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A pioneer of in-store dental care will expand from five to 15 locations in Q1 2026, demonstrating proof of concept for a high-access, technology-forward model that helps close the dental care gap for millions of underserved Americans.
In 1975, a Vietnamese family arrived at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, a military installation transformed into a refugee resettlement camp. They came with four young children and little else. The nearby community of Fort Smith welcomed them with compassion, offering stability and support as they rebuilt their lives. In time, the family grew, adding two more children. The youngest, Lan Chi Le, would go on to become a dentist.
Over the next two decades, Dr. Lan Chi Le noticed a troubling pattern. For 20 years she watched patients sit in the dental chair and apologize for how long they had waited to seek care. It was not neglect. It was the reality of navigating a system that had never been designed with them in mind. Tens of millions of working adults and families forgo care each year, not due to lack of awareness, but because of barriers such as cost, geographic inconvenience, scheduling constraints, and the persistent perception that high-quality care is financially out of reach. In 2016, she made the decision to build something better for them.
The company she built was Smileasy Dental, eventually rebranded as US Dental Professionals, which recently announced the expected opening of ten new locations across Texas and Florida in Q1 2026, with additional markets already in development. The expansion will triple its national footprint, increasing from five to 15 locations in a single quarter and confirming what the industry has observed since the company began treating patients in July 2016: retail-embedded dentistry is not a pilot program. It is a scalable, sustainable, and high-impact model for expanding access to care.
Current locations are Dallas, TX (2), Grand Prairie, TX, Plano, TX, Sachse, TX. Openings expected by the end of Q1: Dallas, TX, Garland, TX, Fort Worth, TX (3), North Richland Hills, TX, Houston, TX, Pearland, TX, Pinellas Park, FL, and Brandon, FL.
The Retail Dental Model
What distinguishes the US Dental Professionals model from conventional DSO expansion is the built-in patient acquisition advantage of the Walmart environment. With 270 million weekly customer visits, it operates within one of the highest foot-traffic access points in the country, reducing the marketing and awareness challenges that often constrain traditional dental practices.
“The families who shop at Walmart are the same families who have historically been told — by geography, by pricing, by the design of the system itself — that the best dental care wasn’t built for them. We built our entire model to prove that wrong. And the data confirms it.” — Dr. Lan Chi Le, Founder & CEO, US Dental Professionals
When Dr. Lan Chi Le opened her first practice inside a Walmart store, there was no established roadmap. The concept of a full-spectrum dental practice within a retail setting, offering services such as Invisalign, implants, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, endodontics, and oral surgery, had not yet been proven at scale.
A decade later, the model has been validated across diverse markets and demographics. The Walmart setting consistently attracts patients who are often underserved by traditional dental care, including working families, cost-conscious consumers, and those who delay care due to access and scheduling challenges or the belief that quality and affordability cannot coexist. The results challenge that perception, as a high-volume patient base continues to respond to accessible, high-quality care.
“This is not a new concept being tested. This is a ten-year-old model that has been refined and is now ready to scale nationally. We have demonstrated that comprehensive dentistry can be delivered inside a Walmart store at prices working families can afford, without compromising clinical excellence.” — Dr. Lan Chi Le, Founder & CEO, US Dental Professionals
This growth is supported by standardized operating procedures designed for multi-site expansion, a disciplined approach to hiring aligned, high-performing teams, and a strong organizational culture that enables scale without sacrificing quality or mission.
Differentiation from Walmart’s Previous Dental Model
Dr. Lan Chi Le attributes the strength of her approach to a combination of clinical expertise and personal experience. Her background mirrors that of many of the working families she serves, shaping a model grounded in accessibility, trust, and relevance.
Building this model has required continuous refinement through challenges such as COVID, rising inflation, and the widespread fear of dental care. These pressures deepened the organization’s understanding of patient behavior and reinforced the need for a more accessible, patient-centered approach.
Rather than slowing progress, they strengthened resilience and clarified the company’s focus. The result is a model intentionally designed to close oral health gaps and support a sustainable, long-term presence in retail dentistry.
Clinical Standards: Full-Spectrum Care, No Compromises
A central tenet of the US Dental Professionals model is that accessibility must not come at the expense of clinical quality. Each practice is equipped with CBCT imaging, or cone beam computed tomography, along with AI-driven diagnostic platforms and digital impression scanners. This technology reflects a deliberate commitment to delivering the same level of diagnostic accuracy and treatment precision found in premium dental settings, regardless of location.
The full scope of services at each location includes Invisalign clear aligner therapy, dental implants, comprehensive orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, endodontics, and oral surgery. Every product, material, and supply is hand-selected by Dr. Le and evaluated against the highest clinical standards, not chosen for cost or convenience. The company’s philosophy is simple and consistent: the real thing, made accessible. No shortcuts.
Dr. Le built her practice serving immigrant and working-class communities in Texas and Florida, guided by the belief that dental care should address the patient’s overall health, not just the immediate issue. Each visit integrates treatment with education, reinforcing the connection between oral health and systemic wellbeing.
That philosophy is rooted in her own experience growing up in a household with access to care, but without the knowledge to navigate it effectively. That perspective continues to shape the company’s clinical approach and patient experience.
Outlook: National Scale, Walmart Partnership, and the Future of Retail Healthcare
US Dental Professionals brings something no new entrant can easily replicate: a decade of operational experience, a proven patient acquisition model embedded in the world’s most-visited retail environment, and a founder whose clinical standards and personal mission are inseparable from the company’s identity.
As the healthcare industry continues to debate how to close the access gap at scale, US Dental Professionals offers a model that has already answered the question, quietly and consistently, without compromise.
Lan Chi Le, DDS is the Founder & CEO of US Dental Professionals, bringing over 20 years of experience in dentistry — 17 of which have been in ownership. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Arkansas and her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. A pioneer in retail-based dental care, Dr. Le has built a growing DSO model rooted in accessibility and community impact, with locations inside Walmart stores across the region. Driven by a personal mission to meet patients where they are, she leads with both a results-oriented approach and a deep commitment to making quality dental care available to the communities she serves.
