A new firm emerged as the largest dental company in Orange County this year.

The Business Journal’s sixth annual list of dental companies showed that OC employee headcount decreased 2% to 5,126 as of July. They declined 5% last year and remained flat in 2024.

PDS Health surpassed Newport Beach-based Glidewell as No. 1 on the list with 1,381 employees, up 6.8% from last year. The company, formerly known as Pacific Dental Services, rebranded and moved headquarters to Henderson, Nevada in 2024, but kept its largest support center in Irvine.

“PDS Health continued to expand its workforce in 2025 to support growth across its nationwide dental, specialty, and primary care operations,” Chief Executive Stephen Thorne IV told the Business Journal.

At Glidewell, which has an estimated 1,350 employees, Stephanie Goddard stepped down as CEO in May after four years in the role and 20 years total at the company. A new CEO has not been named at press time.

“This isn’t a goodbye to the dental industry,” Goddard wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I’m taking time to be intentional about my next move… more to come.”

Keeping to her word, Goddard announced last week that she has joined the board of Spear Education, an Arizona-based provider of online and in-person dental courses.

This week’s list features a varied collection of implant and brace makers, dental support organizations (DSOs), software firms serving dental practices, as well as dentistry-focused device makers.

Companywide, their employee count fell 1.5% to 66,101, compared to a 6.8% decrease last year.

Despite the hiring slump, the 13 companies that reported revenue saw a 7.7% increase in sales to $10.2 billion; a year ago, they increased 3%.

New Products Fuel Envista Growth
Brea-based dental products maker Envista Holdings Corp. drove most of the decline in OC-based employee counts.

Envista’s local workforce dropped by 21% to 537; companywide, it decreased 1.6% to 12,200.

Chief Executive Paul Keel attributed the decline to employees being reassigned to different locations in Southern California.

“Some employees recently moved from one facility in Orange to another in Pomona,” Keel told the Business Journal. “Total headcount in the region was unchanged, and the move included a sizeable incremental investment.”

Meanwhile, revenue for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2025, increased by 8% to $2.7 billion, with nearly $100 million coming from new product launches across some of its 30 dental brands, according to Keel.

This includes a novel loupe system called Orascoptic ErgoZoom, the Kerr SimpliCore tool for root canals and the Dexis Imprevo IOS intraoral scanner.

In May, Envista reported that first quarter sales grew 9.5% to $706 million, surpassing the Zack’s Consensus Estimate by 4.75%. The company also reaffirmed its full-year sales outlook of 2% to 4% growth.

In the past year, Envista shares have risen about 36% to above $28 with a $4.6 billion market cap (NYSE: NVST).

Change in Counting Methodology
Irvine-based dental software provider Planet DDS saw its OC employee count drop nearly in half to 28 due to a change in how it calculates headcount.

“Previous years reflected a wider radius around our headquarters and included employees that were technically outside of Orange County but were close by,” Chief Executive Eric Giesecke told the Business Journal. “This year we only reported employees who live specifically within Orange County, a stricter and more accurate standard.”

Revenue growth, which increased 18% to $105 million last year, was driven by higher average sales per location for Denticon, its flagship product, according to Giesecke.

He said that the company is currently seeing demand from larger DSOs looking to consolidate systems rather than add more individual software solutions. To meet this demand, Planet DDS in July launched a single platform to handle scheduling, billing, imaging and patient communication.

Elsewhere in Irvine, DGShape, a Roland DG Group Co., also saw a headcount drop from nine to five people.

“Like many companies, we’ve shifted to a more flexible work environment, with more employees working remotely,” Chief Executive Daniel Burmeister told the Business Journal. “It’s allowed us to attract talent from a broader geographic area while continuing to support our customers and partners.”

Research Director Desmond Celo contributed to this report.