The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry – Episode 237

Ranked the #1 DSO Podcast!

Welcome to The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry!

Looking Ahead: The Future of Group Dentistry with the AADGP & Lavender Dental Group

Dan Redifer, CEO of Lavender Dental Group, Dr. Mark Sivers, Partner at Aligned Dental, and Callie Elmore, the Executive Director of the AADGP discuss:

• The February 4-6 AADGP event in Austin, TX
• Lavender Dental Group’s story
• Doubling down on collaboration & networking

Use code gdnow26 to save 25% at https://www.aadgp.org/aadgp2026/

Learn more about the AADGP here – https://www.aadgp.org/

Learn about Lavender Dental Group here – https://www.lavenderdental.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.

Choose your favorite listening app below and subscribe today so you don’t miss an episode! Full transcript is also provided below. See all of our podcasts HERE.

DSO Podcast Transcript – Looking Ahead: The Future of Group Dentistry with the AADGP & Lavender Dental Group

Welcome to the Group Dentistry Now Show, the voice of the DSO industry. Join us as we talk with industry leaders about their challenges, successes, and the future of group dentistry. With over 200 episodes and listeners in over 100 countries, we’re proud to be ranked the number one DSO podcast. For the latest DSO news, analysis, and events, and to subscribe to our DSO weekly e-newsletter, visit GroupDentistryNow.com. We hope you enjoyed today’s show.

Bill Neumann: Welcome, everyone, to the Group Dentistry Now show. I am your host, Bill Neumann. And as always, we appreciate you tuning in. We are going to look forward into 2026. Actually, probably by the time you’re watching this, it will be early in 2026. So Happy New Year, I should say. But we’re excited to talk about an event that’s coming up in early February and an organization that’s been around for over 50 years. the AADGP, and we have with us Dr. Mark Sivers, who is part of the AADGP. He recently took on the role of president there. So it’s good to have you, Mark, for the first time.

Dan Redifer: Thank you.

Bill Neumann: And we have back with us for at least the second, maybe the third, Callie, you’re going to have to refresh my memory, Callie Elmore, who is the executive director at the AADGP. Hi, Callie.

Callie Elmore: Hey, Bill, it’s good to be back for my second time, so.

Bill Neumann: Second time, okay. That’s good. We’ll have to bring you back for a hat trick, so it’s good to have you. And for the first time, we have with us Dan Redifer, who is the CEO of Lavender Dental Group. Dan, it’s great to have you here.

Dan Redifer: Yeah, thank you, Bill. It’s great being here.

Bill Neumann: And it’s Dan’s first time, and we’re really curious to learn a little bit more about Lavender, who I will confess I did not know. You know, it’s amazing. It’s one of the things about the DSO space and group practices. There are so many smaller, and you’re not that small. I think you mentioned you have 17 locations. You know, it’s there’s so many groups out there just kind of doing their own thing and you just don’t know that they exist. And all of a sudden you’re like, well, never heard of you. You have 17, 17 locations. But why don’t we start off with you, Dan, a little bit about your background and a little bit about Lavender.

Dan Redifer: Yeah, let’s see my background. I worked at Patterson Dental initially and worked as a general manager in the east or the west side of Michigan. And I was there for about six years, started working with some group practices and smaller practices. And we, myself and my co-founder, Cameron Elrod, who also worked with Patterson on the east side of Michigan, kind of discussed how there was such a gap at that time is around 2015, 16, in leadership in the dental space for these emerging groups. And, uh, through some discussion, we said, why don’t we do some consulting? We started out as consultants and our first client said, Hey, why don’t you become a partner? Not at just a consultant. And, uh, hence we, we formed a lavender. Um, the name is we use lavender to help relax people when they come in. So we, we bring in, um, we, we, we use a natural essence to, to pipe into the offices. Um, And we liked lavender response or, um, a bee initiative and the promotion of, of bees and pollen with lavender. So it became a whole thing. And, and, uh, ultimately we’ve now registered our trademark. We kind of continue to move along this trademark site. And the correction is we’ve had 17 offices, 11 locations. So we actually, in the cases where we had offices close together or the opportunity to merge them. We’ve merged or tucked in, so we currently have 11 locations and they’re scattered around the state of Michigan, but strictly in the state of Michigan.

