Howard Farran DDS, MBA

Howard Farran DDS, MBA Founder & CEO of www.DentalTown.com His area of expertise covers many aspects of dentistry, including the business of dentistry and clinical topics.
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Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, is a practicing dentist with more than 25 years of clinical experience, as well as a noted international speaker on faster, easier, more efficient dentistry. He has captivated audiences around the world with his innovative, informational, off-the-cuff and entertaining lectures for more than two decades.

ADA Finances, Membership Decline, and the Future of Organized DentistryThe ADA’s 2025 financial report is not a disaster...
06/02/2026

ADA Finances, Membership Decline, and the Future of Organized Dentistry

The ADA’s 2025 financial report is not a disaster, but it is not exactly reassuring either.

The organization posted a $24.9 million accrual net loss, drew $20 million from reserves, and saw reserves fall from $157 million to $137 million. The real issue is not liquidity. It is that core operations still spent more than they brought in.

To the ADA’s credit, there were bright spots. Non-dues revenue reached $74.4 million, investment income beat expectations, and the sale of the Washington, D.C. building added a $7.5 million gain. But one-time wins and a strong market are not the same as a sustainable business model.

The bigger story is membership. Dues revenue stayed on budget, but member counts continue to decline. Younger dentists are no longer joining organizations out of tradition. They join when the value is obvious.

Organized dentistry now competes with DSOs, study clubs, podcasts, Facebook groups, private CE, Dentaltown, and AI-driven education. The marketplace has changed.

The ADA also faces the same technology trap many dental offices know well. Delay upgrades for years, then pay heavily when the old system becomes mission critical.

The ADA is not collapsing. But it is clearly transitioning from a traditional dues-based association into a broader platform focused on advocacy, education, credentialing, data, and professional services.

The real question is simple:

Can organized dentistry build something dentists genuinely want to belong to, instead of something they feel guilty leaving?

What would make your ADA dues feel worth every penny? Dentaltown - And some wonder why I won’t support the ADA! https://www.dentaltown.com/messageboard/thread.aspx?s=2&f=170&t=395621&g=1&st=ADA%20Finances,%20Membership%20Decline,%20and%20the%20Future%20of%20Organized%20Dentistry

06/01/2026

Episode #1703 : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran, Howard sits down with Shreyas Parab — co-founder and CEO of DayDream — who grew up in his mother's dental practice, saw the broken systems up close, and built the solution he wished they'd had.

From spotting hidden revenue leaks to cutting through the AI hype, Shreyas brings a refreshingly honest outside perspective on what's really holding dental practices back.

🎧 Smart, direct, and full of practical insight for practice owners ready to think differently.

The Bloomberg story about Aspen Dental’s parent company seeking new investors triggered instant reactions across dentist...
05/31/2026

The Bloomberg story about Aspen Dental’s parent company seeking new investors triggered instant reactions across dentistry. Many independent dentists immediately interpreted it as proof that DSOs are collapsing.

That is probably the wrong takeaway.

This looks far more like a leverage story than an operational collapse story.

Aspen Dental clinics are still seeing patients. ClearChoice is still placing implants. The issue is that debt built during the era of ultra-cheap money is colliding with higher interest rates, slower growth, and lenders becoming more cautious.

That is happening everywhere right now, not just dentistry. Healthcare, veterinary medicine, urgent care, and private equity backed rollups are all feeling the pressure.

The important lesson for dentists is separating operations from capital structure. A practice can be clinically busy and financially stressed at the same time. Every dentist already understands that reality personally.

The anti-DSO crowd sees this as validation. DSO supporters call it temporary refinancing stress. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Some DSOs are overleveraged and will restructure. Others will thrive because scale still creates real advantages in recruiting, technology, marketing, centralized billing, payer negotiations, and AI implementation.

The future is probably not “private practice wins” or “DSOs win.”

The future is disciplined operators survive.

The era of easy money is over for everyone, including private practices.

Watch fundamentals, not headlines:
• Same-store patient volume
• Associate retention
• Refinancing announcements
• Vendor payment behavior
• Reimbursement pressure
• Clinic closures

Debt cycles come and go. Dentistry is still dentistry.

The real question is not whether consolidation survives. It is which business models can survive when money is no longer free.

Aspen Group Eyes New Investors to Address Debt as Earnings Slump - Bloomberg  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-19/aspen-group-eyes-new-investors-to-address-debt-as-earnings-slump

SmileDirectClub may become one of dentistry’s biggest cautionary tales, not because it failed, but because it exposed tr...
05/28/2026

SmileDirectClub may become one of dentistry’s biggest cautionary tales, not because it failed, but because it exposed truths both Silicon Valley and organized orthodontics underestimated.

