Dental AI companies raised $800M in 2025. Where did it go?

Forty-three dental AI startups closed funding last year. $800 million poured into the sector. Not one changed how most practices actually work.

The companies are real. Dentech raised $80M for treatment planning AI. PatientFlow closed $65M for scheduling. DentAssist hit unicorn status with patient communication tech. But here's the gap: most of these products save your office 4 to 8 hours per week. Four to eight hours. On staff that costs you $30K/year, that's maybe $2.3K in annual savings. The software costs $300 to $600/month.

Investors loved the TAM story. 200K dentists in America. $200B industry. If AI takes 2 percent, that's $4 billion in new software revenue. The problem? Dentistry doesn't adopt. You've heard this about EHRs, practice management software, cloud backup. Adoption is slow. Resistance is structural. Change costs chairs in production.

What actually happened to that $800M? Marketing. Sales team. Runway. Investor meetings. Legal.

Your reality: Most of those companies won't exist in 2028. The ones that do will be acquired by DSO platforms or sold down 60 percent to existing vendors. You're not getting the miracle AI receptionist that cuts overhead. You're getting a $400/month feature inside your PMC that does 60 percent of what was promised.