Finding new and effective uses of technology and AI is one way that dental practices and organizations are becoming more efficient this year.
Delivering with tools to make staff members feel more supported and making patients feel comfortable and informed are ways that dentistry becomes more optimized, helping practices level up.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is one process at your dental practice/organization that you want to make more efficient this year? How will you get there?
Jordan Ledger, DDS. Owner and Oral Surgeon of Chicago Oral Surgery & Implant Center: One process I’m really passionate about improving this year is how we support our patients the moment they leave our office. We find that the hours following a procedure are usually when people feel the most uneasy and have a lot of questions they forgot to ask during the visit or at the consultation, and I want to make that recovery window much smoother for them. Give them tools to feel immediately supported.
Right now, I personally call my patients to check in, and that won’t stop, but I want to bridge the gap between the time they leave one of our offices and that evening check-in with me or the other surgeon at the practice. We are currently evaluating a few systems that will send personalized, real-time check-ins and video care instructions directly to a patient’s cell when they get home. If we can automate some of the “is this normal?” it will free up my team, or me, to jump on a call right away if a patient has a more complex concern. At the end of the day, we want to use technology to make sure our care feels more personal, not less. We want to ensure no one ever feels like just a number once they walk out our doors. Technology can be an incredible thing and we are leaning into it in 2026.
Louis Malcmacher, DDS. President of American Academy of Facial Esthetics (South Euclid, Ohio): Every dentist needs to learn how AI can help their practice. We are going to explore what AI services can help run our practices and businesses more efficiently. AI can also make every single team member work smarter and not harder. There are also clinical advantages to using AI.
We will get there by seeing what AI services have a proven track record in dentistry and integrate them into our office clinical and practice management systems.
