The Technology Evangelist Podcast

Dental video education does not require a studio, a camera crew, or a Hollywood budget — and nobody makes that case more convincingly than Adam Barragato. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke welcomes the Director of Marketing and Customer Experience at Bien-Air for a conversation about authentic learning, the flipped classroom, how a $100 camera can outperform a $75,000 production setup, and why every dentist is already an educator, whether they know it or not.

Adam Barragato has spent a career making the case that the best dental video education is not expensive, complicated, or polished — it is authentic, short, and made by someone who genuinely cares whether the learner understands. Whether you are a dental student trying to get more hands-on time, a faculty member wondering whether video could help your students engage, or a practicing clinician who has thought about communicating more with patients but does not know where to start, his perspective is worth an hour of your time. To connect with Adam or learn more about Bien-Air’s educational programs, visit bienair.com or reach out to him directly on LinkedIn.

Dental business strategy looks very different when it comes from someone who has been inside both the treatment room and the boardroom — and Dr. Jen Derse has spent more than twenty years in both. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke sits down with the co-founder of Espire Dental, former Chief Clinical Director, and founder of Derse Dental Strategy for a wide-ranging conversation about practice culture, team leadership, technology adoption, the psychology of patient care, and what it actually takes to help good dentists become great practice owners. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Dr. Jen Derse has spent two decades building practices, leading teams, and watching what separates the offices that thrive from the ones that stall — and her conclusion is that the answer is almost never clinical. It is cultural, communicative, and strategic. Whether you are a practice owner trying to scale, a clinician who wants to lead better, or a team member who wants to understand why some offices feel fundamentally different from others, her work is worth following. To learn more about Derse Dental Strategy or explore coaching options, visit dersedentalstrategy.com or find her on Instagram at @jenderse_dds.

AI dental phone automation is no longer a futuristic concept — it is a working product being built by a team of college students who grew up inside dental practices and decided to solve the problem from the inside out. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke welcomes the founding team of Kairos Health: co-founders Adhira Tippur and Tanush Chintala, Head of Growth Sanjana Kavula, and Head of Production Aditya Jain, for a conversation about what it actually looks like to build a healthcare AI startup from scratch, why the dental front desk is the most overlooked relationship asset in the practice, and how Kairos is quietly handling calls, scheduling appointments, and verifying insurance — invisibly, around the clock — for dental offices that have better things to do. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

AI dental crown design has finally reached the point where a busy clinician — or a trained staff member — can go from intraoral scan to printable STL file in a matter of minutes, with no engineering background required. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke sits down with Hakwan Kim, EVP of Imagoworks and head of its U.S. corporation, to talk about DentBird — the cloud-based, AI-powered CAD platform that is bringing same-appointment crown design within reach of dental offices and labs worldwide. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

AI dental crown design has crossed the threshold from promising concept to practical clinical tool — and DentBird is one of the clearest examples of what that looks like in practice. Whether you are a clinician looking to bring same-appointment crown delivery into your office, a team member tasked with learning a new design workflow, or a lab seeking a faster path through high-volume single-unit cases, DentBird is worth exploring. To create a free account and start designing, visit dentbird.com.

Dental materials research is the engine behind every clinical decision a dentist makes — and no one translates that science into practical, clinician-friendly knowledge more effectively than Dr. Nate Lawson. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke sits down with the Director of the Division of Biomaterials at the UAB School of Dentistry for a wide-ranging conversation about how research actually gets done, why marketing claims and lab data don’t always align, where 3D printed zirconia is headed, and what the future of dental prevention might look like. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Dr. Nate Lawson has built one of the most productive and practically oriented dental materials research programs in the country, and he does it while still seeing patients and teaching dental students who will carry those material science principles into their own careers. For clinicians who want to understand the science behind the materials they use every day — or for dental students looking for a more rigorous foundation than what they got in school — his work is essential reading and listening. Visit www.drnatelawson.com for his speaking schedule and resources, or follow him on Instagram at @dental_tubules.

Oral cancer screening saves lives — and no one makes that case with more passion, clinical depth, or hard-won personal experience than Deborah Zafiropoulos, RDH. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke welcomes the founder of the OralED Institute and the National Cancer Network nonprofit for a conversation that ranges from the origin of her dental hygiene career to stage four diagnoses that changed her forever, the truth about HPV, and why the dental hygiene chair may be the most underutilized seat in all of healthcare. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Dental practice AI automation may be the single most powerful tool available to independent dentists who want to stay independent — and the man who built it arrived in the United States with $85 in his pocket. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke sits down with Dr. Vajahat Yar Khan, board-certified pediatric dentist, owner of twelve Houston-area practices, and founder of DentTrack — an autonomous, AI-driven business management platform built on top of existing practice management software that handles the operational and financial work most dentists never had time for. This conversation is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Noninvasive cavity treatment has finally arrived — and the two Swiss dentist sisters who built a global movement around it are here to explain why it changes everything. On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke welcomes Dr. Haley Abivardi and Dr. Goly Abivardi, co-founders of vVardis and the innovators behind Curodont, the world’s first biomimetic restorative treatment for early-stage cavities. Joining from Switzerland, the sisters share the full story of how 28 years of pediatric dental practice, a frustrating treatment gap, and a bold decision to bet everything on a single technology led to a product now used in 20% of U.S. dental offices and on over three million teeth. This conversation is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Dental venture capital barely existed as a category six years ago — and Dr. Jeremy Krell built the infrastructure to change that. On this milestone 50th episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke sits down with the founder of Revere Partners, the first independent venture capital fund dedicated exclusively to oral health, to talk about how dental startups get funded, what investors look for, how dentist-entrepreneurs can get involved, and why the dental industry’s insularity has historically been both its greatest weakness and its greatest untapped opportunity. This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, the proud sponsor making this podcast possible.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hassiny Dentist, Global Educator Director of the Institute of Digital Dentistry Dr. Ahmad is the founder and director of the Institute of Digital Dentistry (iDD) and a pioneering force in the field. Dr Ahmad Al-Hassiny is recognized globally as a leader in digital dentistry, intraoral scanners, and 3D printing, carrying out lectures as a KOL for multiple leading companies. He is one of the few in the world who owns and has tested all mainstream scanners and CAD/CAM systems in his clinic. He is a driven and passionate full-time dentist from New Zealand. After graduating from the University of Otago with First Class Honours, Dr Ahmad has worked alongside his father in Wellington, NZ, where they run 39 dental chairs and a digital dental lab. Dr. Ahmad is passionate about education, which is why he started the Institute of Digital Dentistry, a world-leading digital dentistry education provider recognized globally in the CPD/CE space. iDD offers live courses, masterclasses, and an online training platform to ensure that dentists worldwide have easy and affordable access to the best digital dentistry training possible. Dr Ahmad understands the benefits of digital dentistry and how this can positively change daily dental practice. He has carried out many aspects of complex digital dentistry, including CAD/CAM full mouth rehabilitation, digital smile design, and full arch implant treatment, all done in-house. Dr Ahmad helps empower clinicians to bring their practice and procedures into the digital age, which enables them to reap the many benefits of CADCAM and digital dentistry.