North Carolina Association of Orthodontists

What North Carolina Association of Orthodontists does

The North Carolina Association of Orthodontists (NCAO) is a non-profit professional membership association founded in 1956 and incorporated in 1969, serving licensed orthodontists practicing in North Carolina. It operates as a component society of the Southern Society of Orthodontists (SSO) and the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), meaning its members are required to maintain good standing in those parent bodies. Headcount is reported at 1–10 employees, consistent with a small association-staff model.

The association's core offerings are programmatic rather than technological: an annual continuing-education meeting (e.g., the 2026 Annual Meeting co-hosted with AAO at the Rizzo Center in Durham, NC), a member-facing AAO orthodontist locator, a public leadership directory, and news/reports content. The underlying technology stack is standard association infrastructure — a website, member directory, and event management — with no disclosed proprietary platform or AI components.

NCAO's business model is membership-dues-based recurring revenue. Its go-to-market is professional association membership within a single US state, with no apparent product-led, transactional, or commercial revenue streams. Revenue is not disclosed, and the organization is governed by a rotating board including President Dr. Bryan Lockhart and President-Elect Dr. Robin Mayo.

Name

North Carolina Association of Orthodontists

Legal name

North Carolina Association of Orthodontists

Website

https://ncaortho.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The North Carolina Association of Orthodontists is a non-profit professional membership association founded in 1956 that serves licensed orthodontists practicing in North Carolina as a component society of the SSO and AAO, delivering annual meetings, referral services, and member advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cary

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: The NCAO generates revenue through membership dues paid by orthodontists in North Carolina who are in good standing with the SSO and AAO. The organization uses these funds to advocate for orthodontists, provide continuing education opportunities, and promote quality orthodontic treatment across the state.

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The North Carolina Association of Orthodontists is a nonprofit professional membership association for orthodontic specialists whose main office is in North Carolina and who are in good standing with the Southern Society of Orthodontists and the American Association of Orthodontists. It delivers membership enrollment, professional advocacy, an annual continuing-education meeting, and patient referrals to member orthodontists through the AAO locator.

Product overview

The North Carolina Association of Orthodontists is a professional membership organization for orthodontic specialists in North Carolina. The organization provides a unified portfolio of member services including membership enrollment requiring SSO and AAO good standing, an annual meeting for continuing education, a referral locator service connecting patients to member orthodontists, a leadership directory with officer contacts, and a document repository for bylaws and reports. These services collectively support the organization's mission to educate, inform, and provide leadership to members while promoting quality orthodontic treatment statewide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NCAO Membership Services Formal membership enrollment in the official state orthodontic association, open to orthodontists who maintain good standing with both the SSO and the AAO. Members gain access to advocacy representation, continuing education, leadership pathways, and patient referral visibility through the AAO locator.
• NCAO Annual Meeting Annual educational and networking conference held for member orthodontists, delivering continuing-education programming alongside association governance.
• Find an Orthodontist Locator Patient-facing referral service that directs North Carolina residents seeking orthodontic care to NCAO member orthodontists via the AAO's online locator tool.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Southern Society of Orthodontists (SSO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe SSO is the parent regional organization for the NCAO. NCAO members must be in good standing with the SSO. Dr. Olin Owen, an NC orthodontist, was president of the SSO in 1955 and recommended organizing state societies within SSO's jurisdiction.
• American Association of Orthodontists (AAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe AAO is the national parent organization for orthodontic specialists. NCAO is a component society of the AAO. NCAO members must be in good standing with the AAO, and NCAO by-laws are consistent with AAO by-laws.
• Southern Association of OrthodontistsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional orthodontic association. The 2026 SAO/SWSO (SSO) Annual Session is a joint meeting co-hosted with SWSO in Nashville, TN.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - School of Dentistry, Department of OrthodonticsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing dental education. UNC Department of Orthodontics is located at CB #7450, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450.
• American Association of Orthodontists Foundation (AAOF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAO-affiliated foundation supporting orthodontic education and research.
• American Board of Orthodontics (ABO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAO-affiliated organization providing board certification for orthodontists.
• World Federation of Orthodontists (WFO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAO-affiliated global organization for orthodontics.
• SSO Component OrganizationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOther state orthodontic societies within the SSO region including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Georgia Association of Orthodontists (GAO): State-level SSO component society representing orthodontists in Georgia; structurally and functionally the closest comparable peer to NCAO as a southeastern state orthodontic membership body.
• South Carolina Association of Orthodontists (SCAO): Sibling SSO component society for South Carolina orthodontists, directly comparable to NCAO in mission, structure, and member profile.
• Florida Association of Orthodontists (FAO): State-level SSO component society serving orthodontists in Florida, with the same membership, advocacy, and meeting model as NCAO. Listed as a sibling component organization on the SSO links page.
• Virginia Association of Orthodontists (VAO): State-level SSO component society representing orthodontists in Virginia; operates an identical membership, advocacy, and annual-meeting model to NCAO.
• Southern Association of Orthodontists (SAO): Overlapping regional orthodontic association within the same southeastern U.S. geography; NCAO members co-host the 2026 SAO/SWSO annual session. Closely comparable as a regional membership society for orthodontists.
• Tennessee Association of Orthodontists (TAO): State-level SSO component society representing orthodontists in Tennessee; shares the same parent-body affiliation structure, member-gating rules, and advocacy focus as NCAO.
• Southern Society of Orthodontists (SSO): Regional constituent society that is the direct parent of NCAO and other southeastern state orthodontic associations. Operates an analogous membership, advocacy, and continuing-education model across a multi-state footprint.

Broad incumbents

• American Dental Association (ADA): National professional association for all dentists, of which orthodontists are a specialty subset. Analogous in mission (advocacy, education, standards) but broader in scope than NCAO, which represents only the orthodontic specialty within North Carolina.
• American Association of Orthodontists (AAO): National parent organization for orthodontic specialists and the body of which NCAO is a component society. Comparable as the apex membership association serving U.S. orthodontists with advocacy, education, and patient-facing locator services.

Regional players

• Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists (GLAO): Constituent AAO society covering Great Lakes states; comparable as a multi-state orthodontic membership organization with similar advocacy, education, and governance functions, though outside NCAO's immediate SSO region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/NorthCarolinaAssociationofOrthodontists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about North Carolina Association of Orthodontists