The oral health innovation world convened online and in person at ADA Forsyth’s new headquarters in Somerville, Massachusetts at dentech 2025 on Oct. 9 and 10. Welcoming investors, startup companies, clinicians, and other industry leaders, the conference centered on innovation in dentistry and opportunities to revolutionize patient care.
This year’s summit featured a select group of CEOs, technology developers, and academics.
In total, 38 CEOs from influential oral health companies, 49 VP-level executives, 55 other C-suite executives or executive directors, and 13 deans of top dental schools attended dentech 2025.
In gathering such an exclusive group of oral health leaders, dentech sparked conversations – and plans for real actions – centered on connecting oral health to overall health. This shared mission guided discussion on medical-dental integration, entrepreneurship, approaches to insurance benefits, dental education, and more.
Day 1
The conference opened with remarks from American Dental Association (ADA) leaders Dr. James M. Boyle III, Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Shapiro, and ADA Forsyth Institute (AFI) CEO Dr. Wenyuan Shi.
On the morning of Day 1, Robert Coughlin, Managing Director at JLL and former MassBio CEO, put things in perspective with an impassioned speech about his son’s battle with cystic fibrosis. His keynote highlighted real-world examples serving the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes.
Following Coughlin’s energetic introduction, ADA President Dr. Brett Kessler took the stage to present research-backed findings on the connection between oral health and overall health, and provide guidance for dentists to put this critical link into action.
The first panel discussion brought business leaders and oral health advocates to the stage to discuss how the changing political and economic landscape shifts expectations and strategies for advancing oral health innovation and advocacy.
In Panel 2, Dr. Kessler moderated a discussion on medical-dental integration. Each member of this expert panel explained their unique approach to melding dental care and health care, therefore connecting oral health with overall health in an actionable way.
Day 2
Oral health investment leader Dai Feng, who serves as managing director at CareCapital Group, opened Day 2 with a keynote address focused on better dental startup performance driven by belief in clinician-scientists’ intuition.
His speech and subsequent question-and-answer session delivered actionable insights from an experienced investor; however, Feng also zoomed out in speaking about the importance of self-belief and confidence through tribulations in one’s career and life.
Day 2 continued with “Panel 3: Clinical Innovation & Global Interaction,” a discussion among seven deans who are shaping education in oral health, moderated by Dr. Shi. Each dean explained their innovative approach to providing rich educational opportunities that put research into action.
Three longtime associates came together in the fourth panel discussion, with AFI Chief Scientific Officer & Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ben Wu moderating a discussion between oral health “outsiders” Michael Greeley, an investor, and Prof. Michael Cima, an inventor and MIT instructor. The conversation, centered on strategies for startup success, offered the audience many new ideas on how to develop transformative technology and secure funding to advance it.
Dr. Wu then moderated “Panel 5: An Expanded Conversation Between Innovators and Investors,” which comprised prominent figures in each sector of the oral health industry, spanning consumer products, advocacy, patient care, investment, academia, and insurance.
Dr. Richard Rosato, incoming ADA President, drew on personal and professional experiences in his closing address. Dr. Rosato envisioned the future of the dental profession as he discussed what it will take to advance oral health technology and advocacy.
Pitch Competition, Flash Talks, and Showcase of Featured Companies
Across both days of dentech 2025, innovative startups presented their science-backed solutions to problems faced by dental clinicians and patients. In the Pitch Competition and Showcase sessions, each startup representative took questions from judges and other audience members, while Flash Talks left an impression with only three minutes on stage to intrigue the audience. The Pitch Competition judges panel comprised major venture capital investors and leaders in the oral health space.
At the end of Day 2, HysensBio was revealed as the Pitch Competition winner, with InnoTech Precision Medicine taking runner-up.
Also participating in the Pitch Competition were Intelibly, Abrux, PerioTrap, Practice by Numbers, Greenmark Biomedical, and STEMDEN.
In the Showcase of Featured Companies, AFI-selected startups explained their oral health solutions and their success so far in their journey to the dental market. Grin, Overjet, the Forsyth Academy for Continuing Education (FACE), and Neo Modulus presented in this segment.
On Day 1, Flash Talks brought AssurTek Surgical, Healink AI, THS Labs, Praetorian Bio, Hesy Tech, OraScience, DentAI, Onpharma, Feno and OrthoNu to the stage. The audience voted THS Labs and Feno as their favorite Flash Talks.
dentech would not be possible without our many incredible sponsors.
Thank you to OraBio for serving as our Platinum Sponsor; to Gold Sponsors PDS Health, Young Innovations, Colgate-Palmolive, United Concordia Dental, and Henry Schein; to Silver Sponsors CareQuest Innovation Partners and Septodont; to Bronze Sponsors vVARDIS, Crest + Oral B, Perkins Coie, Kenvue, Neo Modulus Medical, Hyfinity Investments, CareCredit, AngelAligner, Voyager Dental, Troutman Pepper Locke, and CRISPR-AFI; to Friends of ADA Forsyth Sponsors Elevate Oral Care, Dental Innovation Alliance, International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR), usmile, MassBio, Revere Partners, Patterson Dental, and OnPharma; and to Supporter Transforming Technologies.
