Summary
✓ Dental Care Alliance (DCA) operates 400+ practices with $35.8M in annual lab spend—previously spread across 400+ lab suppliers, limiting visibility, consistency, and scale.
✓ After failed attempts to consolidate through preferred vendor programs, DCA selected Dandy as a Diamond Preferred partner based on its ability to deliver performance and drive adoption.
✓ DCA successfully consolidated lab spend through Dandy, driven by rapid, organic provider adoption rooted in trust and results (no mandates required.)
✓ Orders through Dandy grew from 233 in May to 3,005 in October, with 147 DCA offices adopting Dandy through provider-led demand.
✓ Dandy invested deeply in the partnership—deploying 160+ scanners, training 750+ clinicians, and supporting adoption through hands-on engagement and incentives.
Key Results
- $4M+ in CapEx savings
- 10/10 average satisfaction rating for Dandy among DCA clinicians
- 24% average cost savings with digital impressions
- 6,550 appointments saved on dentures
The Challenge
$35.8M Spent Across 400+ Labs
DCA had the scale—but lab spend was too fragmented to leverage it.
With more than 400 practices and $35.8M in annual lab spend, Dental Care Alliance had the buying power to negotiate better pricing, demand accountability, and drive consistency across their network. But in practice, that leverage was almost entirely lost.
“We have about 400 practices, and we probably had at least 400 labs before Dandy. It was a mess, and it was all over the table.”
– Dan Gast, VP Procurement, Dental Care Alliance
Lab spend was spread across more than 400 suppliers, creating a system with little standardization and even less visibility into performance. Each region, and often each practice, operated independently. The result was inconsistent quality, variable turnaround times, and pricing that didn’t reflect the organization’s true scale.
DCA had already attempted to bring structure to this complexity through a preferred vendor program. While negotiated pricing improved on paper, provider behavior remained unchanged. Most clinicians continued working with the labs they trusted, even when cost savings were available elsewhere. Without provider buy-in, consolidation efforts stalled.
At the same time, increasing scanner popularity introduced an additional layer of friction. Many programs came with long-term commitments, minimums, and financial penalties, making it harder for practices to experiment with digital workflows and scanners.
DCA didn’t just need better pricing or a broader vendor list; they needed a way to align provider behavior with organizational goals without disrupting clinical autonomy.
THE TURNING POINT
To address the issue, DCA ran a formal evaluation process aimed at consolidating lab vendors while raising the overall standard of performance across the network.
Dandy stood out not only for its clinical quality and cost structure, but for its ability to drive adoption at the practice level. That distinction proved critical. At DCA’s scale, vendor success depended on whether providers actually chose to use it.
Dandy was ultimately selected as a Diamond Preferred partner, with a clear mandate: deliver performance and make consolidation work in practice.
“The providers did not see the benefit other than the cost savings. So a lot of them opted
to stay with their mom and pop labs down the street that they already had built those
relationships with. It was a struggle getting them on board with the preferred labs.”
–Jamie Dunkley
Division President, Dental Care Alliance
What Changed
ADOPTION HAPPENED AT THE PRACTICE LEVEL
DCA’s earlier efforts made one thing clear: consolidation must happen at the practice level, not mandates.
Dandy approached adoption with that reality in mind. Rather than focusing exclusively on corporate agreements, the team worked directly with individual practices—training clinicians, onboarding staff, providing scanners, and integrating into dayto-day workflows. More than 750 providers were trained through hands-on onboarding. For providers who were hesitant to switch, Dandy lowered the barrier to entry. Trial credits allowed clinicians to test a small number of cases before making any changes to their workflow, giving them a low-risk way to evaluate quality and consistency.
“Dandy has been involved at a practice level. They’ve showed up to talk to and train providers and the clinical teams and had conversations with the admin team. They understand the whole process. If we have a more skeptical practitioner, we can offer them a certain dollar amount to try the lab and just see how they like the crowns — that’s been a huge help with converting them over to Dandy.”
–Jamie Dunkley
Division President, Dental Care Alliance
As providers experienced the results firsthand, adoption accelerated organically. Monthly order volume grew from 233 in May 2025 to 3,005 by October 2025, and 147 offices signed on through provider-led demand rather than top-down enforcement.
Dandy Investment in DCA
EXECUTION DIDN’T FALL ON CORPORATE
In many consolidation efforts, the operational burden shifts to the DSO. Procurement teams are left to drive adoption, troubleshoot issues, and manage vendor relationships across hundreds of locations.
Dandy removed that burden entirely.
“When things aren’t going well, both our offices and our vendors come to me to fix it. Dandy does all of that for us.” – Dan Gast
This shift allowed DCA to move forward without adding operational complexity or diverting internal resources
PERFORMANCE BECAME VISIBLE… AND USABLE
Before Dandy, performance data was fragmented across hundreds of suppliers, making it difficult to assess outcomes or identify areas for improvement. Even when data existed, it was inconsistent and often unverifiable.
With Dandy, that changed.
Through the Dandy Hub, DCA gained a centralized, real-time view into lab performance across the entire organization. Metrics such as remake rates, turnaround times, spend, and scanner utilization became visible at both the network and practice level.
More importantly, the data was structured in a way that made it actionable across functions. Procurement teams could track vendor performance and commitments. Finance teams gained a clearer understanding of lab spend. Clinical leaders could monitor outcomes and identify variability across locations.
The visibility also enabled a more proactive approach to performance management. When an office showed elevated remake rates, Dandy analyzed the underlying causes and deployed targeted training to address the issue directly. Rather than reacting to problems after the fact, DCA could continuously improve performance across the network.
The Outcome
CONSOLIDATION THAT ACTUALLY STUCK
DCA achieved more than $4M in capital expenditure savings, while reducing costs by approximately 24% through digital impressions. Operational efficiency improved as well, with 6,550 appointments eliminated through Dandy’s two-appointment digital denture workflow. Clinician satisfaction reached a perfect 10 out of 10, underscoring the strength of provider adoption.
What makes these outcomes meaningful is how they were achieved. Adoption was driven by trust, consistency, and tangible improvements in day-to-day workflows— not by mandates or forced compliance.
Clinicians saw faster turnaround times, more predictable outcomes, and stronger support, which translated into both clinical and financial impact at the practice level.
What this means for DSOs
Lab consolidation often fails not because of strategy, but because it overlooks how providers actually work. Pricing and vendor selection matter, but they don’t change behavior on their own.
DCA had already identified the right opportunity: reduce fragmentation, standardize vendors, and improve performance across the network. The missing piece was the practice-by-practice execution.
Dandy completed that execution by aligning provider experience with organizational goals. Through hands-on training and support, hardware and software that’s intuitive to use, and clear, transparent performance insights, consolidation came naturally.
For DSOs navigating similar challenges, the takeaway is straightforward. Sustainable change doesn’t come from top-down directives alone. It comes from building systems that providers choose to engage with—systems that improve their workflows, support their patients, and deliver measurable results across the organization.
That’s what turns consolidation into a durable, scalable advantage.
“Dandy as an amazing partnership between the providers and the lab, giving the customer service to patients, making sure that every appliance— crown, bridge, denture—that’s being delivered is high quality and patient satisfaction. It’s the technology that Dandy offers, along with the partnership that you do not typically see with national labs.”
–Jamie Dunkley, Division President, Dental Care Alliance