Inside the Mind of a Dental CEO: Rethinking the 4 Cents — From Dental Cost Center to Healthcare Frontline

Blog Series: Inside the Mind of an AI Dental CEO

Summary:
Only 4% of U.S. healthcare spending goes to dentistry (ADA), despite growing clinical evidence that oral health is deeply tied to chronic disease. VideaHealth’s CEO, Florian Hillen, views this as a massive opportunity to reimagine the dental chair as a frontline diagnostic tool, powered by AI and focused on prevention.

If You Had $1 to Spend on Your Health...

Just four cents would go to your teeth (ADA). The other 96 cents? That’s spent downstream, managing diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and other chronic diseases.

Florian Hillen, CEO of VideaHealth, sees a fundamental flaw in that ratio. “We’re missing the diagnostic front door to the entire body — the mouth.”

Dentistry has long been treated as cosmetic or optional, excluded from mainstream health economics. But with the help of AI, those four cents could become the most impactful investment in healthcare.

If you had a dollar to spend on your health, just four cents would go to your teeth. The other ninety-six? Spent downstream—managing diabetes, heart disease, dementia, strokes. That ratio is insane.

We’re missing the diagnostic front door to the entire body: the mouth.

Dentistry has been treated as optional or cosmetic. But it’s actually foundational. Periodontal disease alone makes you 2–3x more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults live with it. That’s not cosmetic—that’s systemic.

Here’s the opportunity: with AI, those four cents can become the smartest money in healthcare. We’ve proven it already—AI-assisted practices see a 22% lift in case acceptance and $78,000 more annual production across restorative and perio. That’s not theory. That’s happening in 50,000 clinicians’ hands right now.

Imagine the ripple: every dental radiograph becomes not just a cavity check, but a frontline screen for hypertension, diabetes, even Alzheimer’s risk. Dentistry flips from silo to sentinel.

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Oral Health Isn’t Cosmetic, It’s Foundational

The data strongly support the connection between oral and systemic health. Studies published in The Lancet and JAMA confirm links between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, respiratory conditions, and Alzheimer’s (source).

• People with severe gum disease are 2 to 3 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke.
  
• Oral inflammation contributes to systemic inflammation, a key factor in the development of most chronic diseases.
  

Despite the evidence, dentistry is structurally siloed. Dental insurance is separate. Patient data does not integrate with primary care. Oral diagnostics remain underfunded.

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AI Makes the Mouth a Diagnostic Frontline

This is where clinical AI transforms what’s possible. VideaAI enables dentists to detect suspected caries, bone loss, and other pathologies with greater consistency and speed. But the true opportunity is broader: using dental imaging to identify risks for systemic diseases.

“I believe that dentists will expand their services to screen for hypertension, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, which are three of the top four cost drivers in U.S. healthcare,” says Hillen.

With millions of dental radiographs captured annually, and more frequent dental visits than physician visits, the operatory becomes an untapped screening point for the entire body. AI enhances both image interpretation and patient communication, resulting in more accurate findings and higher patient trust.

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Imagine This Scenario

1. A patient comes in for a routine check-up.
   
2. AI flags signs of gum inflammation and radiographic markers linked to cardiovascular risk.
   
3. The dentist explains the findings and refers the patient for a blood pressure screening.
   
4. Hypertension is caught a year earlier than it would have been otherwise.
   
5. A major cardiac event and a potential six-figure hospital stay are avoided.
   

This is not speculation. These AI-assisted pathways are already being used in pilot programs and forward-thinking dental organizations.

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Clinical Impact Meets Economic Return

This transformation doesn’t require policy reform or new infrastructure. The technology is available today and integrates seamlessly into the existing dental workflow.

• Patients receive earlier, preventive care
  
• Dentists improve case acceptance and professional value
  
• Payers avoid late-stage, high-cost treatments
  
• Public health systems detect and address disease earlier
  

This is smart healthcare, built on better dentistry.

Four Cents, Reimagined

Chronic disease costs the U.S. over $3.7 trillion annually. Even a minor upstream shift in detection and intervention could save billions of dollars. 

Those 4 cents aren’t trivial. They are the lever that reduces the 96. And that transformation is already underway in practices using AI platforms like VideaAI to rethink the role of dentistry in care delivery.

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FAQ: Dental AI and Preventive Healthcare

Why does only 4% of healthcare spending go to dental?
Because dentistry is categorized separately in both insurance and policy, it's often excluded from integrated care models, despite clear links to systemic disease.

How is oral health linked to chronic diseases?
Poor oral health is associated with higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and Alzheimer’s due to systemic inflammation originating from the gums and oral cavity.

What is VideaHealth, and what does it do?
VideaHealth is a company behind the platform VideaAI, a dental assistant with 30+ FDA-cleared AI indications, that helps dentists analyze X-rays more accurately. It flags pathologies like cavities and bone loss, identifies aligner and implant candidates, and provides a set of tools that streamline operations from daily huddles and coaching to revenue cycle management.

Can dental X-rays really detect systemic disease?
They cannot diagnose systemic conditions directly, but AI can identify radiographic signals associated with vascular risk, inflammation, or bone loss that may warrant further medical screening.

How does this help the healthcare system?
Early detection through dentistry reduces the need for costly emergency care and chronic disease treatment, saving both lives and dollars.

Where is this being used today?
50,000 clinicians and over 50 DSOs are actively using VideaAI, and it’s the chosen dental AI partner for eight of the ten largest DSOs in North America. Dental groups and solo practices are all benefiting from the strong AI engine that powers VideaAI.

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