Bill Neumann: Gotcha. Thanks so much. Yeah, that’s a nice story too. I always like to hear the stories about, you know, why a group is named what it is instead of like, you know, something smiles or something. Dr. Sivers, it’s great to have you here. So, you are with Align Dental and a little bit about, you know, what Align does and then also what your role is now at the AADGP and your background.

Dr. Mark Sivers: So Bill, thanks for having me on the podcast. It’s really great to be here. Great to be with Callie and Dan. I’m just a dentist and got into dentistry back in the late 90s. Had practice in Boston and got into the group space. and grew that group and have really learned along the way and made lots of mistakes and learned from those mistakes and then got into the consulting business. Align Dental is predominantly a consulting company and we consult to almost a thousand dentists nationally. And it’s been very humbling to just try to help and try to help people avoid pain and not have to go through the mistakes that we’ve made and to pick up some of the best practices that we’ve learned along the way. And so that’s a little bit about Align Dental. As president of the American Academy of Dental Group Practices, that’s been very humbling to meet with people like Dan, who’s on the show, and so many other dentists and so many other founders of groups, both big, medium, and small. and emerging groups and just learn from them and see what they’re doing. And Dan, I love what you’re doing with the name of Lavender and how you’ve brought that together with bees. It’s just so unique. And I just feel like I’m on this learning adventure. And so very, very humbled and very grateful to be here on the podcast. Thank you for having me, Bill.

Bill Neumann: Thanks, Dr. Sivers. And Callie, a little bit about your background and your role at AADGP.

Callie Elmore: Yeah, sure. Happy to share. My name is Callie Elmore. I’m the, as Bill said, I’m the executive director of AADGP. I’ve been with AADGP since about 2022. So it’s been great to see the organization kind of evolve over the past few years and see our meaning evolve, which we’re going to talk a little bit about today. But the thing I love most about this group is just, as Dr. Siver said, all the amazing people that are involved with it, the doctors and the groups that are finding innovative ways to change dentistry and to evolve and to serve patients well. So it’s a really rewarding position to be in and just get to interact with so many great people.

Bill Neumann: Maybe we start the conversation off, talk a little bit about the organization as a whole. Like I mentioned before, the American Academy of Dental Group Practice has been around for a long time. I mean, you have a storied history in the industry. So maybe we could talk, Dr. Sivers, I want to start with you a little bit and just a little bit about, you know, the organization as a whole and then, you know, maybe some of the changes and Callie feel free to you know add to this some of the changes that are started to occur last year really with the focus of the organization and they’ll continue into 2026 in the future.

Dr. Mark Sivers: Yeah, I mean, I think the whole premise of the American Academy of Dental Group Practices was how do we bring people together in a venue where you’re not trying to be sold anything? And it’s really just a big networking event with some of the best talent and the best vendors and just sharing ideas and learning from one another. And that’s really what we’ve done for the last 50 plus years. And I think what we’ve seen is that there’s an evolution over time as our industry changes. And right now we feel like we’re in a major evolutionary change as dentistry shifts from being really analog and going digital. both on the clinical side, but also on the business side. And there’s more going on now, and there seems to be more happening now than perhaps ever. And where can you go where somebody is not trying to provide you an infomercial, but rather people are trying to just share what’s working, what’s not, what they’re thinking, what they’re not, and just freely and openly learning and sharing with one another. And that’s really what we’ve been about. We’re really proud that we’ve had some offshoots from our organization, and they’ve gone on to do other great things as well in the education space and the information sharing space. and love that we have people like Dan that have been with the organization and attending our events for, you know, less than 50 years and that’s great. And so we welcome young and old and everyone in between and feel like it’s just a great venue to share.

Bill Neumann: And Dr. Sivers, how did you initially get involved with the AADGP?

