TL;DR
Dental group PortmanDentex has announced a two-year partnership with AI health firm Heidi Health, marking one of the largest deployments of clinical AI in UK and Irish dentistry. Around 60 new clinicians are going live with the system each month, following a successful 2025 pilot.
How it works
Heidi’s AI clinical scribe — also known as ambient voice technology — listens to dental consultations and generates structured notes and letters for clinicians to review. The system automates documentation, evidence search and follow-up communications, sitting alongside clinicians rather than replacing them.
A pilot across selected PortmanDentex practices in 2025 demonstrated strong clinician engagement and measurable efficiencies in record keeping and administrative time. The rollout now extends across the full group’s network in the UK and Ireland.
The numbers behind Heidi
Heidi Health, founded in Australia, already claims to serve more than 60% of NHS GPs for tasks including drafting referral letters and patient correspondence. In October 2025, the company closed a $65 million (£48 million) Series B funding round, lifting its valuation to $465 million (£346 million) with nearly $100 million (£74 million) in total funding raised.
The dental partnership represents an expansion from primary care into specialist clinical settings, testing whether the ambient AI model that gained traction with GPs can translate to the different workflow patterns of dentistry.
UK clinical AI at scale
Dr Tom Kelly, Heidi’s CEO, said the partnership shows “what it looks like to put AI to work in a way that is clinically grounded and genuinely useful for clinicians day-to-day.” Cathal Hayes, head of clinical transformation at PortmanDentex, highlighted the potential for “streamlining administrative tasks, improving efficiency in record keeping, and enhancing how dental care is delivered.”
Looking forward
The PortmanDentex deal adds to a growing pattern of UK clinical AI deployments moving from pilot to production. For dental groups and healthcare providers watching the space, the 60-clinicians-per-month rollout pace and the pilot-to-contract pipeline offer a concrete model for scaling clinical AI beyond GP surgeries.