Welcome to the Dental Cybersecurity Watch, a new monthly column hosted by DrBicuspid.com. In this series, I’ll provide dental professionals with simple, straightforward guidance about how they can protect their practices, data, teams, and patients from cyber criminals and how to harness the latest technology, like AI, and put it into practice safely for you.
Tasha Dickinson.
Cybersecurity is no longer a large hospital issue. It is a small business, clinical, and reputational concern affecting every dental practice, regardless of size or sophistication.
From ransomware and email scams to AI-breaches and vendor vulnerabilities, dental teams are increasingly being targeted by criminals who see dentistry as both data-rich, federally governed, and under-protected.
Each month, I’ll help you understand what’s happening behind the scenes in cybersecurity, what is coming next, and what you can do right now to reduce your risk.
This first installment looks ahead to 2026, highlighting the most significant threats facing dentistry and providing practical steps you can immediately implement to safeguard your practice, as well as what to expect this coming year.
Ringing in the new year with 5 new cyberthreats
In 2026, dental practices are increasingly attractive targets for cybercriminals. From AI-powered phishing to compromised third-party vendors, the threat landscape is evolving swiftly, and dentistry must evolve with it.
What's the good news? With awareness, updated protocols, and team training, every dental office can dramatically reduce its vulnerability.
Prediction No. 1: AI-driven phishing is the top threat to dental practices.
In the upcoming year, attacks will become even more personalized. Cybercriminals will use scraped data from practice websites, social profiles, online reviews, and previous breaches to tailor messages that look exactly like legitimate business communications.
Ever wonder where that information goes when one of your online accounts gets hacked? Straight to the dark web, where that data lives forever.
What to do:
- Train your entire team to verify unusual or urgent requests, even if they appear to come from you or another trusted source.
- Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) on all systems, especially email, patient, and financial record accounts.
- Create a verification protocol for credential or financial requests.
Prediction No. 2: Third-party vendor vulnerabilities will increase.
Dental practices rely on an expanding digital ecosystem, including distributors, labs, cloud-based software, etc. A data breach in any one partner can impact your entire office.
What to do:
- Maintain a vendor security checklist.
- Review business associate agreements annually.
- Ask vendors for their security protocols or SOC 2 certifications.
Prediction No. 3: Ransomware will shift toward “double blackmail.”
Attackers are stealing data before encrypting it, giving them two levers: restoration and exposure.
What to do:
- Back up data daily and store backups offline.
- Work with a cybersecurity professional to install preventive measures.
- Rehearse incident-response plans.
Prediction No. 4: AI tools will require new safeguards.
AI tools in the dental office are becoming more common, but some may lack defined guardrails for patient or financial privacy.
What to do:
- Evaluate every AI tool with a security rubric as defined by a cybersecurity professional.
- Disable data-sharing defaults.
- Designate AI systems to nonclinical workstations and never enter patient or financial information.
Prediction No. 5: Cyber insurance requirements will tighten.
Insurers will require a firewall, MFA, a monitored endpoint detection and response (MDR) platform, patching, and annual training. Practices lacking these features may face higher premiums or denial.
What to do:
- Review your practice’s insurance policy with a cybersecurity professional to verify your practice is compliant with the requirements and that you are protected against the current threats.
- Document all training and protocols.
- Confirm with your insurance agent whether business losses are covered for two weeks under your insurance policy. If not, speak to your broker to upgrade your coverage.
After-holidays alert: Beware of AI-enabled toys, gadgets, and games at home and in the dental office.
Many dental professionals are also parents, aunts, uncles, or caregivers. AI-enhanced toys and gadgets, smart games, and “learning robots” may arrive in homes and ultimately inside dental practices, without anyone realizing the hidden risks.
AI toys and gadgets pose certain risks, including that:
- They can automatically connect to nearby Wi-Fi.
- Many contain always-listening microphones or cameras.
- Some transmit data to obscure cloud servers.
- They can act as unauthorized recording devices or hacking entry points.
At-home precautions
- Disable unnecessary voice or camera functions.
- Change default passwords.
- Disconnect AI toys from home office networks used for work.
Dental office safeguards
- Never allow unknown devices to connect to the office Wi-Fi.
- Use a separate guest network for all personal devices.
- Do not allow recording-enabled devices in clinical areas.
- Remind staff to keep AI toys and smart gadgets at home or in cars during the holidays.
Cybersecurity is no longer optional, and it is no longer someone else’s responsibility. Information technology (IT) providers are no longer equipped to handle the scope of the technological wilderness that is out there by themselves.
Instead, work with your IT provider as a guide to help you, your employees, and partners create a team that helps you navigate the digital landscape. In today’s digital-first dental environment, every practice owner, hygienist, administrator, and associate plays a role in protecting patient trust and practice continuity.
The threats in 2026 will be faster, more automated, and more convincing than ever before. But that does not mean dental professionals are powerless. With the right training, strong policies, thoughtful technology choices, and a culture of awareness, practices can dramatically reduce their risk and increase their resilience.
As this new column continues, we will break down complex cybersecurity topics into practical, immediately usable advice. We will focus on real-world risks, emerging threats, and simple safeguards that make a measurable difference. And I will explain how you can incorporate the latest technologies safely into your practice, using technology to your benefit.
Tasha Dickinson, MBA, dentistry’s cybersecurity guide, is the founder and chief technologist of Siligent Technologies, a trusted provider of cybersecurity and IT solutions for dental businesses. She is dedicated to helping dentists protect their data, avoid cyberattacks, and build resilient business operations. Contact Tasha at [email protected] or connect on LinkedIn.
The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.
