What 70,000 Dental Practices Reveal About Retention, Case Acceptance, and AI

What 70,000 Dental Practices Reveal About Retention, Case Acceptance, and AIwith Ali Hyatt of Henry Schein One Justin Marti welcomes Ali Hyatt, Chief Customer and Growth Officer at Henry Schein One, for a data-rich look at what’s actually happening inside dental practices today. Ali oversees growth and customer experience across the entire organization (sales, marketing, onboarding, implementation, training, customer success, and account management), giving her a rare, end-to-end vantage point into how modern dental organizations operate. A UPenn graduate with an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, she built her career at the intersection of healthcare innovation, growth strategy, and emerging technology, including years in telehealth at Amwell. Drawing on Henry Schein One’s Catalyst Index, built from roughly 5,000 practices and visibility into nearly 70,000 nationwide, Ali unpacks a counterintuitive finding: no-show and cancellation rates are improving, yet patient retention is slipping. The conversation digs into where emerging DSOs should focus, how AI is reshaping the front desk and the operatory, and why the path to growth almost always starts at the clinical moment.What You’ll Learn in This EpisodeWhy falling cancellation rates can mask a retention problem, and what the top 10% of practices do differentlyHow standardized scheduling and confirmation workflows quietly protect revenue at scaleThe collection-rate gap (95% vs. 98%) that decides whether your hard work actually gets paidWhy patients “delay what they don’t understand”: how to close the case-acceptance gap between 45% and 75%Where AI is already earning its keep: ambient voice notes, second-opinion imaging, and front-desk scheduling agentsThe 2–3 focus areas emerging DSOs should prioritize before trying to do everything at onceTimestamps — Audio (+13s offset)[00:00] Intro[01:58] From Telehealth to Dental: Ali’s Path[04:32] Inside the Catalyst Index: Data From 70,000 Practices[06:12] The Retention Paradox[07:18] Why Schedule Reliability Wins[09:15] Holding SOPs Together at Scale[10:49] Getting Paid: The Image Verify Edge[13:19] Why Patients Delay Treatment[16:07] Closing the Case Acceptance Gap[17:26] AI in the Operatory and at the Front Desk[23:21] Where Emerging DSOs Should Focus[24:53] The MCP Layer and What Comes Next[31:19] Where to Find the Catalyst IndexResources MentionedHenry Schein One — HenryScheinOne.comDentrix Ascend — DentrixAscend.comHenry Schein One Catalyst Index — 2026 Catalyst Index for DSOs (annual practice-performance report) — View reportImage Verify (claim-readiness imaging tool via Dentrix Ascend)Ambient AI voice notes / clinical documentationMCP layer in Dentrix Ascend (production-focus AI, in beta)CareCredit (patient financing)Amwell (telehealth — Ali’s prior company)Thrive Live (Henry Schein One annual event)Claude by Anthropic (AI assistant referenced)Curodont (referenced in audio as a non-drill caries treatment — product name approximate; flag for verification)Connect with Ali HyattTitle: Chief Customer and Growth Officer, Henry Schein OneLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alirobbinshyattCompany: Henry Schein One — HenryScheinOne.comPractice management platform: DentrixAscend.comCatalyst Index report: 2026 Catalyst Index for DSOsConnect with Justin MartiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmartiEmail: [email protected]: martilawgroup.com