Over the past few months, I’ve been paying closer attention to how technology companies are gamifying their platforms to drive engagement.

Like a lot of people, I wear a Garmin watch. Shauntelle does too. I watched her train for a half marathon in 2025, and every time I asked how training was going, she kept bringing up the badges she was earning. At first, I joked and asked when Garmin was going to start mailing those things to her.

And then something interesting happened to me.

I started doing the same thing. Tracking Peloton rides more closely. Competing with friends and sometimes strangers. Paying closer attention to progress in a way I hadn’t before.

Not because of the virtual badge itself, but because my progress was visible through these badges.

Completion mattered. Effort got acknowledged.

As I dug into this a bit more, I learned there’s real data behind it. Research from groups like Gallup and Deloitte shows that recognition tied to actual behavior increases engagement and follow-through. Behavioral science backs it up as well. People are more likely to finish, continue, and improve when progress is marked.

As it relates to dental, I’d love to see more dental technology companies lean into this idea. Especially around AI, make it feel more approachable, fun and less threatening. Ways to reinforce good habits and create engagement for teams who are hesitant or unsure about adopting these new tools.

When technology encourages the people doing the work, the impact tends to ripple. You see operations improve, culture strengthen and ultimately patients feel it too.

So in the spirit of completion I decided to hand out some badges of my own.

These aren’t awards, they’re markers recognizing DSOs and leaders I’ve worked closely with, spent time around, or observed from afar who are doing something worth learning from.

Here are my 2025 DSO Compass Badges.

Smile Obsession

As healthcare evolves, some of the administrative layers we’ve long accepted are changing and, in some cases, disappearing.

We’ve watched clipboards turn into tablets. Front desks shrink. Centralized teams take on work that once lived inside every office.

Dr. Viren Patel isn’t waiting for this to keep shifting. He’s leading it.

If you know him, you know he’s passionate, thinks differently, and isn’t afraid to challenge the way dentistry has always been run, even if that rubs some people the wrong way.

At Smile Obsession, the traditional playbook has disappeared. Offices operate without phones or on-site administrative staff. Clinical teams focus on patients, while centralized operations supported by AI handle the work behind the scenes.

Whether people agree with the model or not, the intent is clear.

It’s a deliberate effort to rethink how care is delivered and how technology can remove friction instead of adding to it.

That willingness to challenge convention is why Dr. Patel earns the Break the Playbook Badge.

MB2 Dental

As dental organizations scale, technology decisions typically start with the same thinking.

Technology costs X. Customer gets Y.

Projected outcomes and spreadsheets tend to drive the conversation. And while that math matters, it sometimes shouldn’t be the starting point.

Start with experience.

Jeff Bezos built Amazon by obsessing over customer experience first, trusting that if the experience was right, the financial results would follow.

MB2 has taken a similar mindset around their partner doctors.

Technology decisions start with a more grounded filter. Does this actually make a doctors life better?

Doctors aren’t handed systems and told to adapt. Their input shapes what gets adopted, how it’s rolled out, and where flexibility needs to exist. That balance is reinforced through close collaboration between clinical leadership, regional teams, and the tech team inside the organization.

With leaders like founder Dr. Chris Steven Villanueva, Jake Berry, Jeff Cellucci, Thomas Southam, Rick Villarreal and others helping keep those perspectives aligned.

In a space where it’s easy to optimize for ROI, MB2 continues to focus on listening to doctors and watching the ROI follow.

That philosophy is why MB2 earns the ROI Through Doctors Badge.

Total Health Dental Care

A lot of AI conversations are just that, a conversion that lacks implementation.

Discussions about pilots, demos, and ideas that sound good but never quite make it to practice-level impact.

Total Health Dental Care is taking a different approach.

Instead of waiting for off-the-shelf solutions to mature, Sep and his team have leaned into building internal AI infrastructure that supports how their organization actually operates.

The focus is on patient retention, comprehensive care and removing practice-level friction.

That commitment to execution, not just exploration, is why Total Health Dental Care earns the AI in the Trenches Badge.

Squire Dental

As organizations scale, it gets easier for leadership to drift away from the day-to-day reality of what’s really happening at the practice level.

From all that I’ve seen, David North brings a different approach.

Having served twice as a COO before stepping into the CEO seat, his default setting is operations first. He understands where systems break, where standardization matters, and where teams feel pressure.

His leadership doesn’t live above the organization, he stays connected to it.

