Who We Are
Founded in 1975, Affordable Care, LLC is America’s leading consumer retail healthcare company exclusively focused on tooth replacement solutions, serving affiliated dentists at ~450 practices in 43 states across the United States. Affordable Care serves multiple top dental brands including Affordable Dentures & Implants , DDS Dentures + Implant Solutions and Advanced Dental Implant Center.
Business support for dentists.
Empowering Doctors
Affordable Care provides top notch Clinical support to doctors, including our C.A.R.E. Conference, a multi-day education and engagement event designed exclusively for doctors to connect and advance their training.
What We Do
From the Affordable Care Support Center, located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park (RTP), along with field-based teams, our employees provide business expertise and support services to dental practices across the U.S.
The Affordable Care team takes care of non-clinical duties so dentists can focus on treating patients. We provide 360-degree business support, including:
Site Selection and Real Estate Management
Patient Services Support (Call Center, Online Appointment Scheduling and Appointment Reminders)
Advertising and Marketing
Clinical Support: Doctor Engagement, Training and Continuing Education
IT Consulting Services
Practice Operations Consulting and Laboratory Support including Dental Technician Services
Business Services
(Finance, HR, Group Purchasing/Supply Chain led by Sevaredent Sourcing Solutions)
Innovative Equipment and Technology
“In Her Own Words”
Dr. Annette Pearson
Our 360-degree business support includes everything from payroll to insurance to advertising — and more — allowing our affiliated practice owners, like Dr. Annette Pearson, to focus solely on what they love about dentistry.
How We Do It
Our Executive Team
Pete Bridgman, Chief Executive Officer
Pete Bridgman joined Affordable Care in 2024. Pete is a veteran consumer healthcare and retail executive, having served most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Visionworks, the sixth largest optical retailer in the U.S., and as Chief Network Officer of VSP Vision, the second largest U.S. vision care company. Pete previously served as President of Pearle Vision and President of LensCrafters – both brands under EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest vision care company.
Ben Mezer, Chief Compliance Officer
Ben Mezer joined Affordable Care in 2021. In his role, Ben works closely with Affordable Care supported dental practices on compliance requirements. Most recently, Ben served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for HERO DVO, a Colorado-based dental support organization that serves 37 practices in eight states. Ben holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law.
David Slezak, Chief Legal Officer
David Slezak joined Affordable Care in 2012. He has more than a 12 years of experience leading the legal functions of large dental support organizations (DSOs) and is involved in the DSO industry’s government affairs efforts. David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace University and a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Will Johnson, Chief Operating Officer
Will Johnson joined Affordable Care in 2016. He’s held several leadership roles in analytics, patient financing, market expansion and field operations, as well as leading Affordable Care’s Digital Dentures Innovation initiative. Will worked in finance and corporate development prior to joining Affordable Care. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as Captain of the UNC basketball team.
Jeremy Reynolds, Chief Human
Resources Officer
Jeremy Reynolds joined Affordable Care in 2018. Jeremy was most recently in charge of Human Resources for 7,500 employees, across 40 states, at GRIFOLS, a global leader in blood banking, laboratory operations and protein therapeutics. Jeremy earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategy & Leadership from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Tim Shannon, Chief Financial Officer
Tim Shannon joined Affordable Care in 2022. Most recently, Tim served as the Chief Financial Officer for Inivata Limited. In addition to Tim’s lengthy tenure as a CFO, he has 16 years of experience as an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Tim holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree in Accounting from Appalachian State University.
Cindy Klein, Chief Information Officer
Cindy Klein joined Affordable Care as Chief Information Officer in 2019. Prior to joining Affordable Care, Cindy served at Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer for United Surgical Partners International (USPI), which operates one of the nation’s most successful ambulatory surgical networks. Her career has been focused in the healthcare space with 20 years’ experience in health systems and practice management. Cindy is an active community volunteer and civic leader.
Matt Stringer, Chief Marketing Officer
Matt Stringer joined Affordable Care in 2018. Matt brings a wealth of experience and extensive industry knowledge with multi-channel retail organizations to Affordable Care and our supported practices. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Marketing for Tailored Brands, Inc., North America’s largest specialty retailers of men’s apparel. Matt has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Communication Studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Karol Twilla, Senior Vice President,
Field Operations
Karol Twilla joined Affordable Care in 1995. She was the first operations consultant, and went on to advance through several operations leadership roles. Prior to Affordable Care, Karol worked for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Karol holds a Master of Health Administration from University of South Carolina and a Bachelor’s Degree from University of Northern Iowa.