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Articles by Ryan Hungate
Vibe Coding Will Level The Playing Field In Dentistry
Early in my dental career, I had a persistent feeling that something about my schedule was wrong. Not broken, just wrong. Some days ran beautifully. Some days, I finished forty minutes late and couldn’t tell you why. A practice management system held every appointment, but there wasn’t a way to ask it the questions I had. So, I did what most dentists do. I guessed, made a change based on instinct, watched for a month, and realized I still couldn’t tell whether it had worked.
The Biggest Healthcare Fix Might Not Come From a Vendor
Healthcare has one recurring diagnosis when it comes to software: the people who see the problem most clearly are almost never the ones allowed to fix it. A front-desk lead knows exactly which scheduling step causes no-shows. A billing manager can tell you, to the minute, where a claim stalls. But turning that knowledge into a working tool has always required someone else, like a developer, a vendor, or a build queue.
The Biggest Healthcare Fix Might Not Come From a Vendor
Healthcare has one recurring diagnosis when it comes to software: the people who see the problem most clearly are almost never the ones allowed to fix it. A front-desk lead knows exactly which scheduling step causes no-shows. A billing manager can tell you, to the minute, where a claim stalls. But turning that knowledge into a working tool has always required someone else, like a developer, a vendor, or a build queue.
What's your biggest dental software headache? We want to know.
Every dental practice runs on practice management software -- Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Curve Dental, Sensei Cloud, Oryx, and dozens of others -- yet almost every practice has a story about something their system should do but doesn't. Maybe it's a feature that's been "coming soon" for years. Maybe it's a workaround your team has quietly built just to get through the day. Maybe it's the thing that makes you mutter under your breath every time you open the program.
The vibe code shift in healthcare
For two decades, healthcare has followed the same pattern for fixing a broken technology workflow: A clinician or administrator identifies a problem, describes it to an internal or vendor software team, and waits. Months later, sometimes years, a tool arrives. It rarely fits the problem exactly as described, because something inevitably gets lost in translation.
Why Vibe Coding Moves Healthcare’s Bottleneck from Engineering to Governance
Dr. Ryan Hungate is an orthodontist and serves as Chief Strategy and Clinical Officer at Henry Schein One. He leads the company’s revenue cycle management automation and One Platform strategy. Dr. Hungate is also the founder of Simplifeye Inc. Prior to his career in dentistry, he worked at Apple, where he helped design the retail workflow. For years, the limit on internal software in healthcare was engineering capacity.
Why vibe coding is closing the tech gap in dentistry
There's a version of this conversation we’ve all heard for years: The latest tech features and functions are built specifically for large businesses and priced for a budget your small business doesn't have. A company with a dedicated information technology team can build a custom report, a workflow, and a dashboard tailored exactly to how the software runs. But private dental practices don't have those resources.
Curve Dental launches Curve Care+ clinical AI suite
Curve Dental has launched Curve Care+, a voice-driven clinical artificial intelligence suite built into its cloud-based dental practice management platform. Curve Care+ includes three tools: Notes+, which drafts clinical notes from provider-patient conversations; Charting+, which lets providers update the odontogram using voice commands; and Perio+, which allows hygienists to complete periodontal charting independently through voice-recorded pocket depths and conditions.
Closing the gap between healthcare data and real-time action
For years, healthcare operators have known exactly what they need to do their jobs. They know which reports matter, where inefficiencies exist, and which workflows slow down care or create gaps in revenue. The challenge has never been a lack of insight. It has been the distance between knowing what to build and actually being able to build it. That gap has defined how healthcare technology has evolved. Systems of record capture data. Systems of engagement move data around.
What Dentistry Is Teaching Healthcare About Operational AI
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming embedded across healthcare, from clinical documentation to diagnostic support. But as organizations move beyond pilot programs, a structural challenge is emerging: AI is only as effective as the operational systems it runs on. When AI is layered onto fragmented workflows and disconnected systems, organizations don’t become simpler.
The next generation of work will be agentic
For years, we’ve talked about automation as a way to make work faster. But speed alone isn’t transformation. The next era of productivity isn’t about doing more tasks more quickly. It’s about building systems that can understand intent, coordinate workflows, and act intelligently on behalf of people. In other words: smart, AI-powered, agentic platforms. And some of the clearest examples of this shift are emerging in healthcare—particularly in dentistry.
Why the future of private dental practice isn't more work, but smarter systems
For many dentists, change can feel exhausting. You've lived through the transition from paper charts to digital records. You've added imaging systems, online scheduling, payment processing tools, patient communication platforms ... each promising efficiency, each adding another login. It's fair to be skeptical. But what you're now seeing deployed in other practices isn't another layer of technology. It's a fundamentally different model, one designed to remove work, not create more of it.
AI in dentistry: What's behind all the buzz?
