Passing the drill: Baby boomer dentists bid goodbye, allowing young dentists’ smiles in the spotlight
Generational changeover: Dr. Sabrina Dragan (center), owner of what’s now called Dragan Smiles Complete Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, bought the practice in September 2020 from Dr. Michael Plunk (right), her mentor and a longtime pediatric dentist and orthodontist. They met during her pediatric residency at Texas A&M College of Dentistry. Plunk is a clinical faculty member.
Dragan brought on Dr. Chance Choate (left), an orthodontist, as an associate in 2025, shortly before Plunk retired. Choate is an A&M Dentistry dental alumnus.
Disco on FM radio was cool. “Grease” ruled the box office.
That’s when Dr. Michael Plunk opened his eponymous dental practice in June 1978 in East Dallas’ Casa Linda neighborhood.
“We weren’t dependent on insurance plans, PPOs, like corporations are,” he said. “It was about relationships, long-term relationships.”
Fast forward to 2026, and Latin music is popular on Spotify playlists. “Pegasus 3” is this year’s highest-grossing film so far.
Plunk officially retired last year, taking with him nearly half a century of memories.
His farewell isn’t unique. A large share of dentists aged 60 and older left the workforce between 2017 and 2024. The retirement surge is slowing, but the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute in 2025 projected that most baby boomer dentists will age out of the workforce by the late 2020s.
Stepping up is a rapidly growing pool of younger national talent. Dentists under 45 are poised to reshape the profession.
There’s more.
Despite baby boomers’ exits, the nation’s supply of dentists is projected to increase through 2040, rising from nearly 60 dentists overall per 100,000 people in 2024 to about 67 dentists overall per 100,000 people.
More schools, more young dentists
The report attributed the increase in dentists, in part, to the rising number of dental schools in the U.S. There were 75 dental schools in the U.S., as of 2024-25 academic year, and 21 schools opened since 2001; all were accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year and 67 had graduating classes, the American Dental Association confirmed.
First-year dental school enrollees totaled 7,013 in 2024, surging since 2020 and mostly attributed to the opening of new dental schools, the ADA Health Policy Institute stated. New dental school graduates numbered 6,872 in 2024, a 58% increase in the last two decades, the report stated.
At the 120-year-old Texas A&M College of Dentistry in Dallas, the dental school saw significant increases in applications for the Class of 2030. Nearly 1,500 students applied for the dental school’s 106 spots.
“Texas A&M prides itself on training the highest-quality dental professionals, who go on to serve in major cities and small towns across Texas.”
Dr. Alicia Spence, clinical assistant professor in comprehensive dentistry and director of recruitment and admissions at Texas A&M College of Dentistry
A&M Dentistry graduated 103 dental students in 2024 and 102 dental graduates in 2025. Neither number includes graduate students and dental specialists.
“Texas A&M prides itself on training the highest-quality dental professionals, who go on to serve in major cities and small towns across Texas,” said Alicia Spence (Texas A&M College of Dentistry, Class of 2012), clinical assistant and director of recruitment and admissions.
Graduates are ready: Dr. Alicia Spence, clinical assistant professor in comprehensive dentistry and director of recruitment and admissions at Texas A&M College of Dentistry, with Dr. Daniel Hupp, a 2025 dental graduate.
Transferring to the future
A few miles from A&M Dentistry’s campus, a large stuffed dragon stands watch in the colorful waiting room of Dragan Smiles Complete Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. It’s both a mascot for the practice and a homage to the pronunciation of the owner’s name, Dr. Sabrina Dragan. She bought the practice from Plunk in September 2020, and he continued to work in the office as an associate. Under the transitional name Plunk & Dragan Smiles, Dragan focused on pediatric dental care, and Plunk handled orthodontic cases.
She incorporated other changes that reflect the realities of meeting high expectations of today’s young parents in the affluent areas near White Rock Lake. Parents who research and interview dentists as thoroughly as they do nannies.