That operator-first mindset is why David and the team at Squire earn the No Ivory Tower Badge.

SGA Dental Partners

Technology delivers its best results when operations and technology teams are aligned in conversation.

Too often, tools get selected in isolation and handed to teams to figure out after the fact.

What stands out with SGA is the intentional bridge between technology leadership and operations. Decisions aren’t made in silos.

From what I’ve seen, Ron and Myles spend the right amount of time identifying needs first, then inserting technology into those needs. Understanding both what technology can do and what teams can realistically adopt.

That balance shows up in intentional pilots, cleaner rollouts, clearer ownership, and fewer surprises downstream.

When tech and ops move together, trust builds and outcomes follow.

That’s why SGA earns the Tech–Ops Alignment Badge.

Shore Capital Partners

Private equity often gets painted with a broad brush in healthcare, and often for good reason.

What stands out with Shore is their focus on enablement, not just oversight.

Rather than leaving each portfolio company to independently figure out how to evaluate and adopt AI, Shore has invested in building shared intelligence around it. An AI board. A collaborative, structured way to assess tools between PE and portfolio companies.

Most boards don’t understand dental workflows. They see performance through numbers, not day-to-day action. Shore’s approach helps bridge that gap by creating a pathway for smarter experimentation without forcing every group to reinvent the wheel.

The portfolio company drives the data and collaborates on the final selection.

That’s why Shore Capital earns the Portfolio Enablement Badge.

Espire Dental

As organizations scale, fragmentation tends to follow.

Different systems. Harder to access your data. Different information from different spots, depending on your role.

What stands out with the leadership of Tim Hill and Rondi Michaux at Espire, they have a commitment to thinking end to end.

AI, PMS, data, analytics, phones, and workflows are treated as parts of the same system, not disconnected tools. The goal is consistency of data across teams.

From what I’ve seen, leadership approaches standardization not as control, but as actionable intelligence. Making it easier for teams to operate, for doctors to focus on care, and for patients to have a better experience.

That focus on integration is why Espire earns the End-to-End Systems Badge.

Vision Dental Partners

Many organizations treat social media as marketing.

What stands out with Vision is that social is being used as strategy.

Under Dr. Brad Hughes’ leadership, content isn’t about selling services. It’s about reinforcing culture, communicating vision, and giving people like Craig and the team a real sense of what the organization stands for.

That matters for recruiting, for alignment and to the people already inside the organization.

That’s why Vision Dental Partners earns the Social as Strategy Badge.

Apex Dental Collective

Not every DSO wants to be on stage at major conferences. Or chase podcast appearances. Or build a following on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Apex is one of these DSO’s that have stayed quiet by design.

Their focus is on partners first. On teams. Technology supports the model, but it doesn’t lead it.

Growth comes through relationships, referrals, and trust. Not superficial attention.

In a market where visibility often gets mistaken for momentum, Apex has quietly built something special.

That’s why Spencer and Michael Henriod and the Apex Dental Collective team earns the Quiet Builder Badge.

Thanks to everyone I had the opportunity to work alongside in 2025.

I’m grateful for the founders, DSOs, leaders, and teams who were willing to have honest conversations, test ideas, challenge assumptions, and stay focused on what actually supports their people and patients.

Congrats to all of those who’ve earned these badges. Continue the work of supporting your teams and patients.

Looking forward to working with more founders, DSOs, and groups in 2026.

Please schedule some time with me to talk about how I can help or if you think I missed giving out an important badge!

This episode is our 2025 review on dental tech and where things are heading in 2026.

Topics include:

➡️ The sheer number of vendors that showed up this year
➡️ Validating AI in dental
➡️ The rising bar for operators across the DSO landscape
➡️ What we’re watching closely as we head into 2026

Spotify Link Youtube Link Apple Music

Amazing holiday season. My dad came out to Park City and we made the most of it.

Unusually warm weather, fun walks with Charlie, some Full Self-Driving Tesla rides, a peek at all the wildlife, some time on the golf simulator, and a lot of quality time together. We even caught snow the second-to-last day and capped it off flying down the bobsled track at 65 mph, pulling 3–4 G’s. No problem for an 80-year-old.

A great way to close out 2025 and a strong start looking ahead to 2026.

Truly appreciate you being here and making it to the end. Have ideas, questions, or tech you want me to explore? Just reply to this or book some time with me to discuss.

- Matt