Private equity firms have invested heavily in the dental industry, acquiring practices and influencing management. This trend has resulted in a significant increase in private equity acquisitions, making dentistry the leading sector for such investments within health care. Patients suffer from rising costs, understaffing, and sometimes excessive dental treatments as a result of the pressure to maximize profits. The proportion of dentists associated with private equity nearly doubled from 2015 to 2021, reflecting the broader consolidation in the health care sector.
As private equity reshapes American health care, the dentistry industry is now leading the charge - and patients are bearing the cost. In the last decade, private equity firms have been quietly taking control of dental care from behind the scenes, largely through secondary business organizations that push dental practices to cut costs and, in some cases, encourage unnecessary and irreversible dental procedures.
A lot of small dental practices have been bought up by big corporations. As these large corporations have begun buying up small, independent practices, patients increasingly face overcharging, understaffing, and, in worst-case scenarios, excessive dental treatments that destroy otherwise healthy teeth.
Brannan describes the industry consolidation, along with its focus on cost reduction and speed over quality of care, as 'McDonald's for teeth.' According to research published last year, the proportion of dentists affiliated with private equity has nearly doubled from 2015 to 2021, reaching almost 13 percent of all practitioners.
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