Why we're not a DSO — and why that matters for your oral surgery

A patient came to us last spring for a second opinion on her wisdom teeth. She had been to a large chain practice the week before. She told us the consult took eleven minutes, she met the surgeon for the first time on the day of the procedure, and when she called the next morning with swelling questions she got a national call center.

We talked with her for forty minutes. Dr. Perez-Rosich looked at her scans himself, walked her through the plan, and gave her his direct line for the recovery. She had her extractions ten days later. That experience — start to finish with the same surgeon — is the difference we want to explain on this page.

If you're comparing oral surgeons in South Florida right now, you are almost certainly looking at a mix of private practices and DSO-affiliated practices. Both can deliver good care. But they're built differently, and the differences show up in the chair.

What is a DSO?

A DSO is a Dental Service Organization. It's a company that manages the business side — scheduling, billing, supply chain, marketing, hiring — for a group of dental and oral surgery practices, often under the same brand. The surgeon you see is typically an employee of the DSO, not the owner of the practice.

DSOs aren't inherently bad. The model has real strengths: extended hours, consolidated technology, and lower prices on routine procedures. For some patients and some procedures, that's exactly what they need.

OMS Associates is built the other way. Dr. Ramon Perez-Rosich owns the practice. He sees every patient. He sets the schedule, picks the equipment, and answers to the patients in front of him rather than to corporate production targets. That's what we mean when we say we're a private, doctor-owned oral surgery practice in South Florida.

Five differences you'll feel in the chair

1. Who decides your treatment plan

At an independent practice, the surgeon decides what care you need based on what they see in your scans and your mouth. At a DSO-affiliated practice, treatment recommendations often run through protocols designed for consistency across many offices — and against production benchmarks the practice is expected to hit. That doesn't mean DSO care is wrong; it means the decision-making process is different.

2. Continuity of care

Oral surgery is rarely one appointment. A dental implant case can span months. A sinus lift involves a graft, healing time, then placement. An exposure-and-bond case coordinates with an orthodontist over a year or more. At OMS Associates, the surgeon you meet at the consult is the surgeon performing the procedure and the surgeon checking on your healing. Corporate chains often have higher provider turnover, which means a new clinician reading your chart from scratch.

3. Time per appointment

In a private practice, the surgeon sets how long each appointment is — short for a straightforward consult, longer when a case is complex. In a DSO setting, appointment blocks are often standardized across the network. That works fine for cleanings. It's less ideal for surgical planning.

4. Experience level of your surgeon

Dr. Perez-Rosich is board-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and has been performing oral surgery since 2007. High-volume corporate practices, by design, lean on a mix of senior and earlier-career providers, and patients don't always know in advance which one they'll see. If you want to know exactly who is operating, ask directly before you book.

5. Front-desk culture

This one sounds small. It isn't. The front desk decides whether you can get a same-day procedure when something hurts on Monday morning, whether your insurance question gets a real answer the first time, and whether your follow-up call goes to a human who knows your name. Our front desk accommodates same-day procedures when clinically appropriate, because the surgeon and the schedule are under one roof.

How OMS Associates is set up

We are one board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, two offices, and a team built around making complex procedures feel manageable.

When a DSO may actually be the right choice

We don't think every patient should choose a private practice. If you need a single location for a whole family's routine cleanings, fillings, orthodontics, and the occasional extraction — and price sensitivity is your top priority — a well-run DSO can deliver that under one roof at a competitive cost.

Where we believe an independent specialist makes a bigger difference is in surgical care. Pre-operative planning, anesthesia decisions, surgical execution, and post-operative recovery all benefit from one provider keeping the whole picture in their head. That's the case we're making — not that DSOs are wrong, but that the surgical chair is where continuity matters most.

Five questions to ask any oral surgeon before you book

Whether you end up at OMS Associates or somewhere else, these are the questions worth asking. The answers tell you what the next six months will feel like.

  1. Will the same surgeon perform my consult, my procedure, and my follow-up appointments?
  2. Are you board-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery?
  3. How long has the practice been operating, and who owns it?
  4. How much time will be set aside for my procedure?
  5. If something happens overnight after surgery, who do I call — and who answers?

Frequently asked questions

What does "non-DSO" actually mean for me as a patient?

It means the person performing your surgery owns the practice. Treatment decisions, scheduling, and post-op support sit with one surgeon and one team rather than being routed through a corporate management layer.

Is private practice oral surgery more expensive?

Sometimes — and sometimes not. DSOs can offer lower prices on routine, high-volume procedures because of their scale. For complex surgical cases, the price gap often narrows or disappears once you factor in second opinions, redo procedures, and the time cost of multiple providers handing off your chart.

How do I know if a South Florida oral surgeon is independent?

Ask who owns the practice. If the person at the front desk hesitates or names a parent company you've never heard of, that's your answer. Independent practices will tell you the owner's name without thinking about it.

Does OMS Associates accept my insurance?

We work with most major dental and medical insurance plans. Call the office or use the contact form and we'll verify coverage before your consult so there are no surprises.

Can I get a same-day wisdom teeth or implant consult?

Often, yes — particularly if you're in pain. Same-day procedures are scheduled when clinically appropriate. Call the office and our front desk will tell you what's available today.

Ready to talk?

If you're weighing oral surgery in Broward or Miami-Dade and you'd rather have one surgeon than a rotating cast, we'd be glad to meet you. There's no pressure attached to a consult — you'll leave with a plan whether or not you book your procedure with us.

Call us: 954-693-0026 • Book online: omsassociates.com/book

Written by Dr. Ramon Perez-Rosich, DMD, a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon practicing in Southwest Ranches and Kendall, Florida.