Rock Dental Brands' headquarters in Little Rock
Rock Dental Brands of Little Rock on Wednesday announced that it will acquire Arkansas Dentistry & Braces (ARDB), owned by Dr. Benjamin Burris and Dr. Justin Bethel.
Rock Dental said the deal would further expand the availability of its services and specialists.
The parties declined to disclose the purchase price for the deal, which has yet to close. It’s the latest in a series of dentists selling to a larger group practice, an attractive option to dentists close to retirement age and those looking to avoid the challenges of ownership and focus on taking care of patients.
Dani White, chief marketing officer for Rock Dental, told Arkansas Business that the company plans to hire more people to staff its headquarters. The company employs about 56 there now.
White said that while Burris and Bethel are not retiring, they won’t be working for Rock Dental. The dentists called the sale of their business the “best course of action for our patients, our team members and our community.”
“Delivering access to quality dental care is a huge undertaking and Rock Dental Brands has far greater logistical resources and experience in delivering care at this scale,” Burris and Bethel said in a news release.
ARDB provides dental and orthodontic services in 19 locations: Benton, Bentonville, Blytheville, Brinkley, Fayetteville, Forrest City, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Paragould, Russellville, Searcy, Sheridan, Siloam Springs, Springdale, Van Buren and West Memphis.
Burris bought a small practice in Jonesboro in 2004 and grew it into the largest individually owned orthodontic practice in North America, according to ARDB’s website.
Bethel graduated from the University of Tennessee Dental School in 2000, then started a practice in his hometown of Benton. He expanded it to several additional locations in the following years.
In 2014, Burris and Bethel formed Arkansas Dentistry & Braces.
Founded in 201 by orthodontists Bryan Hiller and Mark Dake, and Dake’s son Merritt Dake, who is not an orthodontist, Rock Dental already has 34 locations in Arkansas and Missouri, under the names Westrock Orthodontics, Leap Kids Pediatric Dental and Impact Oral Surgery.
It acquired five more in December from Dr. Jordan Cooper, under the Rock Dental Brands’ Rock Family Dental name.
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