Western Dental

Western Dental & Orthodontics is a large, company-operated dental care provider offering general dentistry, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry and a range of specialty services. Its clinics are designed for patients who want affordable care and take insurance, including Medicaid programs such as Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal, along with discount plans. Most locations sit in everyday neighborhood and community retail settings rather than traditional medical office buildings, so they are a familiar healthcare user in street retail, small-box centers and community shopping centers.

The company traces its roots back to 1903, when it began as a single dental practice that grew over time into one of California’s best-known dental chains. Over the decades, Western Dental expanded throughout California and into Arizona, Nevada and Texas, adding orthodontics and specialty oral care to what had started as basic dental services. Growth has come from both opening new clinics and acquiring or integrating regional practices into the Western Dental network, which has helped the brand move from a California-focused operator to a broader regional platform.

A notable milestone in the business came in 2022, when its corporate parent adopted the Sonrava Health name and structure. Western Dental & Orthodontics remains a flagship brand under the Sonrava Health umbrella, alongside Brident Dental & Orthodontics and other affiliated practices. The parent organization centralizes functions such as real estate, construction and operations, which supports consistent performance and coordinated expansion across the platform.

As of June 2024, Western Dental & Orthodontics is part of a system of roughly 560 affiliated offices across at least 20 states, with a heavy concentration in California and the broader Southwest. Many of these locations operate as full-service dental centers, providing exams, cleanings, fillings, endodontics, oral surgery and orthodontics in a single site, often with evening and weekend hours. This model brings steady, repeat visits to neighborhood centers and aligns well with retail environments serving working families.

Over the last five years, the company’s footprint has shifted from a primarily California base toward a wider Sun Belt presence. Under Sonrava Health, corporate headquarters moved to Coppell, Texas, and the platform has focused on growing in high-density, insurance- and Medicaid-driven markets across California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and other Sun Belt states. Recent expansion has relied on a mix of new clinic openings and conversions of acquired practices, many of which are repositioned into small to mid-box retail or second-generation medical space.

For landlords, brokers and developers, Western Dental & Orthodontics functions as an established healthcare-service tenant with a long operating history, strong name recognition in its core markets and the backing of a scaled, private equity–owned platform. Its clinics tend to anchor daily-needs traffic and pair well with grocery, pharmacy and discount retailers. Because most locations are company-operated rather than franchised, decisions around new sites, relocations and renewals are handled by a centralized real estate and development team, which can simplify deal-making for owners experienced with medical and service-oriented retailers.