Dr. Mark Sivers: So I heard about it from one of my business partners who had been involved and he said, you know, you should come and see. And really that’s all he said. And I’m so grateful that that was my introduction because there was no bias. There was no kind of trying to skew me in one direction or another. And I loved it. I was just like, wow, how come I’ve never heard about this? How come there’s not more publicity on this event? And then I realized, well, because they’re not trying to sell anything. They’re just trying to have a networking educational share that’s free and clear of perhaps what we’ve seen in so many other venues and experiences in dentistry.

Bill Neumann: Yeah, that’s certainly a good point. Dan, how about you? How did you discover the AADGP, and when did you start going to the event?

Dan Redifer: Well, as he discovered it, um, long time ago, we were, um, initially when we were in our formation stage, um, build up a relationship with Dr. Wayne Mortenson, the late Dr. Mortenson and, uh, uh, Mortenson Dental Partners had, had influenced a lot of our structure. And he discussed kind of the importance of continuing to build along the group lines a little more with independence from what was starting to become the trend of moving to private equity financing, capital partners that had different initiatives than maybe a dentist run group. And that relationship continued with Bill, and Bill and Bechtel, the current CEO, encouraged us to take a look at it as a place to learn and grow. And I think a lot of our participation was really related to his participation and growth in it, and the fact that he said, these are a lot of like-minded people that I think he can learn from. And you can share your ideas as well. And that’s really how we got started.

Bill Neumann: And as we start to talk a little bit about the agenda, I know that Mortenson plays a big role. One of the larger groups, probably if not the largest, that’s part of the AADGP, but then you also have a lot of smaller groups out there. But I think Bill Becknell will be doing the State of the Industry on, it looks like, the first day of the event in 2026. And Bill’s got a great outlook. I’ve seen him speak a bunch of times, and he’s a great speaker. I’ll be really interested to hear what he has to say. And maybe with that, Callie, why don’t we start off with a little bit about what 2026 looks like from the event perspective. I think it’s, is it February the 4th through the 6th? Is that when it is?

Callie Elmore: Yep, that’s correct. So it will be February 4th through the 6th just outside of Austin, Texas at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. Really great property. Everyone can travel in on Wednesday and Wednesday night we’ll kind of do a kickoff party happy hour event Wednesday night and then Thursday we’re going to have some workshops in the morning and then we’ll go into a couple lunch presentations, one of those being Bill’s State of the Industry, which if you have not heard him give that talk before, it’s really amazing. I learn something new every time he does it and updates it. And it’s just one of the most informative things that I think you can get out of our meeting in a short amount of time. And then that afternoon, we’re doing what we’re calling the Payer Summit. So we have a really focused on the relationship with payers. We actually have a whole section on PPO versus pay for service and how you should be thinking about that, how you should decide. And we have some really great speakers lined up for that session. And then Friday, again, we have workshops throughout the day. And then we’re going to end the day with some networking opportunities, some resort activities, some great ways that people can just enjoy the space that we’re going to be in. So I think it’s going to be a really great meeting and then everyone can travel home on Saturday.

Bill Neumann: Yeah, so it is really built out with different types of workshops and it looks like there are almost different tracks too, right? So you can kind of choose what you’d like to focus on and kind of go down that, down different paths. So you’ve, I know there’s, I’m looking at the schedule right now and it’s on the AADGP website, which we will link to, and it’s also on groupdentistrynow.com so you could see that there. But we’ve got revenue cycle, we have leadership, we’ve got safeguarding wealth. I’m just going through a couple of them. This is just in the morning. There’s really a lot. There’s the payer summit, like you mentioned. This is really jam-packed with a lot of cybersecurity, revenue cycle management, profitability. I think that’s just getting into maybe the Friday morning aspect. So there’s a lot going on.

