Good morning. A woman in Washington state involved in a suspected DUI accident tried to evade detection with a novel strategy: eating toothpaste straight from the tube, an attempt to hide the smell of alcohol, according to a Facebook post by a local sheriff. 

Trying to make oral health products an accomplice to dangerous criminal behavior—very poor form, we must say.

Inside this issue:

- What’s next for dental policy post-midterms
- Meet dentistry’s latest graduating class

⏰ Your reading time today: 6 minutes 49 seconds

🏆 Enjoy your coffee break with Word of Mouth, a dental-themed word game inspired by Wordle.

MARKETS

📉 3D Systems ($DDD) – 1.92 | -0.87 (31.18%)
📈 Align Technology ($ALGN) – 174.26 | +17.99 (11.51%)
📈 Colgate-Palmolive ($CL) – 97.94 | +0.90 (0.93%)
📉 Dentsply Sirona ($XRAY) – 9.54 | -0.640 (6.29%)
📈 Envista Holdings ($NVST) – 25.97 | +0.42 (1.66%)
📈 Henry Schein ($HSIC) – 88.41 | +4.29 (5.10%)
📈 Park Dental Partners ($PARK) – 21.00 | +0.61 (2.97%)
📈 Straumann Holding ($STMN) – CHF 105.45 | +4.75 (4.72%)

Stock data reflects market close as of the last day of trading, showing changes over the past five trading days.

THE DRILL DOWN

📈 DSO supply costs have surged between 9% and 20% since 2021 across key product categories, with labels and signs leading the climb at over 20%, according to Dentira's new Dental Spend Index.

🛡️ ADA urges Congress to revamp cybersecurity requirements for small dental practices, warning that the Senate-passed Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act could impose costly mandates without adequate financial support for smaller offices.

🔐 Ransomware group Termite claims to have stolen 15GB of data from dental software firm iDentalSoft, allegedly including patient treatment records, ID documents, and consultation audio recordings, though the company has yet to issue any public acknowledgment of the incident confirming a breach.

🪥 83% of HSA and FSA holders say they'd use tax-free funds on everyday oral care products if eligible, with that figure climbing to 91% among account holders with children under 18, according to a Consumer Healthcare Products Association survey.

⚖️ Park Dental reaches a class-action settlement tied to its 2024 data breach, agreeing to compensate class members whose personal and medical information may have been accessed through compromised employee email accounts.

⚖️ Federal appeals court revives antitrust claims against Align Technology, overturning an earlier court decision that found Align was justified in ending interoperability between the Invisalign system and third-party oral scanners. The aligner wars continue.

🔬 FDA grants Breakthrough Device Designation to OraLiva's AI-enabled oral cancer test, which uses brush-collected cells to produce a scored numerical risk index for evaluating suspicious lesions.

🔐 Ransomware group n0n claims responsibility for a Delta Dental of Missouri data breach, with dark web monitoring sites reporting that sensitive member data, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and dental treatment details, may have been exposed.

🏛️ Harvard's dental school is getting an upgrade with a $4.9 million renovation, part of a broader $21 million project spanning its medical and dental buildings.

✂️ Colorado's governor proposes eliminating adult Medicaid dental coverage entirely, saying the state has no funds to cover the program after federal Medicaid cuts, though the proposal will need to be considered by the incoming legislature.

🤖 Idaho becomes one of the first states to issue formal AI guidance for dental licensees, adopting a policy that holds dental providers personally responsible for any AI-assisted clinical decisions. Your robot, your liability.

REGULATION

After the midterms, dental’s policy fights will be in the statehouse

Congress may have changed hands last week, but a divided government means gridlock in Washington. The statehouses will be where the real action is on dental policy.

Catch up: Democrats flipped the Senate and the House, securing healthy majorities in both chambers. Further down the ballot, Democrats now control the governor's office and both legislative chambers in 23 states, including six new states: Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona, as well as the Texas House for the first time since 2002.

• But don’t forget, President Trump still has his veto pen, and he’s ready to use it. That means any successful legislation will need to have bipartisan support—something that’s not easy to come by in Washington these days.

What it means nationally: Soon-to-be Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries said that healthcare will be one of the top priorities for the incoming Congress, specifically reinstating lapsed Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing the Medicaid cuts tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). That’s unlikely to happen, given that it would require overcoming (or avoiding) a presidential veto.

• “It’s important to level-set that changes are likely coming and are likely not going to be delayed or canceled, at least early in 2027,” Manatt Health partner Allison Orris said.

• Some of the rougher edges of the OBBB could be sanded down or implementation delayed, however, through amendments in other spending bills. Chris Rorick, a policy adviser to the Dental Trade Alliance, told DrBicuspid he expects Democrats to try to delay or soften the cuts through appropriations within a year.

The bigger national issue: Oversight powers are where the Democrats will be more free to flex their new congressional powers, and healthcare is likely to face significantly more scrutiny, particularly in areas linked to perceived affordability challenges. That may not capture dentistry, but it’s a risk, particularly for larger DSOs and those linked to private equity. Hearings, investigations, and subpoenas create reputational risks for those targeted.

What it means at the state level: Every state will have to deal with the fallout of OBBB and Medicaid cuts, which is hitting dentistry both because adult dental benefits, optional under federal law, are an easy target for cuts, and because around five million people are expected to lose Medicaid benefits altogether. How they are approaching this varies: 

• Colorado: In his final budget this week, Governor Jared Polis proposed eliminating Medicaid adult dental along with the state's low-income senior dental program.

• Pennsylvania: The state cut most adult Medicaid dental in 2011, and a bill restoring them passed the House in 2023 before stalling in the Senate. Democrats now control that Senate and could try to get that bill passed again. For his part, Governor Josh Shapiro has pledged not to cut Medicaid services.

