Over the past year, I’ve had a peek into what’s landing in the inbox of dental groups and DSO leaders.

They’ve been overflowing (which isn’t new) but the redundancy seems amplified:

New AI tools.
SaaS platform requests.
New companies asking for time, demos, attention.

The dental tech activity has picked up significantly over the last 18–24 months. I talk about this a lot.

Here is what I’m hearing in conversations with groups I’m working with mostly around AI:

And quietly, in many larger DSO’s, decisions are being influenced by PE boards and AI committees that don’t necessarily understand how a dental business operates day to day, keys on a spreadsheet.

Not a criticism, it’s just what’s happening.

Seems the dental tech hitting the market right now are attempted “plug-and-play” solutions that handle one task and stop there.

Here’s an example:

An AI company builds an agent to confirm insurance eligibility (Nothing wrong with that. Useful tool)

But that’s the only thing it does.

So now you’re adding another tool, another SaaS fee, another login, another workflow step.

And for the people doing RCM or front office work, it doesn’t feel like support, just more stuff being added to their already full workload.

They become a passionate blocker to the adoption… I see it.

Point solutions out there solve a task and they’re needed and won’t go away, I’m not saying they will. However, they don’t solve the workflow issue especially when it comes to AI.

A tool can be good on its own, but when it sits in isolation, it creates more work for the people trying to keep the tech stack running and the people trying to operate inside it.

One example: I was in a practice recently and watched an associate spend 30 minutes trying to track down the password to their HR platform. Minutes like that turn into hours fast.

What I’m seeing inside dental right now is consistent.

The point solutions aren’t failing to gain traction because they’re bad ideas. Many are struggling because they don’t connect to anything. Others are moving slow because the value doesn’t outweigh the addition to the stack.

If you’re only solving insurance eligibility…
or only solving missed calls…
or only solving outbound recare…

For the last few years, DSOs have been working hard to consolidate tech, standardize platforms, and eliminate redundancy (same-store growth behaviors).

Now leaders are being asked to layer new tools back on top of the stack we just cleaned up.

That math doesn’t math.

The companies I’m most bullish on and the ones DSOs should be gravitating toward aren’t building single tricks.

They’re building across functions like:

• RCM
• Missed calls
• Outbound recare
• Documentation
• Task management
• Workflow routing
• Case conversion

The goal is this is all under one architecture.

One system doing multiple jobs.
One source that understands workflows end to end.

The future isn’t “best-in-class point solutions.”
It’s connected platforms that make dental groups and DSOs feel lighter, not heavier.

And to take it a step further; when you start embedding agents inside your own workflows, using your own data, your own rules, your own playbook… that’s where the real AI lift happens.

We’re not fully there yet, but we’re closer than people think.

When you look at some emerging tech companies gaining real traction, there’s a common thread.

They’re not trying to win by doing one narrow thing better. They’re building with a connected, ecosystem mindset — something that actually reflects how dental operates day to day.

Take patient financing as an example.
Endeavor is a newer company and they didn’t build one financing product for one type of patient. They knew offices need options because one lender rarely covers everyone. By connecting adding HSA/FSA, multiple lenders — prime, near-prime, subprime — they created a setup that:

That’s what an ecosystem approach looks like.

You see the same pattern on the AI side.
Companies like Newton aren’t leading with a single use case. They’ve been building integrated solutions around several operational lanes including missed calls, outbound recare, inbound voice, text, and even emerging RCM workflows.

It’s not about being perfect in just one area; it’s about creating one foundation that can support multiple parts of the business as groups grow into it.

The market is reinforcing this direction too.
Weaves purchase of Truelark and Overjet’s acquisition of Dental Bee this week aren’t random. It points to where AI is heading in dental:

Other platforms like Unify are leaning this way too pulling fragmented tools together, reducing logins, and giving groups a more consolidated view of their business.

Login fatigue is real, and consolidation is one of the few ways to fix it.

None of these companies are perfect and there are many other examples to show, but these are moving toward a model that gives DSOs leverage: one architecture touching multiple workflows instead of scattering teams across disconnected tools.

If there’s any guidance I’d leave you with, it’s this:

We’re early. Everyone’s testing. Everyone’s trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not.

But what’s becoming clearer (at least to me) is that the tools that will end up sticking won’t be the ones that do just one thing. They’re the ones built to live inside inside the actual rhythm of how a dental business operates.

It’s the same thing the recent MIT study pointed out:

That’s the gap.

And that’s why simply adding tools won’t get us where we need to go.

When you evaluate what to bring into your organization, look past the feature list. Look past the “now product”. Ask questions that get underneath the surface of what is available now.

Because we don’t need more software.
We need better alignment between the builders and the operators.

The opportunities in dental tech right now are real, but they live in the hands of the companies (and leaders) willing to design for the friction, not ignore it.

To embed AI where work truly happens.
To build systems that learn, adapt, and lighten the load instead of adding to it.

Better decisions, not more tools.

That’s the whole game as I see it.

Have thoughts on this, book some time before the holidays.

Dykema DSO Leadership Event - Orlando

I had the opportunity to speak at the Dykema DSO Leadership event in Orlando. The room was smaller, more focused, and felt more like a working session than a conference.

I shared my perspective on evaluating technology across DSOs, where adoption breaks down, and how to make cleaner decisions as AI continues to flood the space. The conversation that followed was sharp and grounded in real operational challenges.

Big thanks to Brian Colao and Laura Blaine for bringing the group together.

Utah Dental Meet Up – Salt Lake City

We hosted the first Utah Dental Meetup, something I’ve wanted to launch for a while and the turnout exceeded expectations. With help from Sarah Ruberg, we brought together people who showed up after long days, drove long distances, and made time for conversation and connection.

The idea was simple: we always run into each other out of state and say, “We should do something local.” So we finally did, and it was clear how much the industry wants genuine community built around listening and supporting each other.

I’m considering hosting similar meetups in other dental hubs around the country. If you’re interested, feel free to book some time to talk.

Schedule Time With Me

When Structure Becomes a Straitjacket — Siloed Dentistry: Why the Industry Feels Stuck — This snapshot breaks down how silos inside vendors and DSOs slow everything down, from product decisions to tech adoption.

I get into the cultural and structural barriers, why field insight rarely makes it upstream, and why the future belongs to companies that connect people, process, and technology instead of keeping them in separate lanes.

Let’s Talk Integration, But Not the Kind You’re Thinking Of — This edition breaks down why most “integrations” in dental fail long before the API call and why tech only works when people, process, and purpose are aligned.

I get into the hidden organizational friction, why AI-era change creates hesitation inside DSOs, and how real integration now means behavioral and cultural alignment, not just clean documentation. The future belongs to teams that treat integration as a discipline, connecting data, workflows, and people into one system that actually moves.

Truly appreciate you being here and making it to the end. Have ideas, questions, or tech you want me to explore? Just reply to this or book some time with me to discuss.

- Matt