Shaping the oral health ecosystem for the sixth straight year
What will oral health look like in the future? In 10 years, 20 years, or even by 2050? How will today’s emerging technologies accelerate the dental profession and improve patient health?
Business and technology leaders in emerging areas of oral health convened at the ADA Forsyth Institute’s sixth annual dentech conference to answer these questions and much more. The speakers and panelists at this oral health investment and innovation summit include leaders from the top oral health companies in the industry and intriguing presentations from entrepreneurs developing technologies that will transform dental care delivery and patient health.
The audience at dentech, an invite-only event, included over 100 CEOs and C-suite executives.
Day 1
Chief Technology Officers from leading companies in oral health – Colgate, Dentsply Sirona, Ivoclar, and Henry Schein’s technology and software arm, Henry Schein One – discussed how their organizations adopt and grow new technologies in Thursday’s first panel discussion.
While the biggest brand names in the industry work to develop new technology on a large scale, many groundbreaking new technologies are already making a difference today. Panel 2 welcomed tech leaders whose innovations are shifting the paradigm in clinical care. Exciting technologies range from direct print appliances to medical-dental integrated electronic health records to dental-dedicated MRI and multiplex molecular chairside diagnostics that rival the best lab-based systems.
NIDCR Deputy Director Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque and ADA President Dr. Richard Rosato delivered a one-two punch with keynote speeches focusing on the importance of data-driven patient care, advanced technology in the dental office, and advocacy for oral health treatment’s contribution to systemic health.
Scientists and business leaders working in biotech and academia gathered for Panel 3: From the Outside Looking In. Dr. Shi, as moderator, asked how their experiences could be instructive for oral health business leaders or entrepreneurs. Speakers laid out how research in oral health connects with entrepreneurship, research related to systemic health, or public health services. A surprise special guest, Aaron Guckian, Republican nominee for Rhode Island Governor, joined the panel to discuss his cooperation with health officials in Rhode Island in providing essential oral health services in communities in need.
Dentech’s first day wrapped up with the Pitch Competition, welcoming cutting-edge startups to the stage to introduce technologies that may transform how dentistry operates. An impressive roster of five pre-revenue and five post-revenue companies represented a highly competitive pool of applicants vying for the opportunity to present their innovations before dentech’s distinguished panel of judges.
Day 2
ADA Forsyth COO & CSO Dr. Ben Wu led off Day 2 of dentech 2026 with experienced investors in dental, biotech, medtech, and fintech. The panelists shared valuable insights and fascinating lessons gained from their collective investment expertise totally over 100 cumulative years.
Friday morning started with experienced investors discussing lessons learned in powering new technologies with capital. Guests included investors supporting tech in medical or other fields, like Michael Greeley (Flare Capital) and Roger Kitterman (Mass General Brigham Ventures) alongside investors who specialize in oral health tech, like Dai Feng (CareCapital Group) and Dr. Jeremy Krell (Revere Partners).
In the next segment, Working with AFI: Success Stories, a cross-sectional panel of industry partners shared their resources and experience in collaborating with ADA Forsyth. This included data gathering and analysis presented by Dr. Wu, Dr. Krell, Dr. Marko Vujicic (ADA Health Policy Institute) and Dr. Edward Shellard (United Concordia Dental).
These collaborators highlighted key areas where the ADA Forsyth dentech ecosystem directly, collaboratively shape the future of oral helath by advancing emerging technologies in all stages of development, regulatory approval, and reimbursement readiness.
Fueled by our highly successful dentech-Asia 2026 in Seoul, the next panel of international leaders in business and academia shared updates on the evolution of advanced technologies form the other side of the globe.
Dr. Densen Cao (CAO Group), Dr. Mingming Xu (Peking University School of Stomatology), Dr. Xianglong Han (West China), and Dr. James Tsoi (Assistant Dean, Hong Kong University School of Dentistry) shared their incredible resources, matching grants, and system to accelerate oral health innovations. Dr. Tsoi gave a preview for dentech-Asia 2027 in Hong Kong, which is expected to be another exciting, sold-out event.
The conference concluded with the announcement of the Pitch Competition winners. Regendodent and Hibiscus Health, competing in the Pre-Revenue category, shared the honors, with the judges determining a tie. In the Post-Revenue category, DentalJect earned the win.
ADA Forsyth extends a sincere thank-you to all of this year’s dentech sponsors, whose support powers this impactful summit where the future of oral health takes shape.
Save the dates for future dentech conferences:
ADA Forsyth dentech-Asia 2027: May 13-14, 2027, in Hong Kong
ADA Forsyth dentech 2027: Sept. 24-25, 2027 in Boston
