The short version
In Fast Company (September 18, 2026), in a piece filed under the magazine's Artificial Intelligence and Health Tech sections, AI futurist and keynote speaker Ryan Vet was quoted as an outside expert on usmile's AI-assisted D Series toothbrush. He told reporter Sarah Bregel that at-home AI could act as an early indicator of future concern and help users target problem areas, but warned it may also create a "false sense of security" — and because oral health is closely tied to overall health, a skipped visit can mean missed early indicators of other underlying conditions.
Ryan Vet · Article in Fast Company
Fast Company's Sarah Bregel had a product launch to assess: usmile's D Series, an at-home oral-care system pairing a camera-equipped toothbrush with a phone-based OralCam so you can finally see inside your own mouth. The obvious story is the gadget. The harder question is what happens to a patient who now believes they already know the answer.
That is the question Fast Company called Ryan Vet to answer, and it is an AI question before it is a dental one. AI has been part of Ryan's work since 2010, when his first pitch deck, for the software company uCondition, promised to use artificial intelligence to predict future costs. That was twelve years before the chatbot wave. He went on to build machine learning into real products, including clinical-training software used across hundreds of healthcare practices. Today he speaks on AI adoption as a keynote speaker and futurist. His work with dental professionals gave him the other half the story needed: what happens in the chair. The article credits him as managing member of Speaking Consulting Network, an organization of dentistry speakers and consultants.
He gave the reporter both sides rather than a verdict. AI in the bathroom can surface a problem months before a hygienist would. It can also be the reason someone never books the appointment where the rest of it would have been found.
Ryan's Big Takeaways
- 01
At-home AI can move detection earlier — that part is real.
Ryan's first point to Fast Company is the one the category actually earns. Most people learn nothing about their dental health between six-month visits, and fear keeps a meaningful share of them from going at all. A brush that watches the same mouth twice a day, every day, is looking at a far denser record than a clinician gets twice a year. "As at-home technology becomes more advanced, it could be an early indicator of future concern," he told the magazine, adding that some AI-enabled brushes "may be able to help a user target problem areas, preventing future decay or concern." That is a genuine prevention argument, and he made it before making the objection.
- 02
The risk isn't a bad reading. It's a good one.
The failure mode Ryan named for Fast Company is not the brush being wrong. It is the brush being reassuring. Handing a patient information that used to require a chair creates what he called a "false sense of security" — the impression that as long as everything looks fine on the handle's screen, the exam can wait. A consumer device's clean bill of health carries a weight it hasn't earned, precisely because it arrives daily and looks clinical.
- 03
A dental visit is a screening for things that aren't dental.
This is the argument that makes the warning more than a professional-interest objection, and it is why the quote travels. "We know that oral health is closely tied to one's overall health," Ryan told Fast Company. "An AI-enabled toothbrush may lead a patient to feel they don't need to visit the dentist. And avoiding a visit could mean that they miss early indicators of other underlying health concerns." The cost of the skipped appointment is not a missed cavity. It is the systemic signal — the thing the patient was never looking for and the device was never built to see.
- 04
The pattern is older than the toothbrush.
This is the same shape Ryan argues elsewhere about AI generally: the tool is genuinely capable, and the damage comes from what people stop doing once they have it. A device that reads your mouth is useful. A device that retires your judgment about whether to see a professional is a different product wearing the same casing. Deploy it as an additional input, not as a replacement for the review it is imitating.
Cognitive Erosion →
Standout Quotes
As at-home technology becomes more advanced, it could be an early indicator of future concern.
Further, some AI-enabled brushes may be able to help a user target problem areas, preventing future decay or concern.
We know that oral health is closely tied to one's overall health. An AI-enabled toothbrush may lead a patient to feel they don't need to visit the dentist.
And avoiding a visit could mean that they miss early indicators of other underlying health concerns.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Fast Company ask Ryan Vet about an AI product?
Because the story was about AI, and that is his field. AI has been part of Ryan's work since 2010, when his first pitch deck, for the software company uCondition, promised to use artificial intelligence to predict future costs. As president of Anutra Innovations from 2016 to 2018 he led a product that used machine learning to reorder clinical training for providers across hundreds of healthcare practices, and in 2019 he founded Boon, a healthcare staffing platform that shipped facial-recognition and text models and was acquired in 2020. He now speaks on AI adoption as a keynote speaker and futurist. His work with dental professionals through Speaking Consulting Network, which is how the article credits him, meant he could speak to both the technology and the patient.
What did Ryan Vet say in Fast Company about AI toothbrushes?
He gave Fast Company both sides. Advancements like usmile's D Series could act as an early indicator of future concern and help a user target problem areas, preventing future decay. But he warned that at-home access to information that once required a dental visit can create a false sense of security, and that because oral health is closely tied to overall health, skipping the visit can mean missing early indicators of other underlying health concerns.
How was Ryan Vet identified in the Fast Company article?
Fast Company identified him as managing member of Speaking Consulting Network, an organization of dentistry speakers and consultants. The article is filed under Fast Company's Artificial Intelligence and Health Tech sections, and he was quoted as an outside expert rather than as a representative of usmile. The AI futurist and keynote speaker descriptions on this page are Ryan Vet's own, not Fast Company's.
Is Ryan Vet affiliated with usmile or the D Series product?
No. He has no relationship with usmile. Fast Company approached him as an independent expert source for comment on the product category, and the article contains no commercial relationship between him and the manufacturer.
Frameworks & Ideas Referenced
- Cognitive Erosion implied : The offloading pattern — a capable tool quietly retiring the judgment it was meant to inform.
Books, People & Sources Mentioned
- usmile D Series — press release announcing the OralCam system : The launch announcement the Fast Company article reports on.
- Speaking Consulting Network : The organization Fast Company identified Ryan with in the piece.
Keep Exploring
Ryan writes one free essay a week. It's called Collide.
How generations are reshaping work and home. Practical, research-backed, and delivered weekly. Read it at RyanVet.com/collide.