Artificial intelligence is the topic that dominates nearly every dental conference conversation these days. However, for many in the profession, the excitement is still tangled with uncertainty. What does AI actually do in a dental practice? Is it genuinely useful, or is it more promising than the actual product? And perhaps most urgently, should dental team members worry about their jobs? Nathan James has some answers ... and they may surprise you.
What do dental patients really think of AI?
Most dental patients appear to view AI in dentistry positively when its use is overseen by a dentist, according to a review recently published in the Digital Dentistry Journal. However, ethical considerations, data privacy, and liability may remain key concerns for patients, the authors wrote.
The golden age of dental practice
Running a dental practice has never been more exhilarating. While that might sound like an overstatement for an industry traditionally focused on drills and fillings, the truth is that dental practice owners are sitting at the intersection of healthcare and cutting-edge business technology that's reshaping what's possible.
Top dental trends that have reshaped dentistry
The dental industry stands at an inflection point. After years of disruption (from pandemic-related closures to workforce upheaval), 2025 marked a year where transformative technologies and generational shifts converged to fundamentally reshape how dentistry is practiced, staffed, and experienced by patients.
What dentists are thankful for this year
As the holidays approach, dentists are taking stock of what made their practices hum this year. Two themes stood out: tech tools that improve care and teams that are willing to embrace innovation. I spoke with three dentists about why they’re so thankful this year. Game-changing clinical tech for staff and patients Dr. Heather Bond. All three dentists were most thankful for technologies that shorten restorative timelines and streamline the patient journey.
What dentists are thankful for this year
As the holidays approach, dentists are taking stock of what made their practices hum this year. Two themes stood out: tech tools that improve care and teams that are willing to embrace innovation. I spoke with three dentists about why they’re so thankful this year. Game-changing clinical tech for staff and patients Dr. Heather Bond. All three dentists were most thankful for technologies that shorten restorative timelines and streamline the patient journey.
Henry Schein One and AWS leverage generative AI to revolutionize dentistry | Amazon Web Services
AWS for Industries Dental AI should streamline workflows, not create downtime. Henry Schein One and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are currently collaborating on the dental industry’s first AI-augmented practice management system to master clinical capacity optimization. Let’s explore how this new AI-infused roadmap will change the industry.
The dental hygienist's guide to thriving in a challenging field
Dental hygienists are often the unsung heroes of a practice, managing everything from complex clinical work and patient anxiety to the relentless physical demands of the job. In celebration of National Dental Hygiene Month, we spoke with three experienced hygienists who shared their insights on how to not just survive but thrive in this essential profession.
Keep your RCM moving when dental patient flow slows
As the seasons come and go and new routines kick in, many dental practices notice a common pattern: fewer patients, more appointment changes, and families putting off care until their routines normalize. As a result, cash flow takes a hit -- if you let it. Rather than seeing it as a setback, view it as a prime opportunity to revamp your revenue cycle management (RCM) and set the practice up for a strong financial finish to the year.
The dental office manager's guide to avoiding burnout
Dental office managers are the glue that holds a practice together. They’re juggling schedules, billing, insurance, staff, and patient care all at once, and it’s no wonder burnout is so common. This job is tough. Preventing burnout doesn’t come from some big secret formula, it comes from the real-world strategies office managers use every day: leaning on their teams, keeping communication open, and using technology to make the day to day easier. Let’s hear straight from the source.
What ODs Can Learn from a Dentist About Patient Recall
By Ryan Hungate, DDS, MS April 13, 2022 Your patients need an annual comprehensive eye exam, and many will buy eyewear and contact lenses during that visit. The question is how to get them to visit your practice regularly for their annual check-up and potential purchases. Here are a few tips based on my experience as a dentist, who successfully gets patients to return every six months to my office.
The power of the pivot: How success in the tech industry led to groundbreaking innovation in retail dentistry
© Iri_sha | gettyimages.com Latest in Practice Practice © Olivier Le Moal | gettyimages.com Practice Practice © Anna Moskvina | Dreamstime.com Practice © Curaphotography | Dreamstime.com Practice
Millennials Don’t Make Phone Calls: Here’s How Businesses Adapt
Jun 30 2021 Millennials Don’t Make Phone Calls: Here’s How Businesses Adapt Ryan Hungate By Ryan Hungate, DDS, MS, practicing orthodontist and founder and CEO, Simplifeye. From Uber to Airbnb, disruption is all around us. While older generations may look at Millennials askance for changing the business and societal frameworks they built, it is undeniable that many changes make life easier.
Live chat versus chatbot for dentists
© Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com By Ryan Hungate, DDS Patient behavior has changed, especially among millennials and Gen Z: basically, in anyone under 40. They like going online to shop, order food, find information, and make reservations for everything from dining to traveling. And now, millions of people have become accustomed to online scheduling for COVID-19 tests, vaccines, and other health-care appointments.
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