Pearl Secures $11 Million to Develop AI Technology for Dentistry

Dentistry Today

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Pearl has closed $11 million in series A funding led by venture capitalist firm Craft Ventures and strategic dental industry partners while announcing new products that use artificial intelligence (AI) to power dentistry, the companies report.

“We believe that the future of dentistry and oral healthcare will be enabled by computer vision, and we’re excited to see how Pearl’s first set of products advance x-ray practice and margin making,” said Craft Ventures cofounder and general partner David Sacks.

Pearl is deploying the latest innovations in computer vision and deep learning technology to bring greater efficiency, accuracy, and intelligence to core segments of the dental industry, according to the company. It is launching with three market-ready products.

Second Opinion reads dental x-rays and instantly identifies pathologies and natural anatomy to help ensure error-free diagnosis and automate charting, Pearl says.

Practice Intelligence is designed to deliver advanced analytics that allow dental practices and groups to maximize patient care and operational efficiency.

Smart Margin provides real-time feedback on the quality of intraoral scans and automates the process of hand-marking scans for lab and manufacturer use in dental restoration creation.

“Pearl will have an immediate positive impact on the dental category,” said Ophir Tanz, Pearl founder and CEO.

“It will streamline tedious, repetitive tasks, enhance profitability across dentistry, and, most importantly, it will improve the standard of care by validating diagnoses, removing large elements of uncertainty from the dental equation,” said Pearl. 

Tanz began developing dental AI technologies at GumGum, an applied computer vision media company that he founded in 2008. In April, Tanz spun out GumGum’s dental division and stepped down as GumGum CEO to focus exclusively on Pearl. 

Pearl’s leadership also includes CTO Cambron Carter, who leads a corps of computer vision specialists, and chief clinical officer Kyle Stanley, DDS, a dental implant surgeon and professor. 

The company also has partnered with dental service organizations and universities for solution testing and development. It plans on using its new funding to expand its current dental product set and pursue applications of its proprietary technologies to link oral health to overall health.

“Healthcare is rapidly becoming a focal point of the AI revolution and AI’s impact on patient care and, ultimately, humanity is both exciting and profound,” said Tanz. “We’re in the thick of it, and that feels good.” 

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