American Board of Dental Examiners Donates $25,000 to Mission of Mercy Texas

Contribution demonstrates dental professionals' commitment to expanding access to quality care

• ADEX members and Summit attendees unite to fund essential dental services for underserved communities
• Donation directly advances ADEX's public protection mission through improved access to care
• Initiative builds on organization's two-year, $50,000 commitment to community health programs

The American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX), a leading dental testing organization, has contributed $25,000 to Mission of Mercy Texas, a nonprofit providing free healthcare services to disadvantaged communities. This member-driven initiative expands access to essential dental care for uninsured individuals across South Texas who lack financial resources for treatment.

The $25,000 contribution combines individual donations from ADEX examiners and attendees of the Dental Testing & Regulatory Summit, which took place outside of Dallas, Texas, this year, with additional matching funds from ADEX. This collaborative effort will fund Mission of Mercy's dental clinic, equipment upgrades, and specialized care programs throughout South Texas communities where dental services remain inaccessible to many residents.

"ADEX's contribution arrives at a critical time when dental care remains out of reach for thousands of Texans. This funding will directly translate to pain relief, restored smiles, and improved health for patients who've gone years without seeing a dentist,” said Sherry Bowers, Executive Director of Mission of Mercy. “The dental professionals at ADEX are changing lives through their tangible support.”

Since 2007, Mission of Mercy has provided over 80,000 free patient visits, served more than 9,200 established patients, and dispensed over 52,000 free prescriptions. The organization's Dental Clinic provides preventive and restorative dental care to uninsured individuals who would otherwise lack access to dental care.

"Our members recognize that ensuring quality dental care reaches all communities is essential to public health and safety,” said Alex Vandiver, CEO of ADEX. “When we support organizations like Mission of Mercy, we're extending our commitment to public protection beyond licensure exams." 

The donation reflects the active participation of dental professionals who attended the Dental Testing & Regulatory Summit and Educators Conference, which brings together three major dental organizations annually: the American Association of Dental Administrators (AADA), ADEX, and the American Association of Dental Boards (AADB). Throughout the five-day event, attendees work to advance licensure standards nationwide.

At last year's Summit in Louisville, Kentucky, ADEX members and attendees raised $25,000 for Kosair for Kids, demonstrating the organization's ongoing commitment to community health initiatives nationwide.

 About the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) 

The American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting dental boards in their mission to protect the public through the licensure of qualified oral health professionals. Established in 1969, ADEX administers independent competency examinations developed and approved by representatives of state dental boards. ADEX examinations are accepted or required by law in 51 U.S. jurisdictions and serve as the initial licensure pathway for 98% of dental and 85% of dental hygiene candidates nationwide. Through ongoing collaboration with dental boards and educators, ADEX continues to advance innovative, evidence-based assessment methods that uphold the highest standards of fairness, clinical competence, and public protection. Learn more at adextesting.org.

Planet DDS Launches MyTooth, a Native Denticon Patient Experience Layer for DSOs

MyTooth modernizes online scheduling and digital forms through a mobile-first, Denticon-connected experience that keeps staff workflows unchanged.

Planet DDS today announced the launch of MyTooth, a new patient experience layer built natively for Denticon that delivers mobile-first online scheduling and digital forms without adding new systems, syncing delays, or dual workflows for dental organizations. 

Designed for DSOs and multi-location dental groups, MyTooth extends Denticon directly to patients via a clean, mobile-friendly URL. Patients can book appointments, verify their identity, complete packets, and upload documents from any device, while staff continue working in Denticon exactly as they do today. All updates are written back to Denticon’s live data model instantly, eliminating manual data entry and reducing the risk of mismatched records. 

Solving Fragmented Patient Intake and Scheduling

Most patient experience tools operate as separate systems that must sync data into the practice management platform. This often creates workflow friction, failed updates, and duplicate entries, especially for DSOs managing multiple locations and brands. 

MyTooth changes the model by functioning as a first-party extension of Denticon instead of a separate engagement platform. Key capabilities include: 

• Forms & Scheduling Management – A centralized dashboard for building, assigning, and tracking digital forms and booking workflows across multiple locations, with role-based access to support enterprise teams.
• Digital Forms – Patients can complete, sign, and submit customized intake and consent forms from any device, with real-time updates to demographics, medical history, dental history, and documents in Denticon.
• Online Booking – Patients can schedule and confirm appointments online, synced instantly with Denticon provider calendars to keep availability accurate and reduce front-desk call volume.
• Mobile-First Experience – A modern, responsive design optimized for phones, tablets, and desktops, branded to each organization’s look and feel to reinforce trust and recognition.

"Dental organizations have long been forced to choose between great patient-facing tools and operational simplicity,” said Eric Giesecke, CEO of Planet DDS. “MyTooth gives Denticon customers a modern, mobile-first patient experience built directly on live practice data in Denticon, so they can standardize workflows, trust their records, and deliver a consistent patient experience across every practice, while managing patient engagement and core workflows in one place."

