AMAN KAUR: My name is Aman Kaur, and we are on The Executive Edge today with the CEO of 123Dentist, one of the largest DSOs in Canada. We’re going to talk about the future of 123Dentist and what it’s going to do for the DSO industry in Canada. You’re going to love this episode. I couldn’t be more excited.

JEFF LEGERE: My name is Jeff Legere. I’m the CEO of 123Dentist, and I’m with Dr. Aman Kaur on The Executive Edge. You’re really going to love this episode.

AMAN: Hi, I am Aman Kaur, CEO of Women in DSO. Today I’m here with Jeff Legere, CEO of 123Dentist, one of the largest DSOs in Canada.

We’re on The Executive Edge, and today’s episode is about the future of 123Dentist and the DSO industry in Canada.

Jeff, let’s get started. You joined 123Dentist a few months ago, less than a year ago, and not from the dental industry. Originally, you were a pharmacist leading large organizations, including Shoppers.

How do you feel about being in the dental industry? How has it been so far?

JEFF: It’s been 10 months as of this Monday, and it’s been great. I love the dental sector.

I’ve met really great clinicians across hygiene, dentistry, and assisting. Everything has been really great.

I’ve been to over 100 clinics in my first six months.

AMAN: Wow. How did you do that? How many a day?

JEFF: In some cases, it was a couple a day. In some cases, as many as five.

It was really important for me to get out and understand dentistry: How do patients experience it? How do colleagues work together?

What I came back with was a real passion for what our clinicians do every day and how I can help them be better at what they do. How can I remove annoyances and help make them more efficient? But first and foremost, how do they deliver better care?

That was really important to me.

AMAN: Having been in this space for some years, I know one thing about dentists: We like to welcome our own.

You not being a dentist, is it fair to ask what skills helped you build credibility? Was it challenging at all?

JEFF: It wasn’t challenging. Obviously, people wanted to meet me and wait and see what I was all about.

I’m a pharmacist by training. As you mentioned, I led a large healthcare company called Shoppers in Canada. It was a very visible and large company, and everybody knows Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada.

People knew I was coming from a great organization that had a great reputation.

During those 100 clinic visits, I was picking up little bits of information about the terminology and the procedures. I saw a lot of different procedures and how the clinics are run.

I think that helped. I’m not a dentist, obviously. I’m not a hygienist. But I understand care delivery and the important work they do. That really helped connect me with our dentist partners.

AMAN: As you know, and as a lot of our audience knows, the DSO industry in Canada is still in its younger stages.

You’re coming from Shoppers with a franchise model. As you were going into practices, did people look at you and think, “Are you going to change us to a franchise model?” Was there a little bit of that as people were approaching you?

JEFF: Not to me directly, but I think it was important for me to take the time to learn the profession, learn how care was delivered, and learn the business.

I really did take that time, so that allowed me to be much more informed about the path forward and how we can improve.

We do have a mixed model. We have locations where we have partners, and there are locations that are run corporately. It all depends on the location, the clinicians we have, and what they want to do.

The model wasn’t necessarily to bring a franchise model, but to have the right ownership model that meets the needs of our clinicians and the needs of the local dentist.

AMAN: Jeff, being a pharmacist and now the CEO of a DSO, did you ever think one day you would be running a dental company? How does it feel?

JEFF: When I was a student in pharmacy school, I didn’t even think I would be president of Shoppers Drug Mart, because I didn’t come from that environment.

It’s been a natural progression through clinical leadership and really having the patient at the center of what I do.

I do like business, and I went to business school. If you had asked me 30 years ago if I would be the CEO of 123Dentist, I would have said no.

But it’s been a natural progression.

I really enjoy the mandate and mission of what dentists and dental health professionals are doing. So it has felt like a natural progression for me.

AMAN: It’s such an exciting time for dentistry because, finally, people are thinking about oral health as part of overall health.

I think it must be invigorating and satisfying that you can do so much now.

JEFF: I’ve become an incredible evangelist.

I knew dentistry as a patient, and I generally knew about dentistry as an industry. But anybody I can talk to, I’m raving about how important the work our dental professionals are doing is, particularly the link between oral health and whole-body health.

