Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry

Alyssa Keefer, Director of Marketing from Archway Dental Partners, Kelsie Towner, Director of Marketing from Premier Dentist Partners & Grayson Allen, Director of Sales from Carenetic Digital discuss:

• Website compliance & security
• Online scheduling struggle
• Specialized vs. all-in-one

To learn more about Carenetic visit: https://careneticdigital.com/ or email Grayson at: [email protected]

Contact Alyssa Keefer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssakeefer/ To learn more about Archway Dental Partners visit: https://archway.dental/

Contact Kelsie Towner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsie-towner/ To learn more about Premier Dentist Partners visit: https://premierdentistpartners.com/

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Brittany Mook, Corporate Account Manager from NDX & Sandy Slobbe, RDH, MA from Today's Dental Network share their thoughts on:

• Digital adoption acceleration
• The hidden cost of remakes
• Lab standardization

To learn more about National Dentex Labs (NDX) visit: https://nationaldentex.com/. You can learn more about the DSO Lab Program here: https://nationaldentex.com/dso-lab-program

You can also connect with Brittany Mook here: [email protected] or call her at 931.581.5390.

You can contact Sandy Slobbe here: [email protected] or call her at 813.482.8787.

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events!

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Lisa Arciga, Procurement Manager at Pearl Street Dental Partners, Tim Otto, CEO of Alcan Dental Cooperative & Riley Berg, Business Development Manager at Dental City discuss:

• Standardizing Procurement
• AI in Purchasing
• Last Minute Ordering

To connect with Dental City visit: https://dentalcity.com/ or contact Riley Berg at [email protected]

Connect with Lisa Arciga at [email protected] or visit https://www.pearlstreetdentalpartners.com/

You can also learn more about Alcan Dental Cooperative at https://www.alcandentalcooperative.com/ .

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events!

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Dr. Peter Boulden, Founder of Bulletproof Dental Practice & Cory Pinegar, CEO & Founder of Reach discuss:

• The 61 AI touchpoints in dentistry
• A systems crisis in dentistry
• Human connection in the AI age

If you are interested in learning more about Reach and their virtual assistant solutions that integrate with AI workflows visit: https://getreach.co/

To learn more about Bulletproof Practice visit: https://www.bulletproofdentalpractice.com/

To register for Bulletproof Summit on August 7th & 8th in Scottsdale, AZ visit: https://www.bulletproofsummit.com/

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events!

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Dr. Vishal Sharma, VP of Clinical Education & Operations at Spear Education shares his thoughts on:

• DSOs failing at clinical education
• Education as a performance & retention lever
• $3,500 per day associate production

To learn more about Spear Education visit: https://www.speareducation.com/

You can also contact Dr. Sharma via email: [email protected] or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-vishal-sharma-78527543/

Scott Graversen, Director of Facility & Dental Equipment Management of Smile Brands shares his insights on:

• Update on Smile Brands
• Managing facilities and equipment at scale
• Procurement & vendor partner strategies

To learn more about Smile Brands visit: https://smilebrands.com/

You can connect with Scott Graversen on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-graversen/

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events!

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Dr. Marc Faber, CEO & Founder of Edge Dental Management joins the show for his second appearance. Dr. Faber discusses:

• How Edge leverages clinical efficiency to create successful practices
• NYC's newest dental school: Yeshiva University College of Dental Medicine
• Using solutions like Isolite for efficiency & patient satisfaction
• More

To learn more about Isolite Systems visit: https://www.zyris.com/

To learn more about Yeshiva Unversity's 3 year dental education program visit: https://www.dental.yu.edu/

If you'd like to connect with Dr. Marc Faber you can find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-faber-a63706196/

Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events!

If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

Priyanki Amroliwala, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition & Greg Wappett, Chief Development Officer of 42 North Dental share their thoughts and strategies on:

• Doctor recruitment in 2026
• Acquisition realities & strategies
• Strategic growth initiatives

Learn how the recruitment & acquisition teams work together at 42 North Dental.

You can learn more about 42 North Dental: https://www.42northdental.com/

If you are a dental student or dentist looking for a change, contact Priyanki: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyanki/

Selling your practice or small group? Contact Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-wappett/

Welcome to the third episode of Group Dentistry Now & Black Talon Security's Dental Cyber Watch Live.

As dental groups rush to adopt artificial intelligence, many are spending on tools no one uses and feeding patient data into platforms no one controls. The result is wasted budget, hidden liability, and growing security exposure.

