The Margin Line

DSO Co-Founders: Everything They Told You In Dental School About DSOs Was Wrong

Most dentists are told there are only two choices: go it alone or sell out to corporate dentistry. Dr. Layla Lohmann and David Lohmann built Apex Dental Partners to prove that was a lie. In this episode of The Margin Line, Joe Lynch sits down with Apex Dental Partners' co-founders to unpack how a patient who got her first crown at 12 grew up to build one of the fastest-growing DSOs in the country, landing on the Inc. 5000 list six years in a row, scaling to 65 practices, and generating $1.6M in production growth for its first doctor leadership cohort alone. They get into: * The "supported dentistry" model that gives doctors private-practice autonomy inside a larger organization * Why most DSO partnerships fail, and the exact culture levers Apex pulls to retain doctors and staff * How clinical AI is closing the confidence gap for dentists and transforming case acceptance * The leadership development engine turning individual doctors into growth drivers * Why technology done wrong creates burnout, and how to use it so it doesn't If you're a dentist weighing your options, burning out in a model that doesn't fit, or trying to understand what the next generation of group dentistry actually looks like, this is the blueprint. Check out Dandy here: https://www.meetdandy.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=margin-line-podcast [https://www.meetdandy.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=margin-line-podcast]

How a Small-Town Indiana Dentist Grew a Multi-Million Dollar DSO Without Focusing on Profit

Most DSOs scale by chasing deals. LADD Dental Group scaled by staying close to home and never losing sight of why they started. In this episode of The Margin Line, Joe Lynch sits down with Mary Ladd, CEO of LADD Dental Group, and Dalton Albertin, Director of Marketing and Business Development, to unpack how a single family practice founded in Kokomo, Indiana in 1978 grew into a multi-million dollar, 10-location group without abandoning the mission that built it. From Mary's father trading dental work for firewood in the early days to acquiring beloved family practices across North Central Indiana, LADD Dental has never strayed from one core belief: take care of people first, and the business will follow.  They get into: * The "operational density" strategy that makes acquisitions smoother, marketing cheaper, and staff sharing seamless, all within a 15-20 mile radius * Why every piece of technology they adopt gets evaluated on one question first: will our people love using it * Their acquisition philosophy: every deal has to be a win for the doctor, the staff, and the patients * How they use administrative support and technology to rescue burned-out dentists without stripping away what made their practice theirs * The educational partnerships with Indiana dental schools that are building a real talent pipeline from the ground up If you want to see what it looks like to scale a dental group without compromising your values in the process, this conversation is the playbook. Check out Dandy: https://www.meetdandy.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=margin-line-podcast [https://www.meetdandy.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=margin-line-podcast]

Chief Clinical Officer (400 Practices): The “Real-World Training” Problem Dentists Are Facing

Dr. Trey Mueller started Dental Associates of Florida, grew it to 12 locations, partnered with Dental Care Alliance in 2016, and in under a decade went from practicing dentist to Chief Clinical Officer overseeing 400 offices. He joins Joe Lynch on The Margin Line to walk through: * Why he never truly loved chairside dentistry and how that honesty shaped the career decisions that followed * The systemization playbook he learned from his first boss and replicated across every location, making any team member plug-and-play between offices * Hiring for personality, empathy, and compassion over clinical skill * Why post-COVID dental graduates arrive less prepared than ever and how DCA is building a new roadmap from new grad to master clinician * How AI (Overjet, Dandy's scanner) is closing the confidence gap for young dentists and turning blown-up images of cracked teeth into instant case acceptance * The daily-guarantee debate: why his team convinced him to extend new-hire pay guarantees from 90 days to a full year and why he listened * His contrarian take on leadership and why great delegation makes that possible Listen for a candid look at the mechanics of replacing yourself in production, navigating a DSO partnership without losing autonomy, and building culture that scales from a single office in Winter Haven, Florida to 400 offices across Dental Care Alliance.   Link to Dandy: https://www.meetdandy.com/ [https://www.meetdandy.com/]

The 10-Minute Dentistry Blueprint: Technology, Trust & a Culture That Drives EBITDA

Dr. Barry Bartusiak runs appointments in 10-minute blocks, ends every day at the gym by 3 p.m., and still outperforms neighbors who work twice the hours.  After 35+ years running his own practice in Washington, PA, delivering 575+ lectures across 44 states, training an estimated 10% of practicing U.S. dentists, and working as the Pittsburgh Steelers' team dentist, Dr. B joins us on The Margin Line to walk Joe Lynch through: * Building a patient-first culture where tech (Dandy scanners, Pearl AI, SOTA Cloud) eliminates confusion and objections * Creating “wow” moments that turn scans into same-day lab starts and 98 consecutive flawless crowns * Why clean bathrooms close more cases than fancy chairs  * The $25K-per-employee metric, the 90-day peer review for new hires, and keeping problems small * How to identify the best new tech and why Colgate’s home-care has his full attention Listen for a relentlessly practical guide to shrinking appointment times, raising production, and making every teammate and patient feel like the most important thing in the room. Link to Dandy: https://www.meetdandy.com/

The Real Math Behind Building a $1M Dental Practice (Most Dentists Get This Wrong)

Most dental practices don’t fail — they just quietly cap their own upside. In this episode of The Margin Line, Joe Lynch sits down with Dr. Anthony Stefanou, founder of Connect the Dents, to unpack what actually drives long-term value in a dental practice — and why many owners misunderstand it.  After completing more than 2,000 practice appraisals, Dr. Stefanou breaks down the real mechanics behind $1M+ practices: how DSOs evaluate risk, why hygiene departments are the engine of enterprise value, and the operational decisions that separate lifestyle clinics from scalable businesses. They get into: * Why production alone is a misleading metric * How DSOs think about insurance, EBITDA, and control * The hidden levers that increase valuation without burning out staff * What most dentists should change years before they plan to sell If you’re building a practice with an exit in mind — or just want to understand what makes one business-grade versus replaceable — this conversation pulls back the curtain.