The Real Guide to Buying Dental AI

The future is now for AI in dentistry

We named AI the defining trend in our 2026 Trends Outlook — and for good reason. We're confident AI will move dentistry forward in meaningful ways. But today's dental practices are navigating no shortage of opinions, insights, and recommendations from across the industry.

We understand how daunting it can feel to figure out how AI actually fits into your practice. That difference often comes down to whether AI feels like one more tool to manage, or something that integrates naturally within the workflows and with the vendors you already rely on.

Whether you're just beginning to explore AI or already using it in your day-to-day operations, this guide is designed to help you focus on what truly makes an impact — and how to choose a partner you can trust to support you along the way.

"Incoming calls to our office are automatically transcribed, summarized, and entered into the patient's chart as a note, saving us so much time on documentation."
— Dr. Tarek Badawy, WestLake Dental Care

Where to start

Where you start with AI depends on one major question: What problem are you trying to solve?

Before you even consider a vendor, choose an area where you have the most friction or bandwidth struggles. For example:

• Are your treatment acceptance numbers low?
• Do your doctors struggle to get their notes done every day or feel burned out?
• Is your front desk having trouble completing insurance verification before appointments?

"I save a few hours every week not having to verify eligibility on the phone or portal."
— Kelly Patton, Clinic Coordinator, Elevation Dentistry

With so many AI tools to choose from, your best approach is to find one or two areas of your practice that could use additional support, and start there.

Clinical

• Your treatment acceptance rates are low because patients don't really understand what your clinicians are telling them or the importance of expedient treatment
• Your clinicians spend too much time typing up notes at the end of the day
• Patients feel like they're not really being listened to because clinicians are too focused on notetaking
• Perio charting takes way too much time and requires two hygienists, and it throws off your entire schedule

Front office

• Your high claim denial rates are largely due to image issues
• Your team spends hours each week attaching images and CDT codes to claims
• You're wasting hours each day confirming patient eligibility

Patient experience

• Patients are having trouble reaching your office because your team is always on the phone
• Your team spends too much time manually entering call notes and returning voicemails
• Patients are frustrated because they can only schedule during business hours
• Too much time is spent trying to fill appointments – especially when there's a last minute cancellation

How to evaluate dental AI vendors

Once you've determined the problem you're solving, it's time to consider which vendor best supports your goals.

But that's easier said than done.

There are dozens of companies — some well-established, some new — with AI solutions for every area of your practice. With so many options to choose from, making sense of how everything works, how well it works together, and which companies you can count on for the long term can be a daunting task.

"Our doctors are now able to spend so much more time consulting with parents. Before, it took so long to physically write up notes, they had less time for patient visits."
— Nicole Hartshorn, COO & Director of Operations, Pediatric Dental Group of Colorado

Choosing a vendor to partner with begins by understanding how AI is integrated into your practice management system (PMS).