Freeman Spogli Acquires a Majority Interest in Bright Now! Dental Inc.

Santa Ana, Calif., May 24, 2005 - Freeman Spogli & Co., a leading private equity investment firm, announced today that it has completed its purchase of a majority interest in Bright Now! Dental Inc. Freeman Spogli purchased a majority of its position from Gryphon Investors Inc., who will maintain an interest in the company.

Since its founding in 1998 with the merging of three existing dental practice management companies on the West Coast, Bright Now! Dental Inc. has evolved into the leading dental practice management company providing business support services to approximately 300 dental offices in 19 states nationwide with expansion plans in markets served. Bright Now! Dental Inc.'s affiliated dental offices have become market leaders by providing patients with quality general, preventive, and specialty dental care at affordable prices in a convenient, comfortable environment.

"We are very excited to be partnering with Freeman Spogli," said Steven C. Bilt, president and chief executive officer of Bright Now! Dental Inc. "We are very impressed with the professionals at Freeman Spogli and their extensive experience building leading national retailers is particularly attractive to our management team given our business model, continued expansion plans and geographic reach."

"Bright Now! Dental has established itself as a leader in the dental practice management business in each of its markets due to its focus on customer service, doctor relationships, and a superior service offering at an exceptional value," said Fred Simmons, a partner with Freeman Spogli. "The management team has done an outstanding job of bringing several companies together and expanding the business organically and we are pleased to become a long-term investor and strategic partner. We look forward to helping Bright Now continue its growth."

About Freeman Spogli

Freeman Spogli & Co. (www.freemanspogli.com) is a private equity firm dedicated exclusively to investing and partnering with management in companies in the retailing, direct marketing and distribution industries in the United States. The firm's sector focus provides Freeman Spogli with a detailed knowledge and understanding of changes in consumer and business buying patterns, demographic trends, competitive dynamics and shifting distribution channels. Since its founding in 1983, the firm has invested $2.0 billion in 37 portfolio companies and is currently making investments from FS Equity Partners V, L.P., a $1.0 billion fund. Freeman Spogli has offices in Los Angeles and New York.

About Bright Now!(R) Dental Inc.

Bright Now!(R) Dental Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Monarch Dental Corp., Castle Dental Centers, and Newport Dental Plan, provide business support services to approximately 300 dental offices in 19 states nationwide. Affiliated and staff dentists provide general, cosmetic, and specialty care to more than 2 million patients each year. Bright Now's mission is to manage the time-consuming business functions of running dental practices, in order to free dentists to devote virtually all of their time to caring for patients by delivering quality dental care, superior service, and exceptional value.

Bright Now offers dentists and their patients numerous benefits and advantages over traditional dental care models. Bright Now assumes responsibility for business support services such as finance, sales and marketing, information technology, human resources, purchasing, and real estate development, while dentists retain responsibility for all clinical matters. Patients benefit from quality, full-service dental care, including general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and specialty services such as orthodontics. Extended evening and weekend office hours, convenient locations, affordable prices, and flexible payment plans make quality dental care available to a wide range of patients.

Based in Santa Ana, Bright Now and its affiliated dentists employ approximately 4,300 people nationwide. For more information, visit www.brightnow.com.

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