Oral health was back in a big way at HLTH 2025, bringing medical-dental integration to life at the Oral Health Pavilion and on the main stages. Below are our highlights from a great few days in Las Vegas. Thank you to the 1,000+ attendees who visited the Oral Health Pavilion — including Petunia, HLTH’s unicorn mascot!

Chairside Screenings Show that Oral Health IS Health

At the Oral Health Pavilion, we demonstrated what connected care looks like. Alongside our partners Henry Schein and PDS Health and clinicians from UNLV School of Dental Medicine, we brought A1C, saliva, and blood-pressure testing into the dental setting. Clinicians provided screenings to 250+ attendees, and of those, 12% had above-normal-range results and were advised to follow up with a physician. Read more about oral health’s role in identifying undiagnosed diabetes.

This type of integration is critical, and while oral health largely isn’t part of primary care today, integration is one of the strongest opportunities to advance prevention and early detection, the foundation of better outcomes and lower costs. The data has proven its value, and now it’s about doing the hard work to take action and drive system-level changes.

Oral Health Takes Its Rightful Place on the Main Stage

In the past few years, oral health has moved from the sidelines at HLTH to its rightful place as a key part of its programming.

1. CareQuest Institute for Oral Health COO Leslie Carver joined An Nguyen of Clinica Family Health & Wellness, Pamela Oren-Artzi of Grin, and Cheryl Parker of National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) for a powerful conversation on how community health centers are leading primary care and oral health integration.
2. Presidents from the American Dental Association, American Medical Association, and American Nurses Association shared the stage to address workforce burnout and access issues across the health care and oral health landscape.
3. Stephen Thorne, Founder and CEO of PDS Health, joined Priyanka Jain, Sofia Elizondo, Edward J. Zuckerberg, and Andrew Bluestein on a panel exploring the 100 trillion microbes that run our bodies, including the oral microbiome that plays a critical role in overall health. Stephen highlighted how companies like PDS Health are using saliva to detect bacteria, inflammation, and disease risk — bringing us closer to point-of-care tests that connect oral and primary care.

Interest in Innovation Is Huge — and Just Getting Started

The Oral Health Pavilion also featured 16 of our dynamic startups from SMILE Health and our CareQuest Innovation Partners portfolio who are driving solutions in access, pediatric care, AI, and more. Our startups drew massive interest from potential partners and investors, and two SMILE Health alumni (OraQ and DifferentKind) were finalists for the Digital Health Hub awards, with OraQ the overall winner in the oral health category.

HLTH also marked the debut of our new Oral Health Market Map and Innovation Landscape report, revealing the vast, largely untapped potential of oral health innovation, and the opportunity for investors, startups, and industry leaders to drive impact.

As American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala noted, “When we break down silos and solve issues as a team, we are more likely to achieve success.” We’re excited to continue working across silos to drive medical-dental integration and help address access to care issues so that oral health is considered essential health care for all.