Orthodontists were right that fully remote DIY orthodontics carried real clinical risks. But if that is the only takeaway, the profession misses the bigger lesson entirely.

SmileDirectClub proved millions of consumers wanted orthodontics to be cheaper, faster, easier, more transparent, and less inconvenient. Patients hated endless visits, opaque pricing, missed work, and feeling trapped in long treatment plans. SmileDirectClub understood consumer friction better than much of organized orthodontics.

That was the genius.

But teeth are not software. Orthodontics is not Amazon fulfillment with plastic trays.

The company underestimated biology, diagnosis, occlusion, periodontal health, compliance, and most importantly, the doctor-patient relationship. Patients may love convenience until complications appear. Then they want a real doctor who knows them personally.

The financial model eventually cracked too. Endless customer acquisition spending, heavy debt, and little durable profitability worked during the low-interest-rate era. Once rates rose, “growth at all costs” stopped working. After peaking near a $9 billion valuation, SmileDirectClub filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 and shut down months later, leaving many patients stranded mid-treatment.

The biggest lesson may be this:

Patients still want convenience, remote monitoring, digital communication, transparent pricing, and fewer visits. SmileDirectClub did not create those expectations. It raised them.

The future probably is not orthodontics versus teledentistry. It is hybrid orthodontics. Technology-enhanced orthodontics, not orthodontist-free orthodontics.

Steal SmileDirectClub’s convenience. Reject SmileDirectClub’s clinical shortcuts.

Use technology to reduce friction, not responsibility.

What part of the traditional orthodontic experience do you think patients most want eliminated next?
.janortho .ramirezortho

AAOMS is aware of an Article in Press in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reporting that oral and maxillo...
05/26/2026

AAOMS is aware of an Article in Press in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reporting that oral and maxillofacial surgery experienced the highest five-year “attrition” rate among 19 surgical specialties at 25.1 percent. The finding is generating concern and, in some instances, has been interpreted to suggest that 1 in 4 oral and maxillofacial surgeons are leaving the specialty.

That interpretation is not supported by the study design.

The analysis was based on Medicare Part B billing data and defined attrition according to subsequent Medicare evaluation and management activity. Surgeons who no longer demonstrated specified Medicare billing patterns were categorized as having exited active practice.

For oral and maxillofacial surgeons, leaving Medicare billing activity is not the same as leaving practice.

OMS practice includes dentoalveolar surgery, dental implants, esthetic procedures and other office-based services delivered through private-pay, commercial insurance and non-Medicare practice models. Many OMSs maintain limited Medicare participation or none at all. These specialty-specific practice patterns warrant careful interpretation of Medicare-based workforce analyses.

Importantly, the article itself acknowledges these limitations, stating that the methodology “could not distinguish permanent retirement from transitions to non-clinical roles, part-time practice or changes in billing patterns” and the “findings may not generalize to surgeons who practice exclusively outside of the data sources used.”

AAOMS supports rigorous workforce research and recognizes the importance of understanding professional sustainability, workforce needs and burnout across surgical specialties. The experiences of OMSs, including workforce pressures, practice sustainability and professional well-being, deserve continued study and accurate representation.

The reported figure reflects a Medicare-billing signal within the dataset studied. It should not be interpreted as evidence that 1 in 4 oral and maxillofacial surgeons are leaving the profession.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Clark, DMD
AAOMS President

05/25/2026

Dr. Paul Kelly DMD, MS
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon

Canadian Dental Care Plan is not socialized dentistry, and it is not “free dental care.” It is something dentists alread...
05/25/2026

Canadian Dental Care Plan is not socialized dentistry, and it is not “free dental care.” It is something dentists already know very well: a large insurance program with copays, preauthorizations, fee gaps, paperwork, patient confusion, and a whole lot of front-desk explaining.

The CDCP has undeniably expanded access to care for millions of Canadians who previously delayed dentistry because they could not afford it. That is a public health win.

But delayed dentistry rarely walks in needing a prophy and bitewings. It arrives as broken teeth, perio, endo, dentures, extractions, missed appointments, medical complexity, and patients who thought “covered” meant “paid in full.”

That is where politics meets the operatory.

The biggest issue may not be reimbursement. It may be complexity. Government expands coverage. Sun Life processes claims. Patients get subsidies. Dental teams absorb the confusion, preauthorization delays, fee conversations, and emotional fallout when “covered” does not mean “approved.”

The smartest offices are not panicking. They are building systems:
Verify eligibility first.
Explain finances clearly.
Document preauthorizations carefully.
Train the front desk relentlessly.

Because in dentistry, confusion always becomes someone’s job. Usually yours.

The real question is not whether CDCP is good or bad. The question is whether the system can improve access without burying practices in bureaucracy.

