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You Should Know: Mari’s List by Krista Houstoun, Associate Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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by Krista Houstoun, Associate Editor, Orthotown Magazine

In her first year as director of purchasing for a large practice, Mari Sawtelle-Dunn saved the company more than $1 million. This accomplishment inspired her to create Mari’s List, a company that helps many dentists save money with a leveraged, group pricing buying power not accessible to individual doctors.

What is your background in orthodontics?
I actually started out as a lab tech and orthodontic assistant. Then I spent more than 25 years in the field as a rep working for four of the largest orthodontic companies. After that I went inside working for a multi-state, 12-doctor practice as the director of purchasing and business development. In my first year, I saved the company over a million dollars, which is what led me to start Mari’s List.



You are in an elevator. Someone asks what Mari’s List does. You have 15 seconds before the door opens. What do you say?
We negotiate deals no individual doctor can on the best quality products and value available. With Mari’s List, the companies are giving you their best prices upfront, pre-negotiated, no haggling necessary, and these prices are available only to our members. Currently there are 25 companies on the list and it’s still growing.

How does Mari’s List help doctors?
Mari’s List represents only the doctors and their interests. You order directly from companies, as we are not a middleman and take no percentage. With our leveraged buying power, doctors are savings thousands. More than 100 offices have already joined, giving us huge negotiating power, and we are growing fast.

It gives you the tools to know where to shop for the greatest value and savings, ranging from equipment, to disposables, to office supplies, and we’re adding more companies all the time. The best part is you don’t have to change your brackets and bands to save, and the savings begin right away.

Why do orthodontists need a service like the one you provide?
Mari’s List is a group of companies we’ve brought together that offer their best price upfront. You can clearly and easily see what you’re paying, then pick and choose only what you want to buy from any vendor on the list, without hassle or confusion.

Also, my experience is inventory is often a secondary duty given to an already busy, capable person, so they default to what is fastest due to time constraints, not necessarily the best value. And they typically don’t have a career of experience to know where to go and simply don’t have the leveraged buying power of a group like Mari’s List to get the best pricing.

More practices are joining every week, which expands our buying power to negotiate even better deals. We are always working to find the best value and best companies, and will continue to add more vendors, giving the practices more ways to save.

What is the driving philosophy at Mari’s List?
I’ve had the advantage in my professional life of working on both sides of orthodontics, for both vendors and practices. I loved both, and the core of it for me was always my relationships with the doctors and their teams. When I saw what I was able to do for a large ortho group, I wanted to figure out how to do the same for every practice, large or small.

What would you consider to be the best-kept secret about Mari’s List?
The savings last for the life of the practice, or as long as you continue to be a member. You make the small initial investment the first year to get started, then you are only paying an annual fee each year after that, but you still get all the savings every year.

How can a practice begin working with you?
Go to MarisList.com and send us your info on the last page on the website and we will contact you. It’s very simple to join and your savings start as soon as you become a member.

What kind of service can orthodontists expect when they pick up the phone and call you?
The simple answer is they get an advocate for their practice, with a career’s worth of experience in orthodontics, who will work with them to get the best value for products they use every day.

Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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