As we move through the latter half of 2025, the latest data from the Planet DDS Mid-Year Dental Industry Outlook Report provides a clear view of where the industry stands today and where it needs to go next. The analysis covers thousands of practices on Denticon practice management software, and while some of the findings are encouraging, others point to stubborn gaps in patient follow-through, uneven growth, and growing pressure to modernize operations.
The key takeaway? These aren’t just abstract benchmarks. They’re signals about what DSOs and multi-location practices must prioritize if they want to stay profitable, scalable, and competitive heading into 2026.
Acceptance is not completion: The urgent need to close care gaps
The data shows 56% of treatment plans are accepted, scheduled, or completed, but only 46% are actually carried through to completion. At scale, this represents tens of thousands of patients leaving conditions untreated and millions of dollars in unrealized revenue.
This highlights an overlooked truth: case acceptance alone is no longer a sufficient measure of success. Acceptance signals interest, but completion is what drives both healthier patients and stronger financial performance. Practices that fail to bridge this gap will see lower profitability and risk long-term damage to patient trust.
Why does this gap exist? In many cases, patients are overwhelmed by cost concerns, logistical challenges, or uncertainty about treatment plans. Some hesitate because of unclear timelines or a lack of understanding about the consequences of delaying care. Others run into practical barriers—difficulty finding appointment times, childcare needs, or anxiety about the procedure itself. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: care delayed, and in many cases, care denied.
This is where the right mix of tools and patient engagement makes all the difference. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven scheduling can flag patients who are most likely to delay treatment and prompt staff to reach out at the right moment. Digital financing tools can reduce the affordability barrier by offering flexible options that make care more accessible. Two-way texting and appointment reminders can keep patients engaged, answer questions, and reinforce the importance of follow-through.
Even small touches like sharing educational content or enabling patients to confirm appointments with a single click can reduce drop-off significantly.
Those that embrace these strategies will not only recover lost revenue but also strengthen their role as trusted care providers. Ultimately, the ability to close the gap between acceptance and completion is what will distinguish practices that simply manage demand from those that lead the industry forward.
Patient volume, retention, and the “empty chair” problem
The average practice reports 47 new patients per month, yet nearly 39% see fewer than 19 new patients. The unevenness here demonstrates how some groups have mastered patient acquisition while others remain reliant on stagnant pipelines.
Layer on top of that the 14.4% of patients who cancel in advance and the 6.2% who don’t show up at all, and it becomes clear: too many practices are losing revenue to the “empty chair problem.”
The good news is that 65% of practices are reappointing hygiene patients within 12 months, a strong baseline for retention. But hygiene recall can’t carry the entire load. Practices need to treat patient acquisition and retention as two sides of the same equation. Adding new patients means little if leakage remains high.
For DSOs, that means investing in digital-first patient experiences—online scheduling, mobile payments, automated recalls—that reduce friction and increase loyalty. These are no longer optional conveniences. They’re strategic levers for maintaining production and building enterprise value.
Orthodontics as a signal of patient willingness
Orthodontics stands out with a 70% case acceptance rate, significantly higher than general dentistry. Patients are voting with their wallets here, committing to long-term treatment because they see the value, understand the process, and often have access to financing.
The lesson for DSOs is that patients are willing to move forward when the value proposition is clear and well-communicated. Transparency, education, and flexible payment options aren’t just orthodontic best practices, they’re principles that can and should be applied across all specialties. Bringing that level of clarity to general dentistry could help improve industry-wide completion rates.
Growth under pressure: same-store performance and investor expectations
Despite these challenges, there are positive signals. Our analysis shows same-store growth of 8.1% in Q1 and 9.8% in Q2 across thousands of practices. Even after trimming outliers, growth remained positive. This suggests that efficiency gains and patient demand are still fueling steady progress.
But growth alone is not enough in today’s environment. With capital harder to access, investors are scrutinizing DSOs not just for revenue, but for operational maturity. Tech stack standardization, automation, and scalability have become the new value signals. As one private equity leader put it in our report, “Tech stack standardization is the hallmark of a good organization, and it is a value signal to acquirers.”
This shift should be a wake-up call. Practices running on legacy, fragmented systems risk both lower profitability today and lower valuations tomorrow. The future belongs to organizations that embrace interoperable platforms, AI-enabled automation, and real-time analytics.
From benchmarks to action: preparing for 2026
A look at this data doesn’t just show percentages, but also tells the story of an industry in transition.
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The industry is making progress on patient acquisition, but retention gaps remain costly.
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The industry is seeing strong acceptance in some specialties, but overall completion lags behind.
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The industry is posting solid growth, but investors now expect maturity, not just expansion.
For DSOs and dental groups, the message is clear: the path forward requires closing care gaps, embracing digital-first experiences, and modernizing the tech infrastructure that powers every patient and provider interaction.
The practices that act on these insights today won’t just keep pace with the industry; they’ll define it. The next 12 months will separate the groups still running on yesterday’s systems from those building a future-ready foundation.
Planet DDS publishes these benchmarks to spark action. The data is a mirror of where the industry stands, but it’s also a roadmap for where it can go. The leaders who treat it as such will be the ones who win in profitability and in delivering better outcomes for the patients and communities they serve.