For me, it’s really about primary care and primary care delivery. I think it’s underappreciated and unknown among the broader population.

Personally, I’m interested in helping tell that story, and I think 123Dentist can play an important role in amplifying it.

That’s exciting for our partners, and it’s not just for us. It’s for the whole sector and the entire industry.

AMAN: My son tells me that if I’m on a plane and they say, “Is there any doctor on the plane?” because someone is having a heart attack, he tells me, “Don’t raise your hand.”

He makes me laugh. But now, when I hear about oral-systemic health, I’m like, “Jayden, you don’t know…”

JEFF: Exactly. You should put your hand up.

The impact on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health issues, or dementia long term—there are so many connections.

I’m excited about helping tell that story and helping our clinicians get out and do that work, too.

AMAN: In the end, dentists genuinely care for patients. They care for the person, not just their teeth.

JEFF: It’s a holistic approach.

AMAN: Jeff, every executive you talk to will say that their biggest asset is their people. You have a team of almost 8,000 people.

When you inherited this team—and some of my favorite executives I’ve met are from your organization—you’re assembling top-line talent.

How have you approached the people and team aspect of the business?

JEFF: I know it’s easy to say it’s all about the people, but it really is, especially when you’re delivering clinical services across more than 500 locations across Canada.

We’re relying on those people to represent themselves, but also us. We want to make sure we support them through training and mentorship. Those are really important elements.

Within the leadership team, we’ve been able to bring new people into the company, but I’m also working with a number of people who have been there from the beginning.

The company was founded by Dr. Ayman Shivji, a dentist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He built an incredible business founded on being dentist-first and centered around great care. We’re carrying that forward as we continue to grow. We’re not losing sight of that.

We’re trying to build a team that has that vision but also has experience operating at a larger scale.

We started with 17 locations, and now we have 500. It’s a different discipline and a different way of operating.

But culturally, you need to make sure you’re still putting the patient first and meeting the needs of clinicians so they can deliver great care.

AMAN: Jeff, you’re making it sound much easier than it is.

Anytime a dentist puts together a group, it’s like their baby. Then they trust someone else with their baby, and while they trust them, they’re constantly asking, “Is my baby okay?”

How do you maintain that trust? There have to be challenges. What advice would you give?

JEFF: In my first 10 months, I’ve largely met people who came into this group because they were aligned with this philosophy. I was already working with like-minded people.

But when you get larger and want to become more predictable in terms of how you perform and deliver care, every once in a while, you might get a little friction.

When that happens, which is rare, we really focus on: What is the issue here? How can we find a path forward?

It needs to be centered on the patient. We start there, and that’s been very successful.

We also spend a lot of time listening.

That’s certainly my leadership style: Listen to understand what’s going on and how we can address issues.

AMAN: Friction isn’t always bad. I believe friction sometimes brings necessary momentum. It means you’re moving forward.

JEFF: I agree with you.

AMAN: Jeff, I’d like to get to know you a little more because we’ve all read your bio and LinkedIn. But if I were to ask, “Who is Jeff Legere?” how would you help us get to know you?

JEFF: I’m married and a father of two kids who are now out of school, as of May. Our youngest is out of school—at least temporarily.

They’re 24 and 22.

At home, we spend a lot of time outdoors. We’re very active people, and we like to get back to Eastern Canada, where we’re from. We’re from New Brunswick.

From a leadership point of view, I tend not to be a very prescriptive or loud leader. I’m more of a listener.

I like to find collaboration and consensus among the leadership team, but also with our partners. We take a lot of direction from our partners and from clinicians in the clinics.

From a style perspective, I’m not the loudest voice. I’m trying to find consensus, listen, and understand.

More than 90% of the things we do, we find already existing in our clinics. It’s about asking: How can we make that a scaled difference for us?

AMAN: Listening is very hard.

JEFF: It is hard.

AMAN: Jeff, I hear a lot about work-life balance. I’ve seen your team, and they seem pretty centered and grounded while working hard and moving at a very rapid pace.