Built with DSOs in Mind  

MyTooth was developed to support multi-location organizations that need consistent, branded experiences and reliable data across hundreds of practices. Forms, packets, and workflows can be configured once and then deployed across locations, with the flexibility to tailor branding and forms at the DSO or practice level. 

Etta Bourne, VP of System Integrations at Dental365, an early MyTooth adopter, has already seen operational and patient-facing benefits.

“MyTooth genuinely elevates the patient experience. For a DSO with multiple brands, the ability to bring each practice’s branding forward while streamlining workflows has been a huge win. So much is automated now that our front desk teams can stay patient-focused instead of tied to the phone, and patients consistently praise how simple the online experience is. Implementation was quick, support was exceptional, and I’d absolutely recommend MyTooth to any DSO looking to save time and deliver a more modern, seamless patient journey,” shared Bourne. 

In summary, by aligning patient interactions with Denticon’s live data, MyTooth helps DSOs improve satisfaction, conversion, and retention while reducing front-office workload and supporting consistent, scalable operations. 

To learn more, visit https://www.planetdds.com/lp-mytooth/. 

About Planet DDS

Dental software is broken. We aim to fix it. As a partner in growth for DSOs and dental groups, Planet DDS delivers a cloud-based AI platform designed to scale alongside growing organizations. Powered by DentalOS™ with AI, Planet DDS is built on connection—connecting people, partners, and technology across an open ecosystem that includes Denticon Practice Management, Cloud 9 Ortho Practice Management, and Apteryx Cloud Imaging. Trusted by leading DSOs and emerging dental groups nationwide, Planet DDS enables 13,000+ practices and 118,000 users to move beyond outdated legacy software with seamless integrations, optimized workflows, and scalable technology built for growth.

Imagoworks Announces DentBird AI System now Designs Better than Entry-level Technicians

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a great holiday season and that your 2026 is off to a great start.

If you have participated in one of my in-person lectures or webinars on 3D in the last eighteen months or so, you probably remember me discussing 3D design systems.  One of them I've been mentioning is DentBird.  The company has created a Cloud based 3D design system for crowns that, from its very beginnings, has featured a ton of AI features.

I've tinkered with the platform quite a bit and I have been impressed with the system.  You upload the stil files from your intraoral scan and the system pretty much does the rest for you.  The AI allows it to automatically identify the prep, find the margin, and design the crown... all with minimal user input.

The system does a very nice job of design, but if you don't like something, every step allows for easy editing so that whoever is doing the design gets *exactly* what they want in the end.  As I write this, the system only creates crowns, but focusing on just one thing has allowed them to create something that does that job well.

The financial model is also one I like.  Creating an account and tinkering with it is free.  You only pay when you want to download a completed design file.  That means you can try it and see if it's for you without any out of pocket expenses.

I recently received an end of year thank you email from the company and it contained an interesting tidbit of info which I'd like to share.  According to the company:

Posterior crowns produced with Dentbird consistently reach a level that surpasses the output of an entry-level dental technician. This is no longer just a promise for the future, but a proven production standard for both labs and clinics.

Now how they determined that fact is not indicated, however I'd like to think they didn't just pull it out of thin air.  My point is that AI is here.  It's changing our workflows and it's only going to get better.  There will still be a need for lab technicians.  Difficult or aesthetic cases will require a human mind and a human eye.  I love tech, but the one thing AI has shown me so far is that a machine cannot do things that require a human soul.  Computers are great with numbers and memory, but something that requires a true artist, isn't going to be done by a machine for a while... if ever.

However, the industry is going to see a shift.  In-office fabrication is going to see some decent growth.  The ability of mills like the DGSHAPE DWX-43W (that I use in my office) can create amazing crowns, but those amazing results require amazing designs.  Utilizing AI to create those designs will make the process easier.  Mills and 3D printers are going to allow offices to create bread and butter cases in-house, which is going to change things and drive growth.

Here is the email I received from DentBird:

Dear Dentbird Family,

As we come to the close of this year, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the warm support you have shown Imagoworks. The valuable feedback you’ve shared while using Dentbird in your daily practice has been the most important foundation for our growth.

Today, a new ground rule has been established. Posterior crowns produced with Dentbird consistently reach a level that surpasses the output of an entry-level dental technician. This is no longer just a promise for the future, but a proven production standard for both labs and clinics.

Over the past year, our focus has been on strengthening that standard through stability and automation. By reinforcing product reliability and enabling automatic model generation within crown workflows, we aimed to deliver consistent, high-quality results at scale, with less dependency on manual effort or specialized training.

AI is rapidly transforming dentistry. At Imagoworks, our commitment is to keep Dentbird at the forefront of this transformation, empowering you not just to adapt, but to lead with AI.

We will continue to listen closely to your voices and strive to deliver an even more seamless and refined experience in the coming year. Thank you for being part of our journey. I wish you and your teams a restful year-end and a successful start to the year ahead.

Warm regards,

Youngjun Kevin Kim

CEO, Imagoworks