He Built 80 Dental Practices Without Taking Away Autonomy | Lane Theriault, BOAC #56

In this episode of The Business of a Clinic, Jared speaks with Lane Theriault, CEO of Independence Dental.Lane started his career as an investment banker at Citigroup before moving into dental consolidation. After helping launch 123Dentist in Canada, he moved to the U.S. to build Independence Dental, which has grown from 8 practices at the end of 2020 to around 80 practices today.The conversation explores how Independence Dental thinks about scaling differently from a traditional DSO. Instead of forcing every clinic into one rigid playbook, Lane describes a supported autonomy model where successful practices keep control of their clinical and business identity while gaining access to group-level support.Jared and Lane discuss what dentists actually want after acquisition, including recruiting support, marketing accountability, revenue cycle management, payroll, procurement, and operational infrastructure. They also go deep on why marketing alone does not fix growth if the practice has a “leaky bucket” at the point of call handling, conversion, diary capacity, and patient retention.Lane also shares how Independence Dental is approaching AI. Rather than treating AI as a single product or outsourcing everything to vendors, the group is building an internal culture of AI, where people closest to the operational problem can build tools for their own workflows.They discuss custom apps, knowledge bases, coding agents, PHI, BAAs, AI receptionists, patient trust, and why transparency matters when patients interact with AI.The episode closes with Lane’s view on what will and will not change in dentistry. Customer service, relationships, and trust will remain central. But labour shortages and automation may change how care is delivered, including the possibility of robots completing tasks like crowns in the future.In this episodeLane’s journey from Citigroup to dental consolidationLaunching 123Dentist in CanadaBuilding Independence Dental from 8 to around 80 practicesWhy Independence Dental chose a supported autonomy modelHow DSOs can support practices without removing local identityWhat dental owners actually want after acquisitionRecruiting support in a difficult dental labour marketMarketing accountability and holding vendors responsibleWhy marketing spend fails when patient handling is weakThe leaky bucket problem in dental practicesCall conversion, diary capacity, and new patient flowWhy consensus matters in a partner-led dental groupHow Independence Dental thinks about organic growthBuilding custom tools instead of only buying softwareCreating a culture of AI across the organisationWhy people closest to the problem should help build the solutionBuy vs build decisions in healthcare technologyRevenue cycle management and automationAI receptionists, transparency, and patient trustPHI, BAAs, compliance, and security requirementsKnowledge bases, organisational context, and AI workflowsLane’s four steps for AI transformationWhat will change in dentistry over the next decadeWhat will not change: service, relationships, and trustDental robots and the future of clinical workKey ideaThe future of dental groups may not be one rigid playbook. Lane’s view is that the strongest model is one where successful practices keep their autonomy, while the group provides the infrastructure, systems, support, and technology that help them grow.About the showThe Business of a Clinic explores how private healthcare clinics can grow by improving patient relationships, patient engagement, clinic operations, retention, follow-up, commercial systems, and the overall patient experience.