The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt

986: Security in AI for Your Dental Practice – Travis Wentworth

Dec 24, 2025

Travis Wentworth, a cybersecurity expert and engineering professional from Intelligence Quest, shares invaluable insights on integrating AI into dental practices. He stresses the importance of never using sensitive data with public AI models and advises on the benefits of self-hosting versus cloud AI for security. Travis discusses practical AI applications for dental teams, predicts rapid AI adoption in practices, and emphasizes creating clear usage policies to ensure HIPAA compliance and safety for patients.

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INSIGHT

Cloud Hosting Is Both Power And Risk

Most AI models operate on remote cloud infrastructure that aggregates and synthesizes user data.
That centralization is both the power behind AI and a core security/privacy concern.

INSIGHT

Self-Hosting Reduces Data Exposure

Self-hosted or local AI models reduce exposure because you control hardware and data.
Currently most small dental practices won't self-host, but the option is growing as models shrink.

ADVICE

Never Put Protected Data Into Public AI

Do not enter any HIPAA-protected patient data into public AI models like ChatGPT.
When unsure, avoid pasting tokens, passwords, or private identifiers into AI tools.

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Everyone from your kids to your vet is using AI. But how should you use it in your dental practice? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Travis Wentworth, cybersecurity expert from Intelligence Quest, to share some best practices that you and your dental team should know when using AI. To learn about the precautions to take to keep your patients and practice safe, listen to Episode 986 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Travis:

Follow Travis on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travis_iq
Join Travis on Twitter: https://x.com/travisiq
Learn more about Intelligence Quest: https://intelligencequest.com
Watch Intelligence Quest on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@intelligencequest

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

Subscribe to The Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listen
Join The Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
Download ACT’s BPA app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-practices-association/id6738960360
Download ACT’s BPA app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actdental.join&hl=en_US
Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt
Get The Best Practices Magazine for free: https://www.actdental.com/magazine
Please leave us a review on the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show-with-kirk-behrendt/id1223838218

Episode Resources:

Watch the video version of Episode 986: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/videos

Main Takeaways:

Create clear policies for AI use in your practice.
Never enter HIPAA-compliant information into AI models.
Only enter publicly available information when giving context to AI.
Do your due diligence and ensure that the AI you're using is compliant.
AI will be utilized more in the future. Start using it now so you're not left behind.

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:47 Travis’s background.

4:18 The current state of AI.

6:01 AI security basics and best practices.

10:46 Uses for ChatGPT in a dental practice.

12:24 Security practices when using AI.

14:02 Other things to be aware of.

16:35 Are our devices always spying on us?

21:02 The future of AI.

28:16 Have policies in place for AI use.

29:58 Last thoughts.

32:17 More about Intelligence Quest and how to get in touch.

Travis Wentworth Bio:

Dr. Travis Wentworth has been training students in engineering, networking, and cybersecurity for over a decade. He received his PhD in engineering from the University of Kansas in 2015 and completed a Postdoctoral Research fellowship at the University of Chalmers in Gothenburg, Sweden. While there, he was part of the world-renowned research group led by Dr. Louise Olsson and had the privilege to work with the European Union, Swedish Research Council, Volvo, and Chalmers University.

As a researcher, instructor, and consultant, Travis has presented his technical content to far-reaching corners of the globe including China, Germany, and Sweden, to name a few. Returning to the United States in 2017, he narrowed his emphasis to cybersecurity and networking training.

Travis has a diverse background with a proclivity in the acquisition and analysis of public and proprietary data. He is a published author in numerous peer-reviewed journals for computer modeling and catalysis and is well-versed in programming, networking, data acquisition, and cybersecurity.