Wardah Inam walked into a dental office for treatment and left with more questions than answers. A new plan conflicted with what she had previously been told, insurance coverage was a mystery, and no one could explain the discrepancies.
For most patients, this confusion is just part of the system—but for Inam, who has a Ph.D. from MIT, it sparked a bigger question: why was dental diagnosis so hard to understand?
“I asked for my X-rays, then left the office. That’s when I started learning dental basics myself, reading books and papers to understand how dental diagnosis works,” Inam says. “I shared my data with multiple dentists, and they gave me different recommendations as well.”
Even with identical data, dentists offered conflicting recommendations. Inam plunged into dental research, consulted multiple providers, and observed dentists in action. Dentistry wasn’t failing from lack of skill— it was failing from a lack of tools assisting dentists.
Bridging the Divide
Inam founded Overjet with a powerful goal: to make dentistry more quantitative and get every stakeholder on the same page to deliver the best care.
“With my background in AI and technology, I realized this was a place where I could make a meaningful impact,” she says.
By analyzing dental images and patient data, the platform ensures that diagnoses and treatment plans are consistent, transparent, and aligned with best practices.
“Overjet is on a mission to improve patient care, create exceptional experiences, and optimize outcomes. To achieve this, we need technology that considers the patient experience end-to-end, while also supporting the multiple stakeholders who deliver and pay for care and ensure the system works effectively across the ecosystem,” Inam explains. “Technology can serve as a facilitation layer, enabling providers and payers to share information more seamlessly. This leads to faster, more accurate decisions and, ultimately, better care for patients.”
From the patient’s perspective, the dental journey—from diagnosis to treatment, claim submission, and payment—can feel complicated and opaque. Instead, Inam argues the journey should be more collaborative at every step. “Our AI-native imaging software helps providers communicate more effectively, so patients truly understand their oral health and the treatments they need,” Inam says.
“AI is a tool,” Inam says. “Our goal is to ensure that patients feel understood, providers feel confident, and payers can make faster and accurate decisions. When all three sides trust the system, everything improves—outcomes, costs, and patient experience.”
Measuring What Matters
One of the ways Overjet builds this trust and collaboration is through the introduction of the Oral Health Score: a measurable, objective metric that connects patients, providers, and payers.
“It shows where they are today, what treatments are needed, and how those treatments will improve their health. It also helps providers and payers work from the same objective data,” Inam notes.
By creating measurable, objective metrics, Overjet reduces friction and aligns all stakeholders, fostering transparency. “If you can measure it, you can improve it,” she emphasizes.
The Oral Health Score isn’t just internal innovation—it has a scientific foundation. “We’ve used data from more than 340,000 patients across all 50 states,” Inam says. “That scientific foundation is what excites us most— bringing measurable, data-driven improvements to oral health.”
Tackling the Taboo: Working with Payers
While internal metrics like the Oral Health Score bring much-needed clarity, one of the biggest barriers to progress in dentistry is the payerprovider relationship. For decades, it has been defined by mistrust.
Collaboration between providers and payers is rarely simple, but it is absolutely essential. Overjet streamlines this process by helping providers verify insurance in seconds, a task that traditionally takes hours, through aggregated eligibility and benefits data combined with direct payer connections. Its evidence-based AI annotations also empower providers to submit stronger claims, resulting in faster payouts. Overjet’s ReviewPass further accelerates the process by enabling instant payer approvals and skipping manual insurance reviews. In addition, Overjet has introduced credentialing automation software used by both providers and payers to deliver instant, automated credentialing and remove unnecessary administrative friction.
“Providers and payers don’t need to love each other, but they do need to figure out how to work together more effectively to better serve patients,” she notes.
The message to providers is clear: avoiding payers is no longer a strategy. The leaders who embrace collaboration will not only reduce friction—they will gain a competitive edge in dentistry.
Empowering DSOs to Take Bold Action
Overjet is a lever for leadership courage and collaboration, enabling an endto- end, streamlined experience from diagnosis to claim submission.
Standardizing and scaling tools supports both DSOs and solo practices. Patients benefit from more clarity and fairness in treatment, which leads to better outcomes. Providers make more accurate and faster claim decisions with less admin burden.
Payers reduce costs by cutting down administrative overhead.
“The power of AI is not just operational efficiency,” Inam says. “It’s about giving DSO leaders the confidence to grow fast while providing the best care to their patients.”
Overjet allows DSO leaders to step into a new type of leadership—one that prioritizes collaboration, clarity, and courageous decision-making.
Thought leader Kerry Straine, CEO at Straine Dental Management, is confident about the opportunities ahead, “Patient care is at the heart of everything we do. Our goal is to help our partners elevate the patient experience through AI-powered tools. With Overjet, we’re unlocking new levels of precision, efficiency, and performance that will redefine what’s possible in dentistry.”
That same clarity and collaboration extend beyond patient care— transforming transparency into a powerful driver of trust, growth, and competitive advantage.
Turning Transparency into Market Power
Trust cannot be spun, it must be earned through transparency, data, and the courage to confront hard truths directly. When done right, it doesn’t just improve patient care, it drives measurable business results:
- Patient retention: Clear communication and reliable care build loyalty.
- Operational efficiency: Consistent treatment planning reduces errors, unnecessary procedures, and administrative burden.
- Strategic growth: Easier payer collaborations and smoother integration across locations.
Fred Ward, CEO of Marquee Dental Partners, has seen the impact up close: “The best dental offices I’ve ever been associated with were the offices who focused on the patient. I’m excited about what AI can bring—real-time data, real-time recommendations—all the things that enhance a doctor’s opportunities are right in front of them. They can spend their time with the patient doing the treatment right now.”
That, Inam emphasizes, is the real mission: “We’re not just building better AI. We’re building a system where data drives decisions. That shift is the most powerful driver of better care, lower costs, and stronger leadership.”
The Shift: From Blame to Collaboration
Looking forward, Inam envisions a healthcare ecosystem where patients, providers, and payers interact seamlessly, supported by technology that is transparent, reliable, and evidence-based. Overjet is leading this charge in dentistry, creating a model that could expand across broader healthcare.
“Imagine a frictionless dental experience for every patient,” Inam says. “Providers should be empowered to make confident decisions, and payers should feel secure in coverage. When you align all three, you unlock a system that’s smarter, faster, and more humane.”
For DSOs, embracing this model is an invitation to rethink legacy processes, adopt innovative tools, and place trust at the center of leadership.
“This isn’t about asking ‘who wins?’ It’s about asking, ‘How do we all win?’ By shifting from blame to collaboration, we can inspire a new generation of dental professionals and DSO leaders to embrace data-driven care,” Inam says.
Her confusing dental visit years ago pushed Inam to act, and that courage created a platform reshaping an entire industry. The choice now lies with every DSO leader and decisionmaker: remain stuck in uncertainty, or build a future defined by clarity, collaboration, and bold action.