In this episode of Dental Cyber Watch Live, Bill Neumann (CEO, Group Dentistry Now) sat down with Gary Salman (Co-founder and CEO, Black Talon Security) and Matthew McGaw (founder, DSO Compass; co-founder, Relay) to unpack the promise and peril of AI in dentistry. The clear message for DSOs of every size: AI is transformative, but only when paired with governance, training, and due diligence. Here are the key takeaways.

Shadow AI is the unmonitored use of large language models — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude — by employees without policy, oversight, or controls. Staff turn to these tools to work faster. The problem is that no one is watching what data goes in.

Salman described the scope at a recent DSO event with roughly 20 leaders, representing practices from 10 to 200-plus locations. Most reported a mix of LLMs already in use across their teams. Few had standard operating procedures governing what could be entered. Fewer still had any technology to monitor that activity.

The exposure is real. Information uploaded to a free model may be anonymized, but it can resurface when others ask similar questions.

"When the product's free, you're the product. They're not doing you a favor." — Gary Salman, Black Talon Security

For an organization handling protected health information, that is a compliance event waiting to happen. The fix doesn't require shutting AI down — it requires structure: enable privacy settings so platforms don't train on your data, write SOPs that define what can and cannot be entered, and train staff on why it matters.

The "AI graveyard" is where promising technology goes to die. It's the software a DSO bought with enthusiasm, then abandoned because of poor implementation, failed training, low adoption, or clunky integration — while the subscription keeps billing.

McGaw pointed to two familiar culprits: "shiny object syndrome" and the "Hawaiian shirt guy effect," where a charismatic salesperson wins the room and the product never fits the problem. Neumann offered a grounded example. Some automations at Group Dentistry Now worked well. Others proved clunky and were better handled manually.

A buried tool isn't just a wasted subscription. It drains training hours, erodes staff confidence in future rollouts, and makes the next investment harder to champion. The escape route is unglamorous but reliable: plan, implement, and train before you scale. Roll out to a small group, confirm adoption, refine the workflow, then expand.

The smartest framing of the conversation came from a concept Salman credited to Andy Farina of Destination DSO: design backward, build forward. Understand the problem you're solving first, then align products to it — never the reverse.

Most purchasing runs backward. A leader sees an exciting tool, then invents a reason to need it. McGaw captured the trap: "Sometimes the problem that they think they have to solve isn't always the problem that is really the problem."

Salman's advice for separating substance from hype was blunt: "Stay away from the shiny penny and buy the gold." Before any AI purchase, leaders should define the problem, set clear criteria for success, evaluate fit against those criteria, and only then buy.

Many DSO leaders misunderstand a critical point: under HIPAA, breach liability sits with the healthcare entity — the DSO — not the software or technology provider. Assuming the vendor carries that risk is a dangerous shortcut.

That makes cyber due diligence non-negotiable. Before signing with any AI vendor, ask:

• How do they access, store, and share data?

• Who, specifically, has access to it?

• What security measures protect it?

Salman's larger point: security should be the first question in any technology evaluation, not the last. Too often it's raised only after the contract is signed and the data is already flowing.

The throughline of the discussion was AI governance, risk, and compliance treated as a foundation, not an afterthought. For organizations handling patient data, that distinction separates innovation from exposure.

Leaders should expect real safeguards from any tool touching PHI: scrubbing confidential data like dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and patient health information on upload; annotating sources so answers can be traced; flagging possible hallucinations; and hashing files to protect their integrity. Pair those safeguards with disciplined implementation, and today's investment doesn't become tomorrow's graveyard occupant.

AI is a genuine opportunity for DSOs willing to pair ambition with discipline. The risk isn't the technology — it's deploying it without control. Three steps to start now:

• Audit current AI usage to learn which tools your team uses and what data flows into them.

• Establish AI governance and SOPs before the next tool goes live.

• Make vendor security due diligence standard, with security as the opening question.

Is your DSO adopting AI faster than it can secure it? Get these fundamentals in place, and AI stops being a liability waiting to surface — and becomes the advantage it promised to be for your practice and your patients.

Get the MAX Surgical Specialty Management Case Study: https://dso.pub/4v8OwfP

We are about halfway through 2026 already. In this DSO Declassified, Bill Neumann runs through what to expect at the upcoming ADSO Summit where GDN will host the Emerging Dental Groups to Watch awards. Bill also looks back at the events that have already happened this year and what the rest of year has instore for the DSO and dental group industry. Takeaways include:

• The Emerging Dental Groups to Watch awards at the ADSO
• The rise of the intimate, invite-only DSO events
• What to expect for the rest of the year

To learn about all of the important DSO events in the industry make sure you visit: https://www.groupdentistrynow.com/events/list/