Callie Elmore: Yeah, I think that, you know, one thing we learned last year is we tried to go to this more workshop model and the engagement from the attendees was amazing. They really had an opportunity because it’s a, there’s multiple workshops going on the same time and so it tends to be a smaller group. They really get to know each other. They really get to bounce ideas. They become working sessions and people are talking about their businesses and sharing ideas. And they actually can take that and go back to their practices on Monday morning and hit the ground running. So it is a more intimate show. It’s not, you’re not sitting in a huge room listening to a bunch of panels. It’s really designed for you to interact with the other practice owners that have come to the meeting and to learn and work on your businesses.

Bill Neumann: I like the timing of this event because it’s really a great way to kick off the new year. There’s not a lot in the first couple of months of the new year. So I think this is a really great way to kind of take these workshops and then apply them to the year you’re in. A lot of the group practice events seem to be real heavy in Q3 for some reason, which I guess is OK, but you’re really not able to apply those and then see the fruits of any of that knowledge until the next year. So that’s what I really like about the timing of this event. Dan, what have you found since you’ve been going to the event that’s been helpful, maybe some of the either past workshops or what you might be looking forward to in the upcoming year?

Dan Redifer: Yeah, I think what I found is that you pick up ideas of other practices or groups that are similar to yours. I mean, not necessarily size, it may be in structure. But I think the other thing we’ve learned is when you get all these people, like-minded people together, there’s a lot of synergy and We kind of look for those morsels that we can grow into something that helps us compete with maybe larger groups, a lot of times much better capitalized, and maybe be along the level of competing on the market. with those groups. So an example might be, uh, the, the breakout with, with Bill and I’ve heard Bill Bechtel talk several times from Mortensen and, and Mortensen spends a lot of time and, uh, time and money and research of what the market’s doing. And it’s good to get some perspectives that individually we might not have an opportunity to actually, um, get, obtain information. And then the other piece is probably the intimacy with even the vendor partners and And we may go into that a little further, but, um, the vendor partners are there to really have time to discuss things are a little more consultative than at a typical trade show, like the Chicago midwinter, or maybe or something else where it’s just grabbing names and emails and then. it’s hard to action on those items because you’re inundated with emails versus actually be able to talk to someone, engage with them and find out, well, rather than going back and forth in email, let’s see if this is even viable for us right now, or is it a viable product in the future?

Bill Neumann: Yeah, I think you mentioned Intimacy, which I think is really, you know, key to what the AADGP has been doing. You know, it’s not, you’re not focused on being, you know, the biggest event out there, but you’re trying to provide a lot of value. And that, you know, Mark, you brought it up when you talked about, you know, the networking opportunities. And I think it’s not, you know, there’s the networking of peers, so the group practices networking with each other, but then there’s also the opportunity to network. with the vendors as well, where they are more consultative and they’re not, it’s not like you said, you’re at the Chicago Midwinter and people are walking down the aisles and they’re trying to sell you something. It’s definitely a little bit different. Mark, do you have any thoughts around that?

Dr. Mark Sivers: Well, I love that you brought this up because I remember when I first attended, I was like, is this really happening? Because it felt like instead of going into this beautifully curated office and seeing everything just right and everything perfect, people are like, yeah, let me bring you into the back closet and show you what’s really going on. Here’s all the things that we’ve tried and hasn’t worked. And here’s all the problems that we’re dealing with. And here’s a few things that we’re trying that seem to potentially solve some of our problems. And people were just so incredible. And just really made me feel like, wow, I’m not the only one that might be struggling with life and struggling with my profession and my office and so forth. It was really energizing in that sense. And then I developed a lot of friends, a lot of people that I call up after the event and say, hey, this is what I’m thinking, what are you thinking? And we’ve really just had some great relationships that have developed over the years.

Bill Neumann: Dan, at Lavender, do you have some things you’re focused on for the new year, anything you’re looking at in 2026, whether it’s organic growth or maybe even some of the potential workshops that AADGP might have to help out?

