Dentira’s DSO Index Finds a 3.3-Point Supply Cost Gap Between Small and Large Groups

In Dentira's platform dataset, small dental groups averaged supply expenses equal to 7.4% of collections, versus 4.1% for organizations with 101 or more locations.

Scale and supply economics

Dentira's inaugural Dental Spend Index uses procurement activity from 267 dental support organizations and approximately 15,000 U.S. locations. Its central comparison is a 3.3-percentage-point difference in supply spending.

Groups of 10 or fewer offices spent an average of 7.4% of collections on supplies, versus 4.1% for groups with 101 or more locations. That spread demonstrates the potential significance of purchasing operations for dental profitability.

Off-formulary purchasing remains high

The study reports that about half of purchased products sit outside approved formularies. Enterprise DSOs purchased approximately 45% of products off formulary, despite having the size to negotiate preferred arrangements.

Dentira also reported an average first-year reduction of 1.1 percentage points in supply costs as a share of collections among its customers. That is a vendor-reported outcome, not a guaranteed result or a controlled industry-wide estimate.

Why RCM and investors should care

Dental financial performance depends on reimbursement, patient collections, labor efficiency and the cost of serving patients. Supply expense is another lever in the EBITDA improvement equation, particularly following acquisitions.

Comparisons require care: specialty mix, geography and vendor arrangements can influence spending. Dentira's participating organizations are not a randomized sample of the entire dental sector.

RevCycleAI take: The index adds useful operating benchmarks to DSO diligence. Investors should assess expense leakage with the same rigor they apply to revenue leakage, without assuming the entire reported scale gap is available as savings.