“We brought on tongue-tie and lip-tie releases (for breastfeeding babies and children with speech, feeding and functional issues) and all-white crowns,” she said. “(We are) working with a community that is more holistic and anti-fluoride. That is where the world is going; everyone is questioning what materials are going into their kid’s mouth and what’s the rationale.”
Dragan also added laser-restorative dentistry to ease children’s needle fears. In addition, she implemented early interceptive orthodontics to improve arch development and address children’s airway and sleep issues.
“We typically see anywhere from 35 to 50 patients a day,” she said.
Additional bite: There were more than 200,000 dentists in the U.S. in 2024, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute.
Dragan, who completed her pediatric residency at A&M Dentistry (Texas A&M College of Dentistry, Class of 2017), first met Plunk, clinical faculty, when he was one of her professors. He (Baylor College of Dentistry, Classes of September 1974, 1977 and 1985) taught her orthodontic techniques. She, then a dyed redhead, good-naturedly endured his endless ginger jokes.
“Dr. Plunk (is) one of those personalities who wants to get to you and get to your root story right from the get-go,” said Dragan of her first days in the pediatric residency program in 2015. “He picked me to be the chief resident, even though chief residents didn’t exist at the time.”
Dragan, who earned her dental degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine, completed an externship under Dr. Carolyn Kerins, associate professor and graduate program director of pediatrics at A&M Dentistry, prior to her residency. She also worked for several years as a dental assistant in Nevada.
“From the first meeting in class, Sabrina was engaging with not only me as her instructor, but her fellow residents as well,” Plunk said. “Her intelligence was matched by her humor and personality. She was born to be a pediatric dentist, and I picked up on that right away.”
He inquired about her interest in practice ownership as she prepared to graduate, but Dragan wanted the freedom an associateship offered. With that in mind, Plunk helped her get a job with his friend, Dr. Malcolm Strange, who is the founder and co-owner of Pediatric Dental Group of Colorado, a multilocation practice in the Denver area. Strange and Plunk had worked together in the Denver area before homesick Plunk and wife Carol Anne returned to Texas in 1978.
Plunk and Dragan stayed in touch over the years, and Plunk surprised her one day when he visited Colorado. That’s when Dragan asked if he still wanted someone to purchase his practice. She was ready.
“You knew it was the right person and the right time,” said Plunk, who searched for a successor several times over the years.
A succession plan was born, and Dragan and husband Jon moved back to Dallas to set roots.
An office of her own: Dragan poses in the lobby of her practice office in East Dallas. It was her childhood dream to be a dentist.
Owning a practice requires a different skill set than clinical dentistry, Dragan said. While her practice was profitable from the beginning, she likened it to flying a plane without an autopilot – or even a pilot’s license. There were many long nights learning the administrative side of while navigating pandemic supply shortages, inflation and personal protective equipment.
“In many ways, I was starting from the bottom, which helped my mindset,” she said. “The practice just managed to get by financially at first, and it was very important to me to keep Dr. Plunk’s team together because they were like family and had deep relationships with our patients.”
Dragan credited both Plunk and his staff with teaching her leadership skills and how to treat people.
“Looking back, working with Dr. Plunk was like the best continuing education course I could have taken,” she said.
Dragan added Dr. Chance Choate, an orthodontist, to the practice shortly before Plunk left. Choate received his dental degree from A&M Dentistry (Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry, Class of 2014) and his orthodontics certificate and master’s from UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry.
“His repertoire includes surgery cases when necessary for proper facial profile and overall health, as well as clear aligners,” Dragan said.
Plunk, who said he repurposed rather than retired, now devotes more time to teaching both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics at A&M Dentistry. He also spends time with family and travels, including a recent first-time trip to El Paso – on his bucket list – and plans a first trip to Ireland this summer.
Planning the next phase: Dr. Michael Plunk is repurposing his life.
Dragan and Plunk talk at least once a week about cases or business matters.
“You don’t give advice that’s not asked for,” he said. “If she needs my help, I am here for her.”
The next act
Dr. William Oliver (BCD, Class of 1983) began his 42-year dental career by purchasing his family dentist’s small practice in Fort Worth after the elder dentist retired. Oliver, now 71, retired last year.
