orthobrain®

Last week, orthobrain® exhibited at Dykema for the first time. It's one of the premier gatherings for DSO leadership in the country, and the conversations confirmed something we've suspected for a while. 5 things that stood out to me: DSOs are hungry for differentiation, not just scale. Every operator we spoke with has practices; what they're short on is a way to make those practices meaningfully better than the one down the street. Orthodontics is one of the clearest levers for that. "Add a chair" is no longer the default growth answer. Capex-heavy expansion is harder to justify in this rate environment. The DSOs that impressed us most were asking how to unlock more from what they already have: same locations, same providers, more revenue per chair. Trust is the actual bottleneck, not technology. Everyone has access to AI and scanners now. What's scarce is a partner GPs and DSO leadership actually trust to embed into clinical workflow without disrupting it. The best operators think in systems, not transactions. The DSOs building real value weren't the ones with the most locations; they were the ones who'd built a repeatable model that made every location better. A pile of rocks vs. a pyramid, as one speaker put it. Relationships still open every door that matters. Every meaningful conversation we had traced back to a warm introduction or a follow-up someone was diligent about making. It was great spending time with partners like the Benco Dental team Charles Cohen, Katy Cohen, and Wes Fields among them- whose relationships and trust with GPs make conversations like these possible in the first place. Also great catching up with Bill Neumann from Group Dentistry Now, Abhi K and the CareStack™ - Dental Practice Management team, and John Schwartz from Weave, always valuable conversations on where the DSO space is headed. This was orthobrain's first year at Dykema, and it won't be our last. Huge credit to the team who made our first exhibit a success, from the booth to the follow-up, it was a group effort. A special thank you to Sarah Ruberg, Craig iott, and Michael McCarthy for incredible and insightful conversations throughout the week. We came in as a partner, not a vendor, sharing the same success metric as our practices and left with a pipeline of DSO conversations we're genuinely excited to keep building. Gillian Cabanski, Jennifer Mindick, Celeste Popio, Gino DiVincenzo, and Jade Polsey, MBA, CAPM

Growth rarely happens by accident, it happens when organizations intentionally invest in people. That’s one of the reasons the partnership between Tend and orthobrain® feels so natural. We share the belief that sustainable growth comes from education, coaching, and empowering clinicians and teams with the confidence to succeed. When organizations align around that mindset, everyone wins. Excited to kick off #Dykema2026 and connect with leaders who are passionate about building organizations where people grow as intentionally as the business itself. #orthobrain #tend #DentalLeadership #DSO #Mentorship #PracticeGrowth #ClearAligners

Day one at Dykema! It’s a milestone week for us as this marks orthobrain®'s first time exhibiting at this incredible event. I'm looking forward to the conversations over the next few days. The most valuable insights rarely come from the stage; they come from the operators, clinicians, and leaders willing to share what’s actually happening inside their organizations. We are seeing incredible traction in the market right now, with more DSO and private practice groups than ever embracing the orthobrain infrastructure to operationalize clinical excellence. A huge thank you to Brian A. Colao and the entire Dykema team for providing such a world-class platform and opportunity for us to connect. This meeting is truly world-class on all levels. I'm glad I also got to catch up with Sarah Ruberg . Excited to reconnect with old friends and meet some new ones! Come see us at the booth #14 Gillian Cabanski, Gino DiVincenzo, Celeste Popio, Jennifer Mindick