AI in dentistry isn't coming -- it's already here. More than 500 AI companies have emerged in dentistry alone over the past 18 months, operating largely without standards, regulation, or governance. For Dr. Kianor Shah, that's not solely a business problem. It's a patient care problem, and one that the profession can no longer afford to ignore.
In this episode of The DrBicuspid.com podcast, Shah -- a general dentist of 20 years in Palm Desert, CA, with a focus on implant dentistry -- joins DrBicuspid's Editor-in-Chief Kevin Henry for a candid conversation about AI's standing in dentistry today, where it's heading, and what he's doing to help the profession navigate the uncertainty.
Dr. Kianor Shah.
Shah's advice for practices trying to make sense of the crowded AI marketplace is practical: Don't commit long term to any single company just yet.
The biggest challenge right now, he explains, is interoperability, the ability of AI tools to integrate seamlessly with existing practice management software. That problem, he believes, will largely sort itself out over the next six to 12 months as more comprehensive platforms emerge.
In the meantime, practices are better served learning the landscape, experimenting with short trials, and starting with lower-stakes applications like diagnostic imaging and clinical notes before moving into more complex workflows.
As for the longer-term picture, Shah paints a striking vision of what dental practices could look like in 15 to 20 years: leaner teams, AI-handled administrative tasks, and clinicians freed up to focus on what they do best. The front desk of the future, he argues, will exist primarily for human connection and patient communication, not data entry.
But perhaps the most consequential work Shah is doing now is bringing global leaders together to address the governance gap head-on. He's organizing a high-profile summit in London, June 26-28, 2026, drawing more than 150 confirmed key opinion leaders from medicine and dentistry, alongside regulatory bodies, standards organizations, and government officials. The event has three core objectives: establishing a framework for AI governance in healthcare, creating a practical road map for clinicians who want to start using AI, and using the technology as a bridge to finally unite medicine and dentistry in a meaningful way.
Shah is direct about the stakes: for midcareer and early-career clinicians, engaging with AI is no longer optional, it's becoming a professional obligation.
Watch our conversation below.
