About DoctorOwned.org
A directory built on transparency, not advertising.
Dental patients deserve to know who owns the practice they trust with their care. As DSO and private equity consolidation accelerates, it has become increasingly difficult to determine whether a practice is truly independent.
DoctorOwned.org was built to solve that problem. We use public data to screen every listed practice, explain every signal we check, and give patients a clear, honest answer about ownership structure.
Who’s behind this
Dr. Richard Dawson, DMD
Founder · Smile Science Dental Spa, Glendale, AZ
Dr. Dawson is an independently practicing general dentist in Glendale, Arizona. He built DoctorOwned.org after recognizing that patients had no reliable way to verify the ownership structure of a dental practice before booking an appointment. As both the founder and the first verified member, he is committed to maintaining the directory’s independence standards.
The data
Every listing starts with the CMS National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry, a public database of all licensed health care providers in the United States. The NPI file is published monthly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and contains over 8 million provider records.
We update our screening data monthly in alignment with CMS publication cycles. Each re-screen re-runs all 12+ signals, and Verified members are additionally reviewed quarterly with document-based confirmation.
Our commitment
- ✓We will never accept advertising from DSO or PE-backed dental groups.
- ✓We will never place sponsored content above independent listings.
- ✓Revenue comes only from the Verified membership fee — no exceptions.
- ✓All screening methodology is publicly documented at /dso-signals/.
- ✓Any practice can dispute a classification by contacting us directly.
Have a question or dispute?
Reach us at hello@doctorowned.org