TTS 128- Napkin Ai or Not

Rivers Morrell Show Notes

 

Napkin AI or Not? The Truth About Dental Data with Rivers Morrell

🎧 Episode Summary:

Most dental AI products are overhyped. Rivers Morrell is not.

In this episode of The Tooth Sleuth, Greg sits down with Rivers Morrell, CEO and founder of Hey Donto, to break down what real AI in dentistry looks like—and why most of what's out there is just "napkin AI."

From building the first self-healing API for dental practice data to enabling true FHIR compliance, Rivers and his team are doing what billion-dollar health systems couldn’t. And they’re doing it with empathy, compliance, and a vision for better access and interoperability across the dental space.

If you’ve ever asked:

• "What’s the real deal with AI in dentistry?"
  
  

• "Why can’t dental data move the way medical data does?"
  
  

• "How can we build tech that actually helps patients and teams?"
  
  

…this episode is for you.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

• What makes Hey Donto’s self-healing API revolutionary
  
  

• How FHIR compliance unlocks interoperability across DSOs
  
  

• Why most “AI” tools in dental are just white-labeled noise
  
  

• How Rivers is working to create a Provider Data Access Standard
  
  

• The culture behind building tech with both clinical empathy and compliance
  
  

🔥 Episode Highlights:

• “It would've taken a billion dollars to convert dental to FHIR—until we figured out how to do it with AI.”
  
  

• “There’s too much cowboy tech in dental. We’re building for ethics, compliance, and patient rights.”
  
  

• “If you’re not asking whether it’s napkin AI or not—you’re probably using it.”
  
  

🧩 Don’t Miss:

• The most unexpected answer to “What’s the worst breath you’ve ever smelled?” 😅
  
  

• Why the toothbrush is still the MVP of all dental products
  
  

• How to spot fake AI from a mile away
  
  

👤 Guest Info:

Rivers Morrell
Founder & CEO – Hey Donto
📩 [e-mail]
🔗 Connect on LinkedIn