Dan Redifer: Yeah, organic growth is always top of mind. So we’re looking to add several more locations kind of back to where we’re at. We tried to use kind of a concentric circle build out. So we kind of started with our core and we tried to make sure that we have interlocking overlap where employees could work at one location or another when we needed them to. Doctors can work at one location or another. We can refer patients, that kind of stuff. So we’ll continue to look at that. Technology-wise, we’re looking at AI, and it’s not that we’re new to it. We adopted Overjet, I think it was four years ago now. So when they first came out, we were able to integrate it. So we’re big fans of AI. Every AI is not equal. We know that. And just because you put AI behind the name doesn’t mean it’s going to deliver. But we’re looking at some AI for front office to kind of troop multiply our front desk to be able to handle the in-person relationships better by not being summoned by a telephone call in the middle of a conversation, which allows us kind of a, like I said, a troop multiplier without hiring to staff a call center. And so that’s something that we’re going to be spending a lot more time at at this meeting, this upcoming meeting, to figure out who’s the right partner to do that with.

Bill Neumann: Yeah, I think that’s a focus of a lot of groups right now is, you’re right, everything’s AI and not all AI is created equal. And I would think, and Dan, you can tell me if I’m wrong and Dr. Sivers, but There’s almost like this technology overload where, you know, it’s almost like, OK, we hear about it all the time. That’s like that’s all you hear about, you know, to a degree you need to adopt it. But there’s so much information coming at you at once that you almost you just how do you even evaluate and make the right decision? So a lot of times you’re just like, well, It’s maybe not focused, but it should be. You know you need it. But also, I think there’s a lot of noise out there.

Dan Redifer: Well, especially for anybody who is from my generation, I would say, and you’re around during the 2000s when you could say dog.com and it was the next big buzz, right? It’s only because you put .com behind dog and all of a sudden it became something more than a dog. And I think we’re in that stage right now where it’s the I guess the cool thing to do or to look like you’re progressive. But when you really dig down, there’s a ton of things we know that are much better when you can use a lot of computations to hone in on a solution. And so for us, it’s finding the right partners that align with our practice management software, which is a big one. And then also that make it really enhance our ability to treat patients. And that’s something that it’s easy to get away from if you start chasing technology.

Bill Neumann: Dr. Sivers and Callie, what should an attendee expect at this event? How many people do you expect to be there? What do the networking opportunities look like? Just maybe discuss a little bit, because we talked about it being intimate, so this is not you know, two, three, 10,000 people, this is going to be a smaller event where you’re going to be able to really get a chance to talk to all of your peers, as well as all the vendors that are there.

Callie Elmore: Yep. So this year, similar to previous years, we should have probably between 150 and 200 attendees. The workshops are designed to have 25 to 40 people in them. And so it is kind of a more intimate setup. And then from a vendor perspective, we expect to have 30 to 35. So it’s not a huge number. And that’s very intentional on our part from both you know, the vendors, you know, having a positive experience and the attendees having a positive experience. But I think the feedback that we get over and over again, and I think Dr. Stivers alluded to it previously, is Everyone’s so nice at your meeting. That’s like a comment that I get all the time is, wow, the nicest people come to AADGP. And I think it is because the people that choose to come to our event really come because they want to learn and they want to grow and they want to share ideas in a safe space with other people. And so I think that that is one of the things that is great about AADGP and about our meeting.

Bill Neumann: Dan, would you recommend just the CEO of an organization go or do you bring your team to the event? What does it look like from your perspective?

Dan Redifer: Yeah, from my perspective, I would never come alone because I just think we try not to run an organization with one person has to be the smartest person in the room. And I’m definitely not that person. We have some really great team members. And so what we try to do is we take a look at the agenda and align and kind of divide and conquer responsibilities. So if we bring our controller who focuses on revenue cycle and spends more time doing that in operations, maybe scheduling or things that would involve the flow of patients through. I try to attend whatever I can that stays somewhat strategic and in growth. For me, again, it’s a lot of the interacting, but we all kind of take a different approach to the meeting and then we come away and we do a debrief at the end and we kind of put down the best ideas we got and we put them on an ideas board and we figure out where we go from there and how we actually implement them.

