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ADG Conference 2026

Intelligent growth: building the next generation of dental businesses.

The UK’s largest event for dental group leaders.

The ADG Conference 2026 is the UK’s largest event for dental group decision makers, helping them build intelligent dental businesses.

Delivered in partnership between the Association of Dental Groups and FMC, this exclusive, invite-only conference brings together the leaders shaping the future of group dentistry. Across two days, explore how data, technology and intelligent systems, combined with strong leadership and culture, are redefining how dental groups grow, scale and deliver care.

Through strategic insight, practical learning and a curated environment built to nurture meaningful connection, the ADG Conference 2026 creates space for the conversations, relationships and partnerships that don’t happen anywhere else.

What we’ll cover:

  • How to build and scale high-performing dental groups
  • Sustainable growth and long-term value creation
  • AI, technology and the future of dental business
  • Leadership, culture and team performance at scale
  • Systems, data and operational excellence
  • Clinical excellence and patient care at scale
  • Lessons from global dental markets
  • Real-world insights from group leaders
The 2026 Agenda

 

Full sessions details now announced…

Registration and Morning Pastries
10:30 – 11:00
Welcome Speech
11:00 – 11:05
Neil Carmichael
Lessons from the most mature DSO market in the world
11:05 – 11:50
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Brian Colao
Ministerial address
11:50 – 12:10
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Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care
Welcome Lunch
12:10 – 13:10
How AI and technology are reshaping leadership in healthcare
13:10 – 13:55
Professor Nora Colton
Afternoon Refreshments and meetings
14:00 – 14:40
Roundtable Discussions
14:45 – 15:45
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Themed Break with Matchmaking Meetings
15:50 – 16:50
Activities
17:00 – 18:00
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Drinks Reception and Gala Dinner
18:45 – late
Breakfast
08:45 – 09:20
Keynote on Leadership and Resilience
9:20 – 10:00
James Peach – Motivational Speaker
How not to scale a dental group – mistakes we made starting out
10:00 – 10:40
View details
Julian Perry
Anushika Brogan – Damira Dental Studios
Shalin Mehra – Rodericks Dental
Morning Refreshments with Matchmaking Meetings
10:40 – 11:40
Change management at scale
11:45 – 12:25
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Dr Robert Mongrain
The anatomy of an intelligent dental business
12:25 – 13:15
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Julian Perry
Nilesh Pandya – CEO, MyDentist
Departure
13:15

Lessons from the most mature DSO market in the world

Overview
The UK dental sector is entering a new phase of consolidation, but the path ahead is far from uncharted. In the US, that journey has already played out over decades, offering a clear – and sometimes uncomfortable – view of what scale really looks like in practice.
In this session, Brian Colao draws on his front-line experience of the US DSO market to explore how it evolved, where it delivered, and where it struggled. From the realities behind rapid growth and private equity investment to the operational and financial pressures now shaping the market, he will unpack the key forces that have defined its trajectory.
He will also look ahead to what comes next for the US market — and, critically, what lessons its evolution holds for UK dental groups as they navigate their own path to scale.

Ministerial address

Overview

An insight into the future direction of NHS dentistry from one of its principal architects for change. Stephen Kinnock will offer an update on the Labour administration’s progress in reforming access, contracts and delivery within the service and outline the priorities shaping the next phase of change and policy.

Roundtable Discussions

Overview
Join a series of focused, small-group discussions led by experienced operators and specialists from across the sector, uncovering practical insight, honest perspectives, and real-world solutions to the challenges facing growing dental businesses today.
• Financial control and efficiency
• Multi-site operations and standardisation
• AI and automation in practice
• Systems and integration
• Data & metrics
• Patient acquisition
• Funding & acquisitions

Activities

Overview
  • Paddleboarding / Kayaking
  • Laser Shooting
  • Axe Throwing
  • Treasure Trail around the Lake
  • Chilled Garden Games on the Terrace

How not to scale a dental group – mistakes we made starting out

Overview
Growth stories are often told in hindsight: polished, simplified, and stripped of the difficult decisions that shaped them. This session is the opposite.
Bringing together experienced dental group leaders, we open up the realities of scaling: the missteps, false starts, and unintended consequences that come with rapid growth. From hiring too quickly (or too slowly), to overextending on acquisitions, to backing the wrong systems or strategies, this is a candid discussion about what leaders would do differently if they had their time again.
For operators at any stage of growth, this session shares the lessons that sit behind the success stories, and the insight to avoid repeating them.

Change management at scale

Overview
As dental groups grow, the hardest challenge is often not strategy, but implementation. This session will focus on how organisations successfully deliver change across multiple sites, teams and layers of management, discussing how leading organisations partner with operational, clinical teams and vendor partners to implement new processes and technologies for maximum effect.
• Learn how leading organisations of any size can implement new processes and technologies to the best advantage.
• Understand the value of alignment between the various parts of the organisation
• Consider various mechanisms for generating enthusiasm for new technologies and therapies.

The anatomy of an intelligent dental business

Overview
This session brings together the key themes from across the conference to ask what a modern, high-performing dental group should look like.
Our panel will explore how the most effective dental organisations combine financial discipline, operational clarity, technology integration, and clinical leadership to create businesses that are more efficient, more resilient, more valuable, and deliver better patient care. Together they will explain how an intelligent dental business:
• Uses data to inform sharper, faster decision-making
• Builds scalable systems and integrated technology infrastructure
• Develops strong leadership and a high-performing people culture
• Maintains clinical excellence consistently at scale
• Focuses on sustainable value creation over short-term growth.

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