Spilling the Teath: 2025 Is the Year of AI

In this month’s episode of Spilling the Teath, Dr. Ryan Hungate spoke with Stephanie Moritz, Chief Customer Innovation Officer of the American Dental Association about how artificial intelligence is shaping the industry, improving patient care, and redefining how dental practices operate – proving itself as one of the most transformative trends of 2025. 

Today, we’re exploring the top takeaways from their discussion.

What AI really means for the dental industry

We’re in the early stages of exploration and experimentation with AI in the dental industry, and we expect to see continued substantial development. AI is already helping improve diagnostics and early detection, personalize treatment plans, and minimize administrative burdens. Offices are able to spend more time with the patients, and dentists are focusing more on patient care and doing what they do best. Moritz has also seen it help reduce overall costs and even increase patient numbers. 

AI does not want your job

AI provides an opportunity for you to really think about why you got into dentistry. “When you think about it, you love the practice, you love the technical skills, and you love working with the patient,” said Moritz. "But then there's all this other stuff that comes along with it.” Leveraging AI that can help take away some of the administration burden and enable you to focus on what you're most passionate about: delivering the best possible care. 

Look at it through the lens of how it supports staff engage and educate their patients or helps patients at home. “There are a lot of possibilities out there that are just going to create better care and really enable our dentists,” said Moritz. 

How to get started

Now's the time to get out there and try a variety of things. Start by focusing on the biggest problems to solve, and go into this with the mindset: "I can help to shape the future. I can help to create the products I know I'm going to need. I'm the expert, and I want to be part of that co-creation."

"Imagine if in your dental practice, you and your team identify the biggest problems, and then you pick one, and start to work through that," said Moritz. “You’re creating an opportunity to connect with the greater team where you're all a part of something and transforming the future together.”

Get back to doing what you love

Right now, patients are more likely to choose the practices that advertise the most, have nice offices, and provide a great experience. AI-powered treatment planning and imaging tools will help pivot the industry away from that trend and toward a future where dentists are chosen because they deliver exceptional clinical outcomes and patient-centric treatment plans. And with AI helping to 

standardize workflows and eliminate time-consuming manual tasks, dentists can actually focus on being dentists – just like they were promised in dental school.

It’s time to get curious

AI is an enabler of better care, smarter practices, and a more patient-centered approach to dentistry. AI will actually foster a stronger patient-dentist relationship. And Moritz says now’s the time to get curious about what AI can do for your practice: "This is a time for us to be curious and identify a problem, a big headache that you and your team would love to solve. Recognize that there are possibilities across everything from clinical to the patient. How could you leverage AI so that you could do more of what you love?”