Best Group Purchasing Organization In 2026

Independent dentists and practice owners are leaving money on the table every time they order supplies. A dental group purchasing organization (GPO) can change that. We researched and spoke with dentists on our platform who use them. Here is our list of the three best dental GPO’s.

If you’ve ordered dental supplies before you already know how astronomical the price can be. When competing against DSOs who are able to order in bulk for steep discounts it becomes harder and harder to keep your margins and compete with them. GPOs aim to fix this by pooling the buying power of hundreds and thousands of practice owners and independent dentists. By ordering in bulk they are able to get even larger discounts then some DSOs and pass those savings on to you!

We polled and talked with the dentist on our platform and found that 3 GPOs stand out above the rest; Synergy Dental Partners, Dental Buying Power, and Unified Smiles. Here is the rundown on each based on our conversations with dentists who use them constantly.

Synergy Dental Partners

Synergy was founded in 2010 by two practice dentists, Dr Richard Offutt and Dr. Mustafa Shan-Khan. Seeing what GPOs had done in medicine, they sought to bring that model to independent dentists and practice owners. Dr. Shan-Khan, writing for an article in Dental Economics stated he founded Synergy with the intent of helping practice owners compete with DSOs on pricing. 

The model is clean and simple, Synergy negotiates on your and all their other members behalf to get you a discounted rate from the vendors. To keep costs as low as possible for you they don’t have any warehouses nor ship any of the products themselves.Synergy negotiates on over forty thousand products getting discounts from 17% to 60%. While speaking with our dentists they saw savings around 25% on average. Dental Product Shopper, an independent review platform, gave synergy a 4.8 out of 5 rating with their review stating all members saw significant savings.

Synergy’s member count continues to grow increasing their ability to advocate for even larger discounts. With a major jump in members in 2024 acquiring Dental Whale Savings Network GPO. In our view they are a GPO that will work for anyone with very positive reports from our members.

Dental Buying Power

Dental Buying Power was co-founded by Dr. Warren Willis, a dentist who launched 12 dental practices across Texas and Idaho before turning his attention to group purchasing. Like other GPOs, Dental Buying Power doesn’t inventory or ship supplies. Members order directly from vendor partners at negotiated rates. The vendor network includes Henry Schein Dental (with custom discounts on thousands of items, a 1% rebate on qualifying merchandise, 2% on Henry Schein brand items, and 40% off tech service work), Implant Direct (16% off implants and supplies), Brasseler USA, Staples, Vatech (up to $15,000 trade-up value on imaging systems), and various service partners covering payment processing, marketing, PPO negotiation, lab services, compliance, financial advising, and continuing education.

Where Dental Buying Power diverges most from other GPOs is its emphasis on practice coaching and mentoring. The company describes itself as “a powerful combination of large-group discounts and a digital mastermind society” and offers monthly mentoring from successful practice owners. Member testimonials focus as much on business growth as on supply savings: one dentist reported saving “over $30,000 on supplies, equipment and services,” while another called the mentoring and association with experienced practice builders “the best part.”

One thing we couldn’t independently verify: the 4,800+ member count. That figure may include legacy eAssist billing customers who were automatically enrolled in the Buying Power program when it launched, in addition to dentists who actively joined for purchasing discounts. Our dentists have stated good satisfaction with the company but nothing exceptional. They have reported great savings on Henry Schein equipment.

Unified Smiles

Unified Smiles operates as Great Lakes GPO, LLC, a Michigan limited liability company. It was highlighted alongside Synergy in a 2018 Dental Economics article as one of two prominent dental GPOs “founded and operated by dentists” and “committed to helping preserve the independent dental practitioner.”

What Unified Smiles lacks in raw membership numbers, it attempts to make up for with breadth and service depth. The company claims partnerships with over 100 industry-leading suppliers across an impressively wide range of categories: clinical supplies, implants, orthodontics, preventive and periodontal products, equipment and repair, labs, financial and insurance services, education and compliance (OSHA, HIPAA, cybersecurity), HR services, marketing, office supplies and uniforms, patient communication software, practice management and analytics solutions, and even sleep medicine solutions. 

Unified Smiles also offers an optional e-procurement platform powered by Method (the same platform Synergy uses), which lets members compare Unified Smiles negotiated pricing against current supplier pricing in real time.

The combination of member fees and vendor fees means Unified Smiles has two revenue streams, which the company would argue allows it to fund the concierge service model and potentially negotiate deeper vendor discounts.