• Wisconsin: Governor-elect David Crowley ran on making BadgerCare, the state's Medicaid program, cover dental and vision alongside medical care.

• Georgia: Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms says she would expand Medicaid, which covers routine dental already, to more adults.

• Texas: Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa also backed Medicaid expansion, but Texas’ program covers emergency dental only.

What’s next: The most consequential bills introduced in upcoming Congress could be ones that have no real chance of passing. According to the think tank Brookings, prospective Democratic presidential candidates could introduce legislation in an effort to pave the way for their campaigns and set the agenda for 2029.

Share this article: https://www.themorninggrind.com/p/after-the-midterms-look-to-the-statehouse-for-dental-policy-fights

BUSINESS BITES

👔 Notable leadership changes: Align Technology names Jennifer L. Davis its new president and CEO, ADSO appoints Smile Brands Dr. AJ Acierno its next executive director, SALT Dental Partners makes Heather Brazik Smith its chief experience officer, Parkview Dental Partners announces Jon Gregoire as its CEO, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons names Charles Crago its 2026–27 president, and DentalXChange appoints Scott Hampel as its president.

📈 Deals and de novos: PDS Health adds eight de novo practices, ClearChoice Dental Implant Center opens a new location in New York, and First Choice Dental adds three practices in Wisconsin.

🦷 Dentsply Sirona Q3 net sales fall 7.6% to $836 million but losses narrow sharply, with the company posting a net loss of just $2 million versus a $427 million loss a year prior, while CEO Dan Scavilla pointed to gains in implants and endodontics as evidence the return-to-growth plan is taking hold. A smaller hole is still progress.

💸 Align Technology launches $270 million accelerated stock repurchase with Goldman Sachs, putting the company on track to buy back roughly $500 million in shares for all of 2026 under its board-approved $1 billion repurchase program.

WORKFORCE

Meet dentistry’s newest graduating class

Hiring a fresh-out-of-school dentist? What they’re looking for in a first job may be different from what you’re used to.

What’s happening: The typical graduating senior is a 28-year-old Gen Z woman, often from a dental school in the South, with a large amount of student debt (on average, nearly $300,000) to pay off, according to the latest American Dental Education Association’s survey of graduating seniors and data from the ADA’s Health Policy Institute (HPI).

• Half are heading straight into private practice. Of that group, 77% expect to start as associates and 32% plan to join a DSO, up from 28% in 2021.

• While nearly all say they’re highly prepared to handle the clinical side of the job, almost 40% say they don’t feel ready to manage a successful business.

What they’re looking for: Working conditions are often more important than compensation to new dentists entering the workforce. Here’s what the HPI’s survey of dentists 10 or fewer years out of school found: 

• Culture and autonomy rank with pay. Among new dentists planning to change jobs, 98% to 100% rated workplace culture as important in their next position. For autonomy in clinical decisions, it was 96% to 100%, and for earnings, 97% to 99%. Schedule flexibility followed at 92% to 93%.

• First jobs often fall short. New dentists who had already left an affiliated practice were far happier in their current job. Their satisfaction with clinical autonomy rose from 32% to 94%, with workplace culture from 21% to 83%, and with their influence on business decisions from 7% to 75%.

• Everyone wants more leave. Dentists leaving independent offices cared more about family and medical leave (90% vs. 56%), and only 35% of them were satisfied with the leave they had. Among those leaving DSOs, satisfaction with leave was even lower, at 18%.

Why it matters: DSOs are, in theory, well positioned to meet the demand from new dentists for a stable career with greater work-life balance. Employee dentists work five fewer hours a week than owners, and scale makes predictable schedules and full benefits possible, which may not be the case in a new independent practice.

Yes, but: Keeping these dentists is the hard part. Many new grads join DSOs and leave within a few years, so each hire costs you again in recruiting unless the job keeps improving. The biggest reason for leaving, per HPI, is a desire for more influence over business decisions.

What you can do: Dentists say they like the culture and autonomy of independent offices, but that they often fall short on benefits and leave. Groups can get an edge in recruiting by giving providers a real say while also offering benefits packages that independent practices can’t. 

• Use your scale to your advantage when it comes to leave and benefits. Insurance benefits and paid parental, family, and medical leave costs a lot for a two-dentist office and much less when it’s spread across dozens of locations. This is an area where you should be able to make the best offer (though satisfaction surveys report that’s often not the case).

• Give dentists a path to having more of a say. Define the steps from associate to lead dentist, clinical director, and regional roles. Attach responsibilities, pay, and a realistic timeline to each step.

• Hand over decisions when you can. At each stage of career progression, offer real autonomy to give dentists a stake in the operations of the business. Hiring, scheduling, equipment, and local marketing are all areas where even junior dentists can have a say.

Bottom line: The next generation of dentists want a steady paycheck, a competitive benefits and leave package, and a path to eventually having influence over how the business runs. Groups that build around that now will have a much easier time hiring in the years to come.

Share this article: https://www.themorninggrind.com/p/​​meet-dentistry-s-newest-graduating-class

CLINICAL NOTES

👁️ Periodontitis may more than triple the risk of a serious eye condition called exudative retinal detachment, which happens when fluid builds up beneath the retina and causes vision loss or blindness, according to a new study in the Journal of Periodontology.

🦷 Gum disease and tooth loss may be linked to a higher risk of multiple types of liver cancer, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, which researchers describe as the largest study of its kind.

BEYOND THE CUSP

• This handy new tool tracks Medicare Advantage dental benefit cuts.

• Unsweetened cranberry might actually be good for your teeth, a small study found.

• A personal trainer explains the “cozy cardio” trend.

• 17 trips to book at least a year in advance.

• The 200 greatest rock songs of the 21st century, according to Rolling Stone.