Bill Neumann: As I look through the schedule, it looks like there are opportunities certainly for executive leaders, CEOs, CFOs, operations, clinical, I see RCM here. So it does look like there’s a workshop or a track for just about everybody when you kind of look down the list. So yeah, I’d encourage people to bring their teams, not just you know, fly solo, unless, of course, you know, that’s all you can spare. But I think it would be, there’s enough here for everybody. And I also think it’s probably a team-building opportunity as well.

Dan Redifer: Yeah, I would completely agree. Matter of fact, that’s where we generally see the Mortensen folks. I know they bring a team every time and look at every opportunity with almost every meeting they go to, and we try to do the same thing.

Bill Neumann: Well, as we wrap this up, first off, I wanted to say that we actually have a 25% discount code, so I want to make sure that people leverage that. 25% is pretty good. It’ll be on our website and in the show notes, but if you just want to go to the aadgp.org website, and again, put it in the show notes, the discount code is GDN, like Group Dentistry Now, but it’s GD now so like group dentistry now spelled out 2026 and you’ll get 25% off so it’s GD now and then 2026 all together save 25% that’s for the folks that are just listening if you’re watching this you’ll see in the show notes and you can just click on it and get your discount Any final thoughts, Callie, Mark, and Dan? We’ll start off with you, Callie, before we finish things up again. It’s February 4th through the 6th. You want to come in the night before because there’s cocktail event, right? And then leave on that Saturday. But Callie, I’ll let you start and then we’ll go to Mark and finish up with Dan.

Callie Elmore: Awesome. Thanks, Bill. Yep. So the event is February 4th through 6th. It starts on a Wednesday. Go home on a Saturday morning. It’s in Texas. It’s going to be in February. So hopefully we’ll get some great weather. We’re really excited not only about the property and the space that we’re going to be in, but I think also just the networking opportunities, the education. think our workshops are even better than last year’s if that’s possible. So we’re really excited about this and we are looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Bill Neumann: Thanks, Dr. Sivers.

Dr. Mark Sivers: Yeah, I just think the workshop or the forum discussion really makes this meeting very unique. I think the fact that people come and they’re just very open and very vulnerable sharing what’s not working and where they’re really struggling also makes this really unique. And I think everyone that’s left has said, you know, wow, why didn’t I know about this sooner and I wanna come back? And I love the fact that this exists. This is an opportunity for everyone to come. I also love the fact that we try to hold it in places where families can come and they can enjoy if they want to come. And we hope people have a good time, but they develop relationships and take those relationships away and are able to build their businesses and do great things from the material that they learn. So we look forward to everyone coming and just grateful to be able to participate in this together.

Bill Neumann: And Lost Pines is a pretty cool resort. So if you’ve been there before, you know, then that it’s a really neat place to go to. It’s kind of off the beaten path, but still close enough to, you know, Austin, if you want to go down there and listen to some good country music. But it’s yeah, it’s a pretty cool resort. And to your point, Mark, you can bring the family. There’s there’s a lot to do there. Dan, any any final thoughts? I’m assuming we’re going to see you there for sure in your team.

Dan Redifer: Oh yeah, I’ll be there and to piggyback on Dr. Silvers, I think it’s the same thing. It’s more, it’s this relationship of meeting like-minded individuals and finding out information about what works, what doesn’t work and how it might work in our markets. I think the nice thing about the team or the people that we see there, they tend to view the market as being abundant. So they don’t act that they’re not concerned with scarcity and competition, but they’re very open to sharing. So we look forward to hearing a lot more from some of the friends we made last in the last shows and meeting new people.

Bill Neumann: Excellent. And with that, again, final time I’ll say it, go to aadgp.org and use the code GDNOW2026, save 25%, and we hope to see everybody in Austin, Texas at the Lost Pines Resort, February 4th through the 6th. Thanks, Dr. Sivers, Callie, and Dan for joining us today. And until the next time, this is the Group Dentistry Now Show.

Dan Redifer: Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you. Happy Holidays.

Thank you.