It seems like you all have it dialed in to a good degree. I don’t think anyone can do it 100%, but are there things you do to help people balance their personal and professional lives?

JEFF: If you’re the leader of the group, you should model the behavior you would want for yourself.

I try not to email people in the evening. I don’t call people on the weekend unless there’s a big issue we’re dealing with.

I expect the team to do the same thing with their people.

When we’re working, we’re trying to work efficiently and effectively. But the rest of the time, you should be trying to recharge, exercise, travel a bit, or do whatever you’re really into.

I have a lot of people who have kids much younger than mine, and that requires a different amount of time.

It’s about modeling the behavior you expect.

We are very effective. It’s a relatively new team, and we’re still bringing people together and creating that unit. But I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made.

AMAN: I’ve been very impressed with everyone I’ve met, so congratulations.

We were talking earlier about how you’re bringing more women into your leadership team.

Why is diversity important? A lot of people say they hire the best person for the job—men, women, or anyone else. But how do you make sure diversity is important while looking for the best talent?

JEFF: First, dentistry is largely a female-majority profession, especially when you look at hygiene, assistants, and increasingly dentists.

It’s important to be conscious of the people you’re supporting. Your leadership team needs to reflect that.

It also needs to reflect the population you serve. Different parts of Canada have different expressions of ethnic backgrounds. It’s important for us to understand those populations and deliver the care they need.

From a principle point of view, there are things you can do. When you’re recruiting, you can make sure you have a representative talent pool and representative final candidates so you’re not driving toward any bias.

I’m also very excited that we’ve implemented an office manager training program.

One of my biggest observations from visiting 100 clinics was how important an office manager is, but how little training we’ve provided them.

AMAN: You’re so right about that.

I’m guilty of it because what we’ve noticed as DSO executives is that it’s often a stepping-stone position. People don’t always stay in those positions long, so training tends to start once they’ve risen through the levels.

But you’re right. If you catch them there, they can grow through those levels much more quickly.

JEFF: That’s the hope.

We help train people and create career progression for them.

The response we received after the first module was overwhelmingly positive. They were excited about the program and excited that people were investing in them.

Over time, that creates a pool of people who will eventually become regional managers, content experts, vice presidents, and maybe one day the CEO of this company.

You need to create opportunities and a place that addresses these issues because sometimes the formal training people need simply isn’t available.

AMAN: Jeff, as you’re growing 123Dentist as a DSO, there are mixed emotions about DSOs in Canada. Some love them, some not so much, and some don’t want them.

You’re relatively new to this. What would your message be to people about DSOs?

JEFF: I think they’re great because you can create momentum and achieve scale in learning and mentorship, as well as in the business elements that are really important for dentistry to thrive long term.

DSOs are really important. Individual practices are really important, too.

There are great dentists who run great practices and are great leaders. There are also people who would prefer to focus on dentistry and work in an environment that’s supportive of them.

I haven’t received negative feedback about it. Maybe that’s because I’ve only been here for 10 months.

But I think people are recognizing that if they want a place to have a great career but aren’t interested in ownership, it’s better to be part of a community.

I find that a lot of people crave community. They want to see fellow students they knew at university or create an environment where they have clinicians in their local area.

We can do that more effectively, I think, than a single individual practice.

AMAN: I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s so good for patients because DSOs can improve access and quality of care through peer evaluation.

It’s good for patients, and as you said, it’s good for employees’ career progression and the variety of things they can do.

JEFF: We plan to continue investing in driving great patient care, elevating standards, and helping people have great careers.

AMAN: Jeff, since you came in 10 months ago, we’ve been in an AI-on-steroids phase.

I’ve met your CIO, who is a very bright individual and one of the best AI-focused CIOs I’ve met in the industry.

How are you approaching AI in your organization? I know there’s hype around it, and yes, it can make people more efficient, but ultimately it’s going to come down to ROI.

How are you approaching it and making those decisions?

JEFF: We’ve created a small AI lab where we’re going to test different concepts.

We ask whether something can enhance workflow. Is it ambient listening or an ambient scribe, for example? Or are we moving toward diagnostic assistance?

I think all of those are at different degrees of maturity. Most aren’t that mature, but they’re maturing quickly.

We want to stay connected to it. We want to have examples where we’re testing it.

We have some clinical tools we’re using in clinics, certainly around imaging and X-rays.

I think it’s important for us to be close to the cutting edge, but not necessarily on the cutting edge of everything.

If you’re at the very front edge, you may invest dollars that disappear. If you wait a little longer, things can get ironed out, bugs can be removed, and solutions become more scalable.

Our thinking is that we don’t necessarily need to be on the cutting edge of everything, but we want to be close enough that we can adopt and scale quickly—because we can adopt and scale faster.

AMAN: Are you using AI tools within the leadership and management team, not just in clinics? Are there some you’re really excited about?

JEFF: There are a couple. I won’t say their names.

We all have licenses, and some people are using them extensively for administrative work—preparing analysis for growth initiatives, presenting business cases, and things like that.

It’s pretty active, and we’ve noticed a huge difference just in the last couple of releases in terms of how effective these tools are.

AMAN: The reason I’m asking is that a lot of people in the industry are nervous about losing jobs.

You hear about an AI head of a department who has two people and seven “AI employees” doing administrative work, and people are nervous.

I don’t think organizations are doing this because they don’t want people. They’re doing it partly out of necessity because everything is so expensive right now.

JEFF: It could also be because it’s hard to recruit in certain areas or for certain positions.

Those could be some of the drivers.

But if there are tools that help improve diagnosis and improve the care you deliver, I think we’re going to lean into those, and I think the profession will, too.

In back-office areas, in some cases, it is hard for us to recruit people. If we have tools that can help us, that makes it easier.

AMAN: You’re right. There are some locations where certain positions are very, very hard to recruit.

Jeff, if a dentist is listening to this and thinking, “Jeff seems like a nice guy. Maybe we should join 123Dentist,” what should they be thinking about?

I’ve worked with a few different CEOs, and what I’ve learned—and being one myself—is that every DSO is not for every dentist.

If a dentist is thinking about joining 123Dentist, what questions should they ask you, and how should they determine whether it’s the right fit?

JEFF: The first thing people should ask is: What’s the culture like? What’s our philosophy in terms of how we support clinics? What is their role in the future versus ours?

Good clarity upfront makes for better relationships.

Often, when people are looking to join, it’s because there are certain things they don’t want to do anymore. They don’t want to manage people. They don’t want to deal with more HR-related elements. They want to focus on dentistry.

I think asking questions about the philosophy, how we’re going to work together, and what support you receive are really important.

We’re very amenable and open to many different types of partners.

AMAN: As we talk about the future of dentistry in Canada, access to care is obviously a major issue.

JEFF: I think, as you tell the story, in Canada we have a very important federal program called the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

It’s been incredibly important for people who haven’t had dental care in 10 or 15 years to finally get care.

It’s well compensated from an insurance point of view, but I think it’s had a really important impact on Canadians.

We need to tell that story, and we need to help the government understand the impact they’re having, too.

AMAN: That’s awesome.

Jeff, as we’re closing this Executive Edge, I want to ask about leadership advice.

We had your article in our publication, The LEAD, and we monitor what gets read and how much time people spend. Your article was very well read.

There has to be something people are looking for in your leadership style.

If someone is a dentist graduating today or a pharmacist graduating and starting their life, what makes someone a good leader? How do they get to a point like where you are?

JEFF: I wouldn’t have predicted where I’ve ended up.

But I would say you need to be open to opportunities and willing to learn.

I’ve moved through different roles and different parts of healthcare, and each experience has taught me something that helped prepare me for the next opportunity.

Listening is also incredibly important. You need to understand the people around you, the people you serve, and the people doing the work every day.

You don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room to lead. You need to be curious, listen, understand the business, and stay focused on the people you’re ultimately there to serve.

For us, that starts with the patient.

AMAN: I think that’s a great place to end.

Jeff, thank you so much for being here and sharing your perspective on leadership, dentistry, 123Dentist, and the future of the DSO industry in Canada.

JEFF: Thank you. I really enjoyed it.

AMAN: Thank you.