Dr. Brett Kessler, 2024-25 President of the American Dental Association (ADA), has formed a strong partnership over the past year with President-Elect and incoming leader Dr. Rich Rosato. Together, they work to define the future of dentistry, advocating for the benefits to physical, mental, and social wellbeing that result when oral health is treated in concert with overall health.
Dr. Kessler’s term is set to conclude in October, and Dr. Rosato looks forward to furthering progress on key initiatives they’ve pursued together.
ADA Forsyth dentech 2025 happens to coincide with this transfer in leadership. Drs. Kessler and Rosato will open and close, respectively, the annual oral health innovation summit with keynote addresses. They will lead discussions on advancing technology in dentistry, medical-dental integration, and growing the dental profession.
Oral and overall health: Dr. Kessler reflects on lessons learned
Conversations around “putting the mouth back in the body,” or bridging the divide between medical and dental care, will feature prominently at dentech 2025. Dr. Kessler will moderate the event’s second panel discussion, “Medical-Dental Integration – The Real Actions,” in which leaders discuss their efforts in integrating oral health care into medical care.
“We’re kind of at a crossroads as a profession,” Dr. Kessler said. Integration between medicine and dentistry had been a fringe concept until sleep medicine opened doors for dentists to provide care for conditions like sleep apnea. With younger generations of people needing less restorative care, emphasis on preventive dentistry and insight from dentists on overall wellbeing can grow the profession.
“We need to evolve the practice of dentistry toward management of caries, periodontitis, and inflammation at the earliest stages,” Dr. Kessler said. “All the research showing the improvement of overall health if we can improve oral health is robust, and the argument is compelling for us. We can really help our patients with their overall health.”
Technological innovation may hold power in breaking down barriers between medical and dental care.
Oral Health 2050: Dr. Rosato’s vision for the future
Dr. Rosato prides himself as an early adopter of technology in the dental office. As early as 2006, his oral and maxillofacial surgery office in Concord, New Hampshire, went paperless.
Heading into his term as ADA President, Dr. Rosato imagines the future of oral health 25 years in the future in an initiative called Oral Health 2050. By then, artificial intelligence could transform nearly every part of the dental office: administrative workflows, insurance processing and pre-certification, and possibly even how care is delivered.
“That’s the exciting thing about dentech,” Dr. Rosato said. “We’re bringing the whole oral health ecosystem together and talking through issues and opportunities. Advanced technology and AI will clearly affect so many aspects of dentistry.”
As technology advances, exciting opportunities to connect dental and medical care arise. However, a strong future for the profession also depends on bold advocacy for oral health initiatives at national, state, and local levels.
“We’re going to fight to advance dentistry, for innovation, and for the stability of our organization,” Dr. Rosato said. “I’m excited to get the word out about these things that Dr. Kessler began to speak about. I’m going to follow suit on that.”
Register virtually to join dentech 2025 and hear from Drs. Kessler and Rosato on innovation in dentistry, medical-dental integration, and more. Dentech 2025 convenes the entire oral health innovation and investment community.
