group Dental Practices Around the World
The bottom line? Globalization is happening, and dentistry needs to examine what impact this will have on the industry — not only in the U.S., but abroad.
Will the emergence of multi-national DSOs be good or bad for dentistry? Will it improve dental health worldwide, or will it make the rich richer and the poor poorer, as it has done in other industries? Will globalization push the current large players in the U.S. to join forces, and become so dominant that smaller players struggle for viability? Will it end up similar to the oil, telecommunication, and online retailers, where only a few players control the market?
Will multinational corporations that were previously restricted to regional clinical and business activities, gain increasing influence in political and clinical decisions? Will multinationals that were formerly constrained by state and national standards become large enough to influence clinical decisions?
Globalization is the Future of Dentistry
Globalization will happen. It has happened in every other industry. To think it won’t happen in dentistry is absurd. Will globalization improve access? In my study session, I was surprised to learn that the Netherlands had open access to the whole population, whereas in Brazil, only 20 percent had access to dentistry. Will globalization be so motivated by the profit motive that access becomes even more limited?
Moral and ethical questions are quickly emerging as globalization moves forward. And as far as I can tell, no one is addressing these questions. Will globalization make dentistry better or worse — not only for first-world countries, but for all countries?
I have spoken to a few individuals who are large DSO players, and they are seeing increased opportunity to become global players. It is inevitable. But how will dentistry approach globalization? Previously, it has been restricted to political and academic entities, but now major capital and business know-how is taking charge.
It’s time for dentistry to begin stepping up to address the inevitable problems that come with globalization.
— Marc