“Originally, I was thinking maybe 65, and then I bumped it up (because) I was not ready to retire because I enjoyed it,” he said.
That’s typical. ADA Health Policy Institute found the average dental career spanned about 41 years in 2024, in line with trends in the general U.S. population. The average was almost 38 years in 2001.
New chapter: Dr. William Oliver recently retired and is focusing on volunteer work and travel after more than 40 years in dentistry.
Oliver’s dental career path wasn’t traditional.
While in solo practice and treating a largely geriatric population, he started Residental, a company that provided dental care to nursing home residents. Residental was successful for many years, but Oliver developed back problems and sold it to his junior associate. He continued to work there on a part-time basis for several years.
Ever the entrepreneur, he later launched Oliver Dental and Implants, which offered mini- implants to secure patients’ lower dentures. Oliver owned the company for 13 years before selling to a dental service organization in 2021, in a lucrative deal that had him work as a full-time associate for four years before retirement.
Oliver volunteered one day a month at Mission Arlington, a faith-based nonprofit that provides food, dental care and other assistance to the community, prior to the sale. He volunteers once a week now at the nonprofit’s Allan Saxe Dental Clinic, mostly extracting teeth.
“Stay abreast of the latest technology, and don’t be afraid of implementing the latest technology in your practice,” Oliver said.
His next big adventure is a trip to Malta, Italy and Croatia.
Today’s practice owner
Dr. Whitney Jones began her solo entrepreneurial journey four months ago with the opening of 290 Dental Studio, a family dental practice in Waller, about 45 miles northwest of Houston. A 2016 dental graduate of A&M Dentistry (then known as Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry), she worked as an employee at a MINT dentistry office in Houston for about five years, Castle Dental briefly and in other practice settings.
Jones said she learned management strategies and how to run a business by watching others.
“I watched the office manager in my office do certain things, I watched regional managers do certain things and, (as far as) my clinical directors, I watched them do things and manage,” she said. “It taught me how to not only be a better clinician, but a better people manager.”
Small start, big dreams: Dr. Whitney Jones is the owner of the new 290 Dental Studio in Waller, near Houston. The practice opened in November. Waller is in Waller and Harris counties, both of which are growing.
The share of dentists who own their own practices has declined. ADA Health Policy Institute reported that nearly 73% of dentists were practice owners in 2023, compared to close to 85% in 2005.
Like Jones, many younger dentists choose to work at DSO-owned offices; more than a quarter of dentists with 10 years or less experience were affiliated with DSOs in 2024. But also like Jones, owning a practice is the goal for most dentists – eventually.
She first considered opening a practice in 2019, but the pandemic paused her search for a location. Jones never considered Katy, her hometown, because it’s saturated with dentists.
Her practice has about 100 patients so far.
Additional bite: Four out of five dentists were general practitioners in 2024, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute.
“Sometimes when we are working with other people or for someone, it kind of makes you feel like I could be doing better, (and) you start comparing yourself to other people,” Jones said. “Now that I am on my own, I’m actually doing this. I know how to do this, and I can run a business and have people depending on me…I am more confident.”
Like Jones, most A&M Dentistry dental graduates in recent years chose to practice in Texas, at least in the beginning of their careers.
However, that could change too.
Hitting the job market
Juan La Rotta will graduate in May with a dental degree, and he’s just beginning to consider his career options. The soon-to-be general dentist interviewed with practices affiliated with some of the largest DSOs in the country.
On the cusp of a dental career: Juan La Rotta plans to graduate in May from A&M Dentistry and is weighing his career options.
While staying in Dallas-Fort Worth is an option, La Rotta is open to moving to North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee. He recently had a job interview in Greensboro, North Carolina, and several video calls with others.
“I haven’t really looked into private yet,” La Rotta said. “I would love to go private in the future, but all these DSOs have the resources, so it’s very new-grad friendly.”
Mark Jones, senior communications specialist at Texas A&M College of Dentistry, contributed to this story.