The Company Disrupting Corporate Dentistry

ICON Dental Partners develops partnerships with dental practices using a model that keeps dentists in control.
BY INC. CUSTOM STUDIO
Date of Release: Mar 23, 2026

Dentists looking to scale their practices have long faced a difficult tradeoff: sell to a private equity-backed group and lose autonomy or remain independent and shoulder the burden of running a growing business. Now, there’s a third option.

Founded in 2024, ICON Dental Partners turns the traditional corporate dentistry model on its head. Rather than buying practices and employing dentists, ICON partners with doctors, allowing them to retain control over patient care while handing off non-clinical work to the ICON Support Team.

"I kept hearing the same frustrations,” says Ian McNickle, ICON’s co-founder and CEO. Prior to launching, he spent 18 months speaking with more than 200 dentists to learn about their pain points. “Dentists love dentistry, but they get stressed out by human resources and other admin tasks.”

Letting Dentists Work
Autonomy is the hallmark of ICON’s approach: clinical decisions, staffing choices, work schedules, and day-to-day operations remain in the doctor’s control. Back-office functions like human resources, payroll, recruiting, and IT are handled by ICON.

In its partnership model, ICON purchases the practice’s equipment, goodwill, and branding, but not the legal entity itself, which the dentist continues to own. This approach creates a partnership mindset between the doctors and ICON. McNickle tells ICON’s partner doctors, “I am not your boss; I’m your business partner. Let’s build this thing together.”

Doctors are paid for their clinical work, while practice support fees flow to ICON. As profitability grows, ICON rewards its partners with additional shares at the same valuation. When outside investors are eventually brought in, dentists will have an opportunity to cash out some of their shares while still working and all their shares upon retirement.

A Team Approach
In 18 months, ICON has grown to 26 locations and about $50 million in annual revenue. Not taking outside investment capital has been key, McNickle adds, allowing the company to align incentives with its doctors while using bank financing to fund expansion.

Dentists are drawn to the financial upside as well as the sense of community and support. “Dentistry can be lonely,” McNickle says. “Suddenly, you have peers you can call to talk through challenges.”

That team-first mentality is a core part of ICON’s culture and attracts employees who left corporate dental groups in search of a more doctor-centric culture. “We’re an oasis for many talented executives who didn’t want to work for corporates. They say, ‘I want to go to work and feel good that we’re doing dentistry the right way for the right reasons.’”

ICON plans to keep expanding, but true success would be having such happy partner doctors that competitors feel pressure to adopt similar models. “That means we’re moving dentistry in the right direction, bringing the industry back to where it should be, focused on doctors, teams, and patients.”

Read the full article here: Inc. Article

ICON Dental Partners Earns
2026 Great Place To Work Certification™

Contact: Ashley Brooker
Email: ashley@icondentalpartners.com
Date of Release: February 2026

Camas, WA — ICON Dental Partners is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work® in 2026.

The prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at ICON Dental Partners. This year, 96% of employees said it’s a Great Place To Work – 39 points higher than the average U.S. company.

Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.

"Great Place To Work Certification is a highly coveted achievement that requires consistent and intentional dedication to the overall employee experience," says Sarah Lewis-Kulin, the Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work. She emphasizes that Certification is the sole official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture. “By successfully earning this recognition, it is evident that ICON Dental Partners stands out as one of the top companies to work for, providing a great workplace environment for its employees."

As Ashley Brooker, VP of People and Culture at ICON Dental Partners, shared: “Being named a Great Place to Work means everything to us because it comes directly from our employees. It validates the intentional work we’ve done to create a culture where people feel supported, valued, and excited about the future.”

According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company’s profits and have a fair chance at promotion.

Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit our careers page at: https://icondentalpartners.com/p/Careers

About ICON Dental Partners
ICON Dental Partners is a dental partnership organization committed to helping dentist-led practices thrive by providing operational, marketing, financial, and people-focused support. With a strong emphasis on culture, collaboration, and clinical excellence, ICON partners with practices to enhance patient experiences, empower teams, and support long-term growth—while allowing doctors to focus on what they do best: delivering exceptional care. ICON Dental Partners was also named to Inc Magazine’s 2025 Best in Business List.

About Great Place to Work Certification™
Great Place To Work® Certification™ is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified.

About Great Place To Work®
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work® brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All™ Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

ICON Dental Partners Named to
Inc.’s 2025 Best in Business List

The annual list recognizes the industry-leading companies that are the best at what they do.

CAMAS, WA, December 2, 2025

- ICON Dental Partners is proud to announce its inclusion on the Inc. Best in Business list several categories including Large Company Size (100 – 499 employees), Best Marketing, On the Rise (0 – 4 years in business), and $50MM+ in gross revenue. Inc.’s annual Best in Business Awards celebrate the exceptional achievements and contributions of companies that have made a profound impact on their industries.

The recognition honors companies that, through exceptional execution, have achieved significant milestones and core business wins, like customer expansion, key product launches, increased market share, and industry-defining accomplishments. Companies from a wide range of industries – such as technology, health care, finance, and retail – have been recognized for their success and their positive influence on the business world.

The full list can be found on Inc.com and in the upcoming winter print edition of Inc. magazine.

“Each Best in Business honoree achieved a breakthrough moment this year. Some unveiled groundbreaking innovations while others launched savvy marketing campaigns or strategically implemented AI in their companies,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “No matter what their business win looked like, their projects and initiatives had a sizable impact on their company and even on their industry at large, making them worthy of this honor.”

Inc.’s Best in Business Awards are open to companies of all sizes and types, in all industries and locations. Public, private, nonprofit, subsidiary, U.S.-based, and international companies are all encouraged to apply. Inc. editors and reporters hand-review every application and select Best in Business honorees that, in each of the award categories, have had an outstanding influence on their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole.

ICON’s Co-founder and CEO, Ian McNickle responded, “This is quite an honor for our company, and speaks volumes to the hard work our doctors and support team have put into the design, launch, and rapid growth of ICON. Our unique and innovative approach keeps doctors in control of their practices, provides significant practice support, and helps doctors achieve a more desirable work-life balance.”

For more information or to see the complete list, please visit inc.com/best-in-business.

About ICON Dental Partners

ICON Dental Partners is a dental partnership organization (DPO) that partners with general dentists and dental specialists across the United States to provide a suite of non-clinical support services so doctors can focus on the clinical aspects of their practices. ICON’s innovative approach to business design and growth has allowed it to thrive in a highly competitive environment. ICON is privately held, owned by doctors and management. For more information, visit www.icondentalpartners.com.

About Inc.

Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

Where Excellence Meets Purpose

Dr. Whitney D. Weiner Joins ICON Dental Partners

“I wasn’t looking to join a dental group,” says Dr. Whitney D. Weiner. “ICON was different. It’s about empowering clinicians to stay true to their craft while providing the partnership and support to make practice more fulfilling.”

Dr. Whitney D. Weiner — Seattle Study Club’s 2023 Future ICON of Dentistry, Director of the 3D Study Club in Detroit, and proud member of the SSC Executive Advisory Board — embodies what it means to grow through collaboration. A nationally recognized clinician, entrepreneur, and leader in private practice, Dr. Weiner’s partnership with ICON Dental Partners reflects her belief that true success in dentistry comes from community, mentorship, and purpose.

At ICON, partnership isn’t about size — it’s about synergy. Together, we’re building a community where clinicians support one another, share wisdom, and elevate patient care — redefining what private practice collaboration can be.