Dental equipment is healthcare equipment, but until now, the professionals who repair these devices are often unaware of the resources and support available to the healthcare technology management (HTM) field. Taking a crucial step to change this, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) is bringing the popular “Dental Fix Summit” to the annual AAMI eXchange HTM conference.
“For a long time, dental equipment repair technicians have operated in a silo, similar to how our healthcare model has mentally separated dental care from medical care. UptimeHealth and AAMI wanted to change this narrative,” announced Jinesh Patel, CEO and co-founder of UptimeHealth after meeting with AAMI CEO Pamela Arora and AAMI HTM leadership.
UptimeHealth, a software and services company for outpatient healthcare, has built a strong presence in dental equipment management through its annual Dental Fix Summit. In a bid to bring that resource to the wider HTM community, AAMI has acquired the annual summit, with plans to make it a key feature of the association’s next annual HTM conference in Denver Colorado, May 29 to June 1, 2026.
“We say dental care is part of healthcare. That means dental equipment is part of HTM,” added Danielle McGeary, vice president of HTM, AAMI. “Much like with hospital-based HTM, dental instrument servicing is having pipeline issues, but the situation is made worse because folks aren’t as aware of the field or its challenges. By welcoming this community, we’re raising awareness, broadening personnel pipelines, and helping to ensure patients everywhere benefit from safe and effectively serviced devices.”
AAMI’s initial five-year plan for the acquisition includes continued collaboration between AAMI and UptimeHealth, with the co-creation of a dental pavilion on the expansive AAMI eXchange expo hall floor. There, HTM professionals will be able to meet with dental equipment vendors and specialized service providers. The pavilion, sponsored by UptimeHealth, will host 30 vendors and service providers supporting the dental industry.
Additionally, the 2026 eXchange will host hands-on demonstrations and educational presentations intended for dental equipment technicians. A plan to create a dental track of educational sessions at future eXchange conferences is in progress. According to AAMI, the track will see overlap into the conference’s popular sterilization track for device reprocessing – another significant area of interest for dental device service technicians.
“This is going to be a natural, wonderful synergy,” said Patel. “We’ll bring dental vendors and service technicians right to the center of the expo floor, making them feel included in the HTM world.”