What do you think? Is CDCP a workable access solution, or the beginning of a much more administrative future for dentistry? .dental.coach

Does the JACS Oral Surgery Attrition Study Need a Retraction or Just a Correction?A Journal of the American College of S...
05/25/2026

Does the JACS Oral Surgery Attrition Study Need a Retraction or Just a Correction?

A Journal of the American College of Surgeons study sparked major debate after reporting that oral and maxillofacial surgery had the highest five year attrition signal among 19 surgical specialties at 25.1%.

At first glance, it sounded like one out of four oral surgeons quit oral surgery.

But that is not what the study actually proved.

The paper analyzed Medicare billing data linked to NPI records. If a surgeon disappeared from Medicare Part B billing for multiple years, the study counted that as attrition.

That distinction matters enormously for OMS.

Many oral surgeons focus on implants, third molars, sedation, dentoalveolar surgery, cosmetics, fee-for-service care, and private insurance. Some intentionally avoid hospital call, trauma coverage, and low reimbursement Medicare work altogether. So disappearing from Medicare billing may mean leaving Medicare, not leaving oral surgery.

The 25.1% number is real. The interpretation just needs tightening.

A better description is this: OMS showed the highest measured Medicare-billing attrition signal in the dataset, not proof that one in four oral surgeons quit the profession.

The same issue likely affects plastics and OB/GYN, specialties with more private-pay and non-Medicare-heavy practice models.

This debate actually revealed something bigger. Most burnout may not be clinical burnout. It may be systems burnout.

Dentists and physicians are increasingly moving away from environments with low control, high friction, staffing chaos, insurance headaches, administrative overload, and bad reimbursement. PPOs, Medicaid, hospital call, DSOs, prior authorizations, and endless bureaucracy are exhausting people faster than patient care itself.

The real lesson is simple. Before sharing any scary statistic, ask one question:

What exactly was measured? .omaralzahrani

The Secret Dentists Behind Japan’s Hit Rock Band Gre4n BoyzA hit Japanese rock band hides its faces behind toothy smiles...
05/23/2026

The Secret Dentists Behind Japan’s Hit Rock Band Gre4n Boyz

A hit Japanese rock band hides its faces behind toothy smiles. The reason comes straight from their day jobs.

Greeeen’s logo shows a mouth full of teeth because every band member is a practicing dentist. The four musicians perform in masks or shadows during concerts and music videos. No fan has ever seen their real faces in public.

The band chooses anonymity to protect their dentistry careers. Japanese culture sometimes frowns upon professionals who pursue entertainment on the side. Patients might not trust a dentist who also screams into a microphone on weekends.

Greeeen has sold millions of records while filling cavities during office hours. Their songs appear in commercials, anime, and films. Yet the men behind the music walk to work every morning unrecognized by the people sitting in their dental chairs.

A rock band that asks you to brush after every show. 🦷🎸🇯🇵😮

The logo for the famous Japanese rock band Greeeen features a mouth filled with teeth because all of the band members work as real dentists. The group has never revealed their faces publicly, and their true identities remain a secret to safeguard their careers in dentistry.

From Seed Oils to Fluoride: Why Patients Fall for Simple Health Villains. Dentists see this pattern every day. Patients ...
05/23/2026

From Seed Oils to Fluoride: Why Patients Fall for Simple Health Villains.

Dentists see this pattern every day. Patients want simple answers for complicated problems. Sugar is evil. Fluoride is toxic. Root canals cause disease. Seed oils are poison.

The seed oil debate exploded because it offers a clean villain for a messy chronic disease crisis. But most mainstream evidence from Johns Hopkins, Stanford Medicine, the American Heart Association, and STAT says the bigger issue is not canola oil in a home cooked meal. The bigger issue is ultra processed food patterns loaded with excess calories, refined starches, sugar, sodium, and constant overeating.

That should sound familiar to dentists.

Patients are overwhelmed. Nutrition advice changes constantly. Social media rewards fear, certainty, outrage, and conspiracy. Nuance dies fast online.

The clinical lesson is not to mock patients. It is to help them think clearly.

A calm evidence based answer sounds something like this:

“The bigger issue is not one oil. It is the overall pattern. Eat less ultra processed food. Cook more real food. Use olive oil or avocado oil if you prefer them. Do not panic over canola oil in a home cooked meal. And beef tallow does not magically make fries healthy.”

The mouth is the front door to the body. We see the consequences of poor diet every day through caries, diabetes, periodontal inflammation, reflux erosion, dry mouth, obesity related airway issues, and liquid sugar habits.

The real enemy is not one ingredient. It is a food system that makes unhealthy choices cheap, addictive, convenient, and everywhere.

If patients are this confused about food, how confused are they about dentistry?

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9633 S 48th Street, Ste 200
Phoenix, AZ
85044

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