# Why Democratizing Better Smiles Begin With Dental MedTech and Big Data

Published 2022-12-01 · Updated 2026-03-19 · Healthcare on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/healthcare/why-democratizing-better-smiles-begin-with-dental-medtech-and-big-data

> Innovation and dentistry are not associated words in many patients minds. However, behind the scenes, the dental industry is changing rapidly, leveraging dental medtech like AI, cloud management, computer-guided surgery, and more. Many of the physical tools and practices may remain the same, but software and data is changing how patients are treated, resulting in…

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Innovation and dentistry are not associated words in many patients minds. However, behind the scenes, [the dental industry is changing rapidly](https://investors.smiledirectclub.com/news-releases/news-release-details/smiledirectclub-announces-launch-innovative-smilemaker-platform/), leveraging dental [medtech](https://marketscale.com/industries/healthcare/) like AI, cloud management, [computer-guided surgery](https://www.abc4.com/gtu/gtu-sponsor/how-do-these-surgeons-rate-above-the-rest-for-complex-dental-work/), and more. Many of the physical tools and practices may remain the same, but software and data is changing how patients are treated, resulting in better outcomes.

One example coming out of SmileDirectClub, the D2C dental aligners company, which recently announced the launch of its AI-powered SmileMaker Platform which lets consumers scan their teeth on Apple phones and produce a first-of-its-kind remotely-scanned 3D view of teeth for dental products.

Kiltesh Patel, CEO of cloud-based dental software company [tab32](https://www.tab32.com/), sees this as a critical moment for the dental industry and reiterates his optimism for the role dental medtech will play in democratizing dental care access.

### Kiltesh’s Thoughts:

“I think it’s an amazing time for lots of products, either it being provider space or direct to consumer space. The democratization of the data to the cloud technologies is really helping to scale and build, accelerate this, especially when 40% of a country like ours in the U.S. the population doesn’t have access to care. It’s an opportunity for us to reach out to that larger population and this is just the first step, so it’s super, super exciting.”

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