The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) Innovation and Transformation Fund announced investments in two dental start-ups, Synapse Dental and Bright Referral. Driving Transformation and Innovation within orthodontics is one of three strategic plan goals of the AAO which is carried out through a number of strategies including investing in promising start-ups aligned with AAO’s mission, values, and clinical practice guidelines. The objective of the AAO Innovation and Transformation Fund investment strategy is to support innovation within orthodontics, drive non-dues revenue and have the potential to improve patient care or improve the business of running an orthodontic practice.
“The AAO Innovation and Transformation Fund is committed to investing in new technologies from like-minded companies that can help orthodontists provide the best possible care to their patients,” said Dr. Myron Guymon, AAO President.
Synapse Dental, founded by AAO Member, Dr. Cosmo Haralambidis, won the 2023 AAO Ortho Innovator Award for developing The Dental Pain EraserTM and competed in the 2023 AAO Ortho Tank start-up pitch event. The Dental Pain Eraser is a handheld solution that uses proprietary and patented PulseWaveTM technology to prevent and relieve oral pain within seconds without needles, drugs and numbness. The PulseWave technology interrupts the oral pain cascade of histamine response by using proprietary electrical waves. The company has achieved patents in multiple countries and the technology has broader usage outside of dental and orthodontics in ENT and facial surgical procedures.
“We are excited to partner with the AAO Innovation and Transformation Fund,” said Dr. Cosmo Haralambidis, Founder and CEO of Synapse Dental. “The AAO’s support will help us accelerate our growth and bring The Dental Pain Eraser to even more orthodontists and patients.”
Bright Referral, founded by Liz Sudit and AAO member Dr. Geoff Sudit competed in the 2023 AAO OrthoTank start-up pitch event in Chicago at the AAO Annual Session. The company has developed SaaS based technology to digitize and track the referral process which adds transparency and increases appointments from referred patients which should result in more starts. The founders created “Bright Cards” which contain microchips that an Orthodontist can give to their referring dental providers, who in turn use them with their patients enabling the patient to receive information about the Orthodontist they are being referred to on their Smartphone, utilizing proprietary SaaS and providing the patient with scheduling and other patient and practice information. The service enables the Orthodontist to track their referrals by source and to monitor and perform outreach to referring patients who have not booked appointments. It is encrypted and HIPPA compliant.
“We are grateful for the AAO Innovation and Transformation Fund’s investment in Bright Referral,” said Liz Sudit, co-founder of Bright Referral. “This investment will help us continue to develop our platform and make it even easier for orthodontists to connect with